Stop Counting Butts in Seats — It's Time to Measure Real Work, Not Attendance How much attention should you pay to your employee attendance? Managers should explore alternative approaches that allow them to oversee their teams while empowering them.

Businesses increasingly adopt remote or hybrid work models to address contemporary health, safety and lifestyle priorities. Fewer and fewer managers link their employees' performance exclusively to their physical attendance and desk presence.

They have a point — there's convincing proof that granting employees flexibility can boost productivity compared to rigid 9-to-5 schedules. But what does this mean for managers? Can they simply let their teams run wild without any oversight? If attendance is an outdated measure of productivity, should managers completely disregard it?

Let's look at the possible alternatives to the "bums in seats" mentality that would give managers a sense of control without sacrificing employee autonomy.

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The hidden costs of attendance fixation

At my company, as developers of a time-tracking and productivity app, we analyze employee work habits. Our studies have shown that procrastination and time-wasting can occur even when employees are physically present in the office.

While there's undoubtedly a correlation between attendance and productivity in some cases, this black-and-white view is overly simplistic. It fails to account for the nuances of individual work styles, the nature of different roles, and the impact of factors beyond an employee's control. On top of that, flexible work is essential for supporting parents and women in the workplace.

An overemphasis on attendance can have several detrimental consequences for both employees and organizations.

• Demotivated workforce: When employees feel constantly monitored and judged for their attendance, it can lead to decreased job satisfaction and engagement. This can manifest in reduced productivity, increased turnover, and presenteeism, where employees come to work despite being unwell, hindering their performance and potentially spreading illness.
• Micromanagement culture: A focus on attendance can foster a culture where managers feel the need to closely track and control their employees' every move. This can stifle innovation, creativity, and autonomy, ultimately hindering productivity and employee growth.
• Overlooking true performance: When attendance becomes the primary metric for success, it can overshadow the quality and impact of an employee's work. An employee who is consistently present but underperforming may not be contributing significantly to the organization's goals. On the other hand, another employee's valuable contribution can go unnoticed.

In addition, by solely focusing on attendance, you may be neglecting to address the underlying reasons for absenteeism. Stress, burnout, work-life balance issues, or even a toxic work environment can all be the real reasons behind it and should be addressed proactively.

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Shifting focus from attendance to accountability

It's understandable that managers want to stay in control of their teams, as they are the ones responsible for driving results. Therefore, the first obvious step is dividing the responsibility among all the team members, not just managers. Empower your team by delegating tasks and providing them with the necessary information. By holding everyone accountable for their contributions, attendance becomes less important as the focus shifts toward achieving team goals.

Second, evaluate employees based on their actual output, quality of work, and contributions to team goals rather than solely on their attendance record. Managers can implement goals or milestones with team members and set up a system for checking in or reporting on that progress. This approach will at least lay the foundation for appreciating the work done, which is already a significant step.

Third, managers should work to instill a sense of ownership in their employees. The more people feel like an integral part of the process or a company, the higher their motivation to bring good results. Trust and autonomy accompany the sense of ownership, empowering your employees and giving them purpose.

Finally, implement flexible work hours. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but that's the whole point. Attendance and time spent at the computer don't matter as long as you get the needed results. Giving your employees the mandate of trust and the responsibility to work their hours — at the time they prefer — is also an indirect way of saying that results matter.

I'd go even further and encourage you to try shorter work weeks. In my company, we have been doing 35-hour weeks for over a year, and the results are very satisfying. Our employees have the freedom to distribute those hours as they wish as long as they have accumulated 35 hours over the week. We've observed that despite reduced work hours, the quality and quantity of work have either remained constant or improved, potentially due to increased motivation and a more relaxed work environment.

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Shedding the presenteeism mindset

If you Google "alternatives to tracking employee attendance," you'll mostly find articles trying to convince you to do just that — track attendance. This is surprising, given the rising popularity of trust-based workplaces, flexible arrangements, and outcome-focused management.

While evidence strongly supports abandoning the presenteeism mindset, many organizations still stick to this outdated approach. So, why do we cling to this metric?

Because it gives us a sense of control. But it's obvious that managers need to rip the band-aid off. The notion of attendance should be separated from productivity. Attendance-based systems should be replaced with evaluating task-based accomplishments and output rather than time at the computer. It's high time for managers to find other systems to support their employees' success and keep tabs on their accomplishments.