In the brave new world of hybrid work, where the lines between office and home are blurred, employers are navigating uncharted waters. Some have resorted to a draconian approach, implementing surveillance measures to monitor their employees' productivity. Yet evidence is mounting that such Big Brother tactics may be not only ineffective but also detrimental to productivity and morale.

The federal government has also started cracking down on employee surveillance. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy recently requested public comments on employers' use of monitoring technology. In turn, General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo of the National Labor Relations Board recently announced “her intention to protect employees, to the greatest extent possible, from intrusive or abusive electronic monitoring and automated management practices.”

Such surveillance is widespread, with high-profile companies such as J.P. Morgan, Barclays Bank, and UnitedHealth Group reportedly tracking everything from employees' emails to their keystrokes. This trend stems from an insidious "productivity paranoia" — managers not trusting that their employees are doing their job while working outside the office.

However, the data tell a different story. According to a recent Glassdoor survey of 2,300 U.S. professionals, 41 percent report feeling less productive when they know their bosses are monitoring their work devices. This sentiment........

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