Are You Micromanaging The Time Of Your Employees?

According a The Wall Street Journal, on average, office employees waste about 40 percent of their on the clock at their Class A office space because they are disorganized. Given this picture, it is rather difficult for employers to not micromanage the time of their workforce. 

However, a question that comes if this is ethical and acceptable. Should the managers be critical of their teams’ time management? Because while a manager spends 3 hours each day on interruptions every day on average, another statistic is that 86 percent of corporate executives, employees and educators say that ineffective and unnecessary communication is a big reason for failures in the workplace. 

So the picture, however blurry, that emerges is while the management should keep a check on its workforce performance – and look for ways to improve it – they must stride forward in this direction with great caution to not put off any worker. 

Here are four ways how employers unjustifiably micromanage the time of their employees:

1. Asking “where were you” all the time 

If they don’t see the employees on their respective seats, they enquire them with “where were you” all the time. Although this is okay to keep a check on those who really have poor time management skill, this is okay only until a limit.  

2. Expecting them to work overtime 

Even if the worker came late, the management has no right to expect her/him to work a bit longer. Even when it matters a very important project, an employee must be liberated to leave the office premise on regular time. 

3. Criticizing their efforts and contribution

Some of employers and team leaders are always criticizing those working under them. Some do this in a hope to improve workers’ performance; others do it deliberately because they themselves are incompetent and insecure.
 
4.Never satisfied with the end result

Even when the result is good enough, many employees always seem unsatisfied. They use this displeasure to push the employees to work more and harder. Again, this is acceptable—but only up to a certain level. 

These are 4 warning signs how employers micromanage their workforce. And needless to say, this is unhealthy which eventually puts down the organization’s overall performance. 

The next question that then emerges is—how can employers help employees in time management?

Invest in (high-quality) time and attendance systems 

In fact, this is a basic-level step that is ideal for business of all sizes. A good quality eSSL time and attendance system would keep track of everyone’s time—when they come and when they leave. You can keep a check on who’s coming late to the workplace and who’s working overtime—without bugging that individual. It’s much efficient in recording time and far more convenient than paper-pen attendance. 

Today, one can select from a wide range of time and attendance systems—from a basic one to an advanced type that can record a lot more, including paid time off, personalized employee schedules, and labor data. Of course, where one purchases the system from would play a major role, given not everyone offer high quality and at affordable price.