More often than I’d like to admit, we get asked for advice on how to spy on employees while they’re at work. The reason behind their question is usually for understandable reasons: they want to ensure employees are being productive on the clock (which is kind of a futile effort anyway). But we think there’s a better way, and a better perspective to take. So we’re going to share it.
Foojee does not support employee monitoring of any type. While there are products on the market that offer many ways to monitor employee activity, they violate human privacy, are intrusive to the operating system, and often result in inconclusive data.
In scenarios where the company’s goal is to hold employees accountable for their work, Foojee has found other practices to be significantly more effective, without violating human privacy.
In our constant pursuit of designing a better future for small business we want to champion best practices for IT, security, and small business management. After being in business for over 15 years, and working with hundreds of businesses in different industries, we want to elevate best practices for creating a productive, accountable work environment. So if you're looking to create a culture of accountability, trust, and high performance, here are some of our favorite methods we practice at Foojee.
Daily check-ins to review completed work. We use Basecamp and our ticketing system to keep record of activity and tasks completed.
Setting weekly goals or scorecards for work. This can either be project-based goals, or metrics-based score cards. When all parties are aligned on what success looks like, great team members are eager to meet, and even exceed expectations.
Getting feedback from your customers directly. Sometimes this can be a phone call directly with the customer (I'm sure they would love to share their thoughts!), and sometimes you can do this digitally. We've created a simple rolling 60-day survey to our clients so they can help keep us accountable with how we're doing.
You can't motivate employees. You can only hire motivated people. This is why we place an incredible amount of effort in our 5-part interview process. One of the core values we look for in candidates is "Make it Better". We want fellow team members to have a natural desire for self-improvement, and to make their work a better place to work. If your team members aren't compelled to do great work, then no policies or monitoring will change that. They're probably not a great fit for your team.
We are here for small businesses. We know the challenges of growing (and just maintaining) a small team. And we’re committed to designing a better way to run a small business. If you’d like to discuss what that means for you, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from you: lucas@foojee.com.