At a client’s office in Kigali, I noticed something peculiar.
Every employee had a tracker running quietly in the background. It recorded keystrokes, took random screenshots, and logged idle minutes. The IT guy proudly called it “digital accountability.”
But the moment staff saw me, an outsider, they whispered:
“Can you help us disable this thing?”
That is when it hit me: this company had not built a culture of performance.
They had built a culture of paranoia.
If you need a tracker to know whether your team is working, the problem is not time. It is trust.
Surveillance is a poor substitute for leadership.
I know what you are thinking: “But remote work has made people lazy.”
Wrong.
What has made people disengaged is micromanagement masked as metrics.
You do not grow an elite team by monitoring them like factory machines. You grow it by setting crystal-clear outcomes and giving people the autonomy to crush them.
Let me take you to a case we handled for a regional telco.
They had just gone hybrid. Productivity dropped. Middle managers panicked. HR proposed time-tracking software. I was called in to assess.
Instead, I introduced a system called Outcomes Over Hours.
Here is how it worked:
a) Every role was linked to three weekly output metrics.
No more “I was online from 8 to 5.” Instead: “I delivered X, solved Y, completed Z.”
b) Managers were banned from asking: “Where are you?”
They had to ask: “Where are we on the outcome?”
c) Trust became the default. Not suspicion.
Within one quarter, two things happened:
High performers flourished.
- Low performers exposed themselves; no tracker needed.
Because when people know they are being judged by results, not presence, two things happen: they focus more, and they resent less.
Obsessing over time means you have lost the plot.
You do not pay your sales manager to “clock in.” You pay them to grow revenue.
You do not pay your developer to “move the mouse.” You pay them to ship clean code.
Yet so many leaders confuse visibility with value.
Let me say it plainly:
Time-tracking is what insecure managers use to feel busy.
Great leaders do the opposite.
They clarify the what, support the how, and stay out of the way.
Mr Strategy’s insight
If you are using a time-tracking tool, ask yourself:
a) Are my KPIs outcome-based or effort-based?
b) Do my staff know what winning looks like, without me hovering?
c) What am I afraid of if I stop watching?
Then do something bold:
Switch off the tracker for one month.
Instead, define weekly deliverables. Coach for clarity. Give people room to breathe.
You will see a sharp spike in ownership, morale, and real results.
Track output, not time. Build trust, not tension.
Need help designing a culture of high performance? Let us talk.
Perks do not fix pain. Real conversations do.
I once consulted for a tech startup with a stunning rooftop. Free lunches. Unlimited data. A nap pod. Even a meditation coach on Thursdays.
But guess what else they had?
A 42% annual turnover rate.
Engineers were quitting in droves. HR was shocked. “But we give them everything,” they insisted.
No. You gave them things.
What they needed was someone to listen.
When people feel unheard, no perk can buy their loyalty.
You can give me pizza every Friday. But if my manager shuts me down every Monday, I will still dread coming to work.
That is what most leaders do not understand.
People do not leave companies. They leave conversations that never happened.
Let me show you.
At a commercial bank in Kampala, the CHRO asked me to investigate why top performers were leaving within 18 months, despite generous benefits.
We conducted 1-on-1 exit interviews. No HR scripts. Just raw truth.
What did we find?
a) One star employee was denied training thrice, with no explanation.
b) Another had requested a role rotation for a year, ignored.
c) Several had raised ethical concerns, no follow-up.
The perks were many. But the pain was private.
No one asked. No one listened. So they left.
We proposed something radical: The Conversation Contract.
Every manager had to hold monthly 20-minute personal check-ins with each direct report.
Not about KPIs.
About what is working, what is not, and how they feel about it.
We trained managers to listen without fixing. Acknowledge without defending. Hold space without rushing.
And guess what? Within six months, voluntary exits dropped by 31%.
Because here is the hard truth:
If your workplace needs perks to keep people, it probably lacks leadership to keep hearts.
Culture is not what you give. It is what you ask, hear, and act on.
Too many organisations throw perks at pain.
They see disengagement and offer pizza.
They sense frustration and schedule a Zumba session.
They ignore the toxic supervisor and offer a “gratitude wall.”
That is like giving a painkiller to someone who needs surgery.
It might numb the pain, but the problem festers.
If your staff are not talking, do not assume things are fine.
Silence is often the most dangerous form of resignation.
This week, cancel one budgeted “engagement activity.”
Instead, hold three honest conversations.
Ask your team:
a) What part of your job is draining you right now?
b) What do you wish I knew but feel unsafe to say?
c) What small change would make a big difference for you?
Then listen. Do not interrupt. Do not justify. Just listen.
And then, do something.
You do not build a great team with tokens. You build it with truth.
Perks are nice. But presence is powerful.
I remain, Mr Strategy of Summit Consulting Ltd.
