Tim Tolan shared a fantastic, secondhand story over at Fistful of Talent about a worker who was double-dipping on two companies’ payrolls. Many people make ends meet by working a second job, but not usually at the same time. The guy was busted at Job 1 only when his performance nose-dived. Reading this story will send shivers down the spine of any manager who ever wondered just how hard his staff really is working when he can’t see them. Perhaps they are working, just not for you!
So what can you do to prevent being taken advantage of like this? Not much, frankly. Paranoia about face time will just quash your workers’ morale and productivity. Unless we’re talking highly paid executives who are expected to be on all the time, contract clauses that ban workers from earning outside income aren’t reasonable. Many recent college grads rely on weekend service jobs to make their student loan payments while they move up the corporate ladder.
So all you’re really left with is trust — and the bottom line. People are either performing to expectations or they aren’t. If they aren’t, it doesn’t matter if it’s because they are working another job or playing solitaire.
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