Don’t Watch the Bees—Support Them

A Cautionary Tale for Employers

By Matt Glanville– The National Union of Public Employees

In the spirit of Dr. Seuss’s whimsical parable The Bee Watcher, there’s a valuable lesson employers would do well to remember—one that carries real weight for frontline workers across Aotearoa.

In the story, a hardworking bee suddenly finds himself under scrutiny. A bee-watcher is appointed to monitor his performance. Then a watcher is assigned to watch the watcher. Then another. Before long, everyone’s watching—but no one is working. The buzzing stops.

This is not just a cautionary tale for children. It's an allegory for the creeping danger of over-surveillance in the workplace—particularly in human services, care professions, and other high-stakes environments. Employers, often with good intentions, may implement layer upon layer of oversight in an attempt to improve performance, mitigate risk, or satisfy public accountability.

But if you're watching too hard, you forget to support. And when you forget to support, the work stops.

At NUPE, we represent frontline public employees who often work under extreme pressure.

These are the people who show up every day to care, intervene, guide, protect, and nurture in complex environments. They come with courage and compassion. Many of them step forward despite public scrutiny, systemic underfunding, high turnover, and known risk.

What we’re seeing now is the rise of what we call “The Bee-Watcher Syndrome”:

• New systems created to watch staff under the guise of ‘practice improvement.’

• Layers of oversight bodies—internal and external—whose monitoring risks creating paralysis instead of progress.

• A culture of mistrust, where anonymous complaints are entertained more readily than open dialogue.

• A focus on performance policing rather than professional development.

Let us be clear: accountability matters. Feedback matters. Young people, clients, and communities must be heard and protected. But surveillance must not come at the expense of support.

Oversight must never become overreach.

Instead of defaulting to scrutiny, we call on employers to invest in real workforce development:

• Deliver robust induction and training that builds confidence and capability.

• Provide regular, high-quality reflective supervision, not just audits.

• Enable coaching and mentorship that recognises experience and fosters growth.

• Ensure that internal systems protect not just those being served, but those doing the serving.

  
  

At a time when many services are struggling to retain staff, it is dangerous and short-sighted to replace support with suspicion. Monitoring without development breeds fear, not improvement.

Let the lesson of The Bee Watcher ring true:If you watch too hard, the work may stop.If you support and empower, the hive will thrive.

It’s time to stop building towers of watchers—and start building up the people doing the work.

Support the workers. Grow the workers. Trust the workers.Let the buzzing begin again.