Trust paradigm vs control paradigm at work

The pandemic forced remote work on office workers, and as such we are now fundamentally changed.

But now employers face a choice: how to handle things after the pandemic? Is remote work here to stay? Or should employees be forced back? Or do we go for a mix?

Even though it’s rarely said out loud, employers can be anxious about whether employees are really working when they aren’t subjected to the social control that being in the office provides. Then it can seem safest to force people back to the 9-to-5 in person.

The problem is that when employers rely on the carrot and the stick, or outright control, to make sure things get done, they take part in maintaining a culture associated with high risk and low return.

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I’d say employers have a choice between two paths:

Either the relationship between employer and employee can be developed in a direction characterised by mutuality and trust. A view in which it isn’t social control but a deepened contact with the purpose that drives everything that gets done. Here, the longing to contribute, the pride of being an ambassador for the whole, and the joy of taking ownership shape the relationship.

The alternative is for employers to take what may look like “the safe before the unsafe” and instead focus on coercion, demands, complicated processes, contracts. Maybe time tracking is introduced, along with similar measures intended one way or another to make sure things get done. The advantage of this way is that it’s simple: employees don’t need to think for themselves much, mostly just follow rules.

The dilemma with this latter approach is that it doesn’t draw on the efficiency, work satisfaction and focus that come from employees experiencing ownership of their work. Instead, their attention is directed at passing the social control, avoiding the stick, getting the carrot. Which is a shame, given how much we humans love to contribute.

What’s worse is that both approaches tend to be self-reproducing.

What the carrot and stick can’t see, doesn’t really need to be done, at least not quickly. If employees walk through their working life disconnected from the inherent joy of contributing, everything will go slowly. So the circle is closed: more control, more carrot and stick seem necessary for things to get done.

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We need to zoom out quite a bit to see the consequences that demands, control, and lack of trust contribute to creating — not solving.

Few things slow an organisation down as much as a lack of trust.

Trying to control, force, or demand things from employees is what raises risk, not lowers it. Generally. The consequences tend to play out out of sight, through a slow organisation where taking ownership of the whole is the exception.

So if you want to sleep well, it’s better to trust your employees. Give them responsibility for figuring out how best to take care of themselves and the work. It isn’t the solution to every problem, and of course there will be people who use the freedom without growing into responsibility. But you will at least have done your part to create the best conditions for a healthy organisational culture and a successful organisation.