Boss Uses A ‘Penny Test’ To Try To Catch Workers Not Doing Their Jobs
In this case, "if you see a penny, pick it up" takes on a whole new meaning.
Robbie Proctor | Shutterstock Unless a boss is constantly hovering over their employees all day, how are they supposed to know that they are getting all of their work done?
One boss may have cracked the code to catch his employees skipping out on their duties and not working to their full potential by using a method called the “penny test.”
The boss of a group of janitors scattered pennies on the floors to find out if his employees were truly cleaning the floors.
One of the janitors, who works at a childcare center, shared the penny test his boss uses to test himself and the rest of the team on the subreddit r/antiwork.
“On paper, I'm there to watch the kids and make sure everyone is safe every night, but in reality, they have the night crew clean up after everyone each night,” he wrote.
“Recently, I've had management and my supervisor watching me more closely with the cameras at work.”
The janitors are constantly being reminded to do their jobs efficiently since they are being watched. Still, their boss wanted to make sure that all of them were cleaning every inch of the building before they left for the night.
“Tonight, when I came in, I was immediately pulled aside by my supervisor, and he told me that I needed to be cleaning better. He's on the cameras tonight,” the man wrote.
“It bothered me because he was telling me how to clean things that he's complimented me on before, specifically the bathrooms.”
“I found out why when I checked my work email a bit later on. He hid several pennies around the areas I have to clean, and I only found some of them.”
Suzanne Tucker | Shutterstock
By leaving the pennies out, the boss was able to tell whether or not the janitors thoroughly cleaned an area.
The janitor is unsure if he should stay at his job now that he knows he’s being tested.
Redditors were divided on whether or not the penny test was appropriate.
“What is wrong with your manager that he has time to play petty mind games with a janitor? Seriously, does he think that's an indictment of you that he has the spare time to plant coins under the toilets and spy on you from the security office? It speaks really poorly of him that he has nothing better to do with his time than micromanage someone pretty far beneath him on the totem pole,” one Redditor commented.
“Hiding pennies and watching people on cameras are ‘games' they are playing with you.....do you want to keep this up? I bet anything if you ‘stole’ those pennies, they'd try to get you on theft charges with the local police,” another user wrote.
“The worst thing here is the manager is sitting on their [behind] watching cameras. If cleaning is that important, why don't they help out?” another user noted.
However, others believed that it is a boss’ job to make sure their employees are doing all of their job duties.
"That’s not testing; that's ‘your boss wants you to do the job in the job description,’” one user commented.
“I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here for a minute, but hear me out. What exactly do they want/need cleaned better? If it’s a child care center in a post-pandemic world, I would think cleaning and sanitation would be a more stringent necessity,” another user shared.
Research has shown that micromanaging employees generally backfires in that the "demoralizing" nature of unwarranted advice and overinvolvement leads to employees putting in less effort. But what is a manager supposed to do if they fear their employees need more direction?
According to Harvard Business Review, the answer might be as simple as leading with empathy instead of fear. When managers think employees need a nudge, it's important to instruct with the message that you are there to help them succeed, not to get them in trouble. That's the exact opposite of what the "penny test" seeks to accomplish.
When employees feel supported they want to succeed. When they feel like they are being tested they want to cheat the system.
While at work, employees want their bosses to have faith in them that they will perform their jobs well without having to be tested.
insta_photos / Shutterstock
However, if bosses truly want to monitor their progress, there are ways they can do so without being sneaky about it.
Conducting regular performance reviews and skills assessments and gathering feedback from other team members is an effective and reasonable way to measure productivity and ensure that work is being completed.
While testing can be an impactful tool for work success, it should be implemented thoughtfully. It should never be sprung onto an employee without their knowledge and should support them rather than simply seeking to punish.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.