Welcome to Alex’s Agenda, the new weekly column from the front-lines of the future by The Memo’s Editor in Chief, Alex Wood.
The Telegraph Media Group did not have a good start to the week.
On Monday thousands of employees arrived refreshed from the weekend to find their desks armed with a new gadget called OccupEye, a sensor designed to track their every move.
This attractively-named device offers “automated workspace utilisation analysis” by using motion and heat sensors to monitor bum on seat time at the office. The makers claim it is “ultra-sensitive, yet ultra-reliable when it comes to tracking real-time 1:1 space utilisation”.
Quite rightly, employees were outraged. Speaking to Buzzfeed about the prospect of managers being able to tell when staff take toilet breaks, one said:
“Never before has taking a shit on company time felt so rebellious.”
The company behind OccupEye has also been spooked by the publicity. In a statement they reminded naysayers that their devices are in fact for the noble cause of increasing efficiency by cutting down on unnecessary light, heating and underused desks. The company claims it has already helped private and public sector organisations alike save costs by understanding more about our desk dwell times.
But the damage has been done. This new sensor pinned to your desk is the natural evolution of a work culture of mistrust and clockwatching.
It’s no secret many city suits are subjected to factory farming conditions at work. In an industrial world, keeping tabs on your workers was simple, if they’re at the workstation, they’re making you money.
In some companies I’ve worked at sinister office swipe cards also act as a modern take on the Victorian timesheet. What may seem like an innocent replacement for a key can quickly become the human resources department’s weapon of choice when things go wrong. Does it increase productivity? I doubt it.
Big organisations are missing the point
Today we work in a creative economy based on relationships. On network building, not desk time. The value we seek is in our networks and that’s where we should be focussing our attention.
Starting The Memo has forced me to think hard about what kind of company I want to build. From day one I’ve made it clear to my employees our goal is growth (both in terms of revenue and audience). How we get to the goal is ever changing, but facetime at the office is not at the top of the list of priorities, even if that means our desks are left empty.
Nothing makes me more happy than seeing my journalists with packed diaries of one-on-one meetings and events because I know it results in real value. Stories that make an impact. TV and radio appearances on brands like the BBC, CNN, Sky News and Monocle that trust our analysis because we have boots on the ground. All of these things move us closer towards our goals, not desk time for the sake of it.
Measure happiness
In 2016 being able to work from anywhere matters. I built my company to accommodate working remotely, whether it’s at a club between meetings or from home. It makes me happier and my employees.
It may sound clichéd but happiness should also be a metric. We were introduced to meditation when we shared offices alongside the brilliant team at Vinaya, the company behind wearable technology that helps you digitally disconnect. From a business point of view asking your staff to step away from their desks for 30 minutes might sound illogical, but it pays dividends because today’s workers are not robots, they are creatives. And no matter how creative your work is, we all function better when we’re not chained to a desk.
Gone but not forgotten
It’s particularly sad to see this news from The Telegraph surface in January, a time when many employees are setting new resolutions and thinking about what makes them happy. The last thing they need is to feel like they are being watched.
Managers at The Telegraph have already reacted to the backlash and removed the trackers after Buzzfeed broke the story. But this example should never be repeated again and ought to provoke a greater conversation about the value of work in today’s world.
Thankfully, the desk sensors at The Telegraph have quickly been relegated to the history books. But not before this staff memo packed with corporate guff was leaked:
“In the light of feedback we have received from staff today, it has been decided to withdraw the under-desk sensors immediately. We will be looking at alternative ways to gather the environmental sustainability data we need, and will keep staff in touch with any new proposals.”
More from Alex’s Agenda
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Our NHS can’t afford to be crippled by bad technology
Why cats hate the Internet of Things
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