MONITOR EVERYTHING
Trust improves when every action can be reconstructed later.
Track keystrokes, activity states, response times, application use and measurable output. Explain that monitoring protects productivity and helps managers support employees. If people change their behavior because they are being watched, record the improvement.
Reconstructed Handbook series.
Unfortunately, the research…
Claim
Electronic performance monitoring does not reliably improve performance and is associated with greater worker stress; transparency and lower invasiveness are associated with more favorable employee attitudes.
Evidence
A meta-analysis of 94 independent samples involving more than 23,000 workers found no overall evidence that electronic performance monitoring improved performance, while monitoring was associated with increased stress. A separate meta-analysis similarly examined effects on satisfaction, stress, performance and counterproductive behavior.
Strength: Strong
Sources
- Ravid et al. (2023) — Electronic performance monitoring meta-analysis
- Siegel, König & Lazar (2022) — Electronic monitoring meta-analysis
The Directive is satire. The research summary is not. Evidence is stated separately and qualified to the underlying literature rather than treated as proof of the joke.