Indeed, I feel this entire approach causes employees to adopt maximum disengagement, its the only response that preserves your sanity.

It always causes me to chuckle since its the exact opposite of what management say they want, and they seem to work very hard to produce this result.

"Nobody rose in Packingtown by doing good work. You could lay that down for a rule—if you met a man who was rising in Packingtown, you met a knave. That man who had been sent to Jurgis' father by the boss, he would rise; the man who told tales and spied upon his fellows would rise; but the man who minded his own business and did his work—why, they would "speed him up" till they had worn him out, and then they would throw him into the gutter."