With the opportunity to track metrics becoming more readily available for all types of businesses, some organizations invest heavily into time-tracking software and other KPIs that they believe will help their team be more efficient in the workplace. However, this might be having a negative effect on the quality of work being performed. Irv Shapiro, CEO of DialogTech, suggests that, instead of tracking time, employers should be tracking results.
Granted, we understand that you have a budget and payroll to consider. This type of business model doesn’t suit every organization’s needs. In particular, those who offer services by the hour wouldn’t be able to implement this strategy. However, this doesn’t mean that you should let it get in the way of improving internal options. Shapiro states: “Unless your business sells services by the hour, it makes little sense to measure your employees by the hour. Instead employers should measure their employee’s success by the results they produce.”
We know that letting go of the reins a bit can be nerve-wracking, but studies have shown that autonomous employees are usually the best employees. A study by Gensler reveals some interesting numbers concerning how employees work when given a choice in the matter:
Employees with choice were 7 percent more focused.
Employees with choice were 4 percent more effective at collaboration.
Employees with choice were 3 percent more effective at learning.
Companies that offer choice and autonomy in how their employees do their work grow four times as fast, and experience only a third of the turnover of businesses that want more control.
At first, this statement seems minor and inconsequential, but if you think about it, who actually works best when they’re micromanaged? Giving your team the freedom to schedule themselves and work as they see fit can allow them to flourish, and when your team feels good, they’ll work harder and improve performance. As you might expect, choice drastically improves the employee experience. Innovation, job performance, job satisfaction, and workplace satisfaction, all increase as a result of reducing the amount of control you exert over your employees’ time.
Instead of focusing on time, your organization can instead focus on the results of your employees’ work. For example, if you’re in a production field, you want the end-product to be exceptionally well-done. If you focus on the quality of this end-product, shouldn’t quality be all that matters, not the time that it takes to reach the product? After all, a quality service is a quality service, and if you want the best work possible, the project shouldn’t be rushed.
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