The Australian Financial Review recently reported that Safetrac, a leading compliance firm, lost an employee compensation case after secretly turning staff laptops into listening devices to monitor underperformers.
Sadly, this isn’t an isolated case. I’m seeing more and more businesses resort to extreme micro-management. To me, this strategy signals one thing: the organisation has run out of practical ways to manage its people.
It’s also a flawed approach, riddled with potential for error. Take the 2024 Victorian parliament inquiry into workplace surveillance: one member’s AI-recorded conversation was flagged as “negative sentiment” simply because he began with, “Unfortunately it’s been really rainy lately.”
If you’ve been pouring energy into people strategies without seeing the results you want, clamping down harder is not the solution. Counterintuitively, the real key lies in trust – giving people greater autonomy will drive extraordinary performance.
Here are my six steps to create a high-performing workplace. You’ll notice spyware doesn’t make the cut:
1. Set clear expectations upfront: Before you even hire, define success. What must this person deliver in 3 months, 12 months, or 3 years to be considered a great hire? Be specific. Many applicants will claim “excellent communication skills,” but only a handful can “pull together a task force across technical, financial, and sales teams to launch a new product under a tight deadline.” Communicate these expectations at interview.
2. Hire for proven attitude, not just interview charm: Don’t confuse enthusiasm in the room with long-term grit. Look at past performance. Click here to see my five criteria to help you recruit for attitude.
3. Break the business into smaller more agile teams: Small teams that set their own annual vision and plan and hold each other accountable outperform large, manager-dependent groups. My first book Family Village Tribe detailed how retail giant Flight Centre scaled from a single store into a billion-dollar global corporation using this technique. You can read the chapter on small team success by clicking here.
4. Lead through outcomes, not control: When outcomes are clear, leaders can shift from micromanaging to relationship-building. Using monthly one-on-one check-ins, they build trust, track performance of the clearly defined expectations, share information, and offer encouragement and advice for people to reach their potential. This creates an environment of continuous improvement. Click here to read more about one-on-ones, a leader’s greatest management tool.
5. Recognise and reward regularly (and fairly): There are so many ways you can do this – from monthly BBQs or CEO videos to a Hall of Fame wall or annual awards night. The key is to regularly recognise high perfomance and only reward using objective measurement. Subjective awards based on gut-feel or favouritism erode trust faster than neglect.
6. Create a ‘brightness of future’ for all: Not everyone wants a leadership role – and many shouldn’t have one. Growth could mean becoming an expert, mentoring others, moving cross-functionally, or even reaching personal milestones with your support. When people see a future for themselves, they’ll invest in the future of the business.
As former Wallabies captain John Eales once said, “You have a culture by design or default.” Micromanagement is culture by default. It drains managers’ time, blocks skill development, and suffocates initiative.
The alternative is clear: hire the right people, set clear expectations, and let them get on with it. That way, success belongs to everyone – not just the manager.
Mandy Johnson is a best-selling business author, an ex-director of global travel retailer Flight Centre’s UK operation, and one of only a handful of Australians to present at the Asia/Pacific Talent Conference. She has worked with hundreds of companies including Virgin Australia, Teys Beef, the Australian Stockbroker’s Association, Dairy Australia, Ray White Commercial, Coles, Qld State Library and Michael Hill Jewellery and is currently writing her third business book, due out in 2026.