5%.

Who cares how many hours you spend at work, as long as desired results are achieved? Who cares if you are not at your desk every day, as long as goals are reached? Who cares how many reports you produce, as long as you succeed in your aims? Unfortunately too many in upper management care, they still have a factory mindset on staff being seen, staff producing masses of reports and staff taking designated meal breaks as set by company policy. The reason for that management mindset of mandated policies rests with the 5%, the 5% of employees who are unmotivated, the 5% unengaged looking for ways to rort the system, the 5% that spend all their time looking for loop holes and ways to avoid making a difference. The 5% that need to be managed and the 5% that make it hard for the rest to succeed.

Society long ago figured out people want and will do the right thing, with only a small minority upsetting the status quo. That small minority, like the bastards that just robbed my elderly parents, (sorry I digress) require police, rules, regulations and make insurance companies rich. Yet those rules and regulations have been vetted, adjusted and balanced so that society has the freedom and flexibility we are used to living with today. It's that freedom and flexibility that is missing in many corporations today as they look to policy their employees into submission.

Companies that grow and prosper with their employees are the ones that make the rules for the 95% who are motivated and engaged. The 95% that work well because they are trusted, given freedom to work the hours that best suit a productive workplace and have the results to back up the flexibility and immunity from constrictive company policies. Fewer rules always work better, as long as employees are treated as professionals with integrity, they will accomplish much more than working within a strait jacketed, unsubstantiated policy driven environment. What matters is what you get done and if you don't know what that success looks like, doing more is not going to help.

The social media storm that many in management are weathering, is a case in point, where camps range from no access to open access. Interestingly the open access companies are those with employees who don't abuse the freedom and use the new media for research and feedback valuable to work projects. One of the most venerable of companies, the New York Times recently employed a social media policy in one line, "don't be stupid", showing the trust they have in their staff to do the right thing and at the same time give them the freedom they deserve. The recognition given to the New York Times staff with this one trusting guideline enables them to keep their valued employees and stay the front runners in a most competitive media space.

For the enlightened companies, the factory mind of being seen for the requisite hours is giving way to change with studies showing that flexibility around work hours leads to increased retention and productivity. So companies shouldn't make their employees hang around, just because the boss decides to stay in the office till all hours, they should celebrate achievements by going home early. Why not give employees the freedom to take that afternoon nap, after all a NASA study has shown a 25 minute nap can increase productivity by 34% and would save on all that extra coffee needed after 3pm.

So don't let that 5% be the bench mark for your company culture, your company policies or your company future.