Dear CEO —
One of my direct reports frequently misses work due to allowable reasons (illness, family crisis), which I’m treating as true.
However, some days when he’s “working” remotely, he seems to do little or no work.
We don’t have any spyware installed, but I can see that he has made no progress on the queue, left no notes in our database (there would be 8-12 notes on a normal day), and has no meetings or calls on his calendar that might explain his lack of other work.
I feel like he is doing only 50-60% of his job, but I’m more frustrated that he appears to be lying about working from home some days.
How should I approach this situation?
— Laura, Des Moines
Dear Laura —
My initial reaction begins with “Why haven’t you fired this person already?”
That said, over the years I’ve learned to curb my inner instincts and take a much more measured and data-driven approach to assessing the situation and taking action.
It is so easy to come to the wrong conclusions when you don’t see the employee physically working – like in an office setting. But remember, just because someone is in an office doesn’t also guarantee they are working or being productive either. Which brings me to my golden CEO rule for work.
As someone who has led both remote and onsite teams, I say this: Forget the noise and debates on in-office vs. remote work being waged.
Instead, stay focused on the results you expect. Cutting to the chase…like the E in EBITDA, it’s the RESULTS that matter.
So here’s the first-things-first practical and obvious way to address this issue: Set a deliverable and deadline for when you want things done and what “done” should look like.
There is no easier way to manage productivity and your nagging doubts about slacking on the job then to be clear and certain about the expectations with your employee.
If you haven’t set deadlines and clear deliverables for the work you expect, then who’s really managing who?
Sincerely,
