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Much to my dismay, I was thrust into a management position early in my career. I had to learn that the people that worked for me were not as motivated, and in many cases not as intelligent as I. The other lesson was that despite the fact that they were not performing their tasks in the same fashion as I would have, the job was getting done “satisfactorily”. Industry survives on “satisfactory” performance.
If the work product of the individual is “satisfactory”, their annual job review should reflect a “satisfactory” evaluation. If their work product is suffering from too much time “on the net” they should be placed on probation and considered for replacement as a “unit of production” in the workplace. Likewise, if an employee is exceeding their work expectation, then they should get a “superior” review, and a “superior” raise. If a worker has too much “spare” time on their hands, then it could be their supervisor’s fault. They may be being asked to accomplish too little in their work day. Additional tasks should be found for them. This is a test of their manager’s supervisory skills.
Some of the most productive workers in American history have been those who take frequent “breaks”. Thomas Edison, for one, comes to mind. If you study his work habits you will find that he took frequent breaks. I don’t think that anyone can find fault with the sum total of his work product.
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