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New here? Employee Evolution is a blog written by Ryan Healy. Ryan is a Co-Founder of Brazen Careerist, the webs #1 social network for young professionals. Ryan speaks with organizations on best practices for recruiting and retaining Generation Y and how to effectively use social media to reach your target market. To contact Ryan, please visit our contact page.
By Ryan Healy
College taught me the true meaning of independence. I attended classes when I chose, I studied at my convenience, I partied at my leisure and I relaxed when I needed to relax. You would assume that since I am now an “adult,” I would at least have this same sense of independence in the corporate world. But working in this antiquated “count-the-hours” corporate structure, I am controlled and monitored more than I was by my parents in high school.
“I’m going to leave at 3:00 pm today, my wife is out of town and I need to pick my kid up at school or he will miss baseball practice.” This is just one example of the countless excuses to leave early that I have heard from my superiors.
Why do my managers and superiors feel a need to explain their need to leave early to me? I don’t care! Leave early if you have to. You have a life! I have a life! Work is just a part of life! I don’t need to know if your kid is sick or if you have a doctors appointment. We are all grown ups here…I trust you.
I can’t blame my coworkers for this. I find myself coming up with ridiculous reasons for leaving a little early as well. We work in a corporate culture that believes more time equals more productivity and the people who work the most hours are the ones “going the extra mile.”
Leave your thoughts here. (16 responses)
- 1 Pingback on May 22nd, 2007 at 7:12 pm
- 2 Pingback on Jul 8th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
- 3 Pingback on Aug 12th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Amen. The fact that I’ve commented on two of your posts in the last hour is a perfect example of how brain-fried, have-to-be-here employees aren’t doing the company any favors by sticking around, just because the clock says so.
Exactly! But please keep the comments coming, I’m in the same boat.
Ya know, I’ve been thinking … I’m in the same boat you are as far as catching myself making excuses when they really might not be necessary. Our company’s policy is that if you miss less than 4 hours of work at a time, you’re just supposed to make it up during that pay period, because it’s easier on the payroll manager.
The idea is framed in a way that reserves these situations for doctors appointments and things of that nature, but there’s no official policy keeping me from banking lunch hours to leave at noon on a gorgeous summer Friday. I would just need to run it past my manager who, in all honesty, would probably let me, without asking for an explanation.
Still, I feel almost guilty asking for the arrangement, just to enjoy the afternoon. And if I did ask for it, I would still wait until I could also use the afternoon for something productive. I can’t really blame that on anything other than company culture.
But who is it benefiting?
Read The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. He explains exactly how to talk your boss into something like this.
If all young people start to do this, I bet we could influence some real changes in workplace culture, while simultaneously shutting everyone up who says we will just conform like everyone else did.
You know, I figured I would just check this out before maybe starting to do something productive for my job today. (I’ve been working on my resume and evaluations all morning, phew!) My goal is to head outside and to work on editting something. I don’t think anyone will miss me. And if they do, I blocked it off on my calendar so that it looks like I have a meeting.
I really and more productive in the morning and late at night. This whole midafternoon being in the office thing is a giant waste of time, in my opinion. I think that’s why the idea of freelancing is so appealing — as long as everything gets to the client by the deadline no one cares when your hours get clocked.
amen.
I actually just heard my boss give a similar explanation to why she was leaving at 340. in the grand scheme if things, I don’t understand why we count minutes, and report time to the quarter hour on our time sheet. I admit to procrastinating away more of my reported hours than I’d like to, but I bet the hour I hope to spend editing the handbook for my job while i curl up in bed at home will be the most productive.
just sitting at a desk isn’t a guarantee that that time spent in the office is productive–who do we all think we’re kidding? I was g-chatting with a friend this morning, and we both think that the work enviroment when our generation is running the workplace will be a lot more transient. Work outside, work at a coffee shop, work on the go, work while your kid plays on a swingset or while you take the train to the beach…who cares? stop making excuses as long as you’re doing your work.
Amen, Ris.
I absolutely adore my mother who convinced her boss about 6 years ago that she should work from home on Fridays. This let my mom take care of any emergenies at her office and still leave midday for the lake to avoid all the nasty traffic in the summer. She’s a genius. And if she would only let us get wireless internet up there, I bet we could get a lot more accomplished.
Amen. If you’re part of a production line or need to answer phones or wait on customers, then missing work has consequences and requires some extra preparation. But if you have the type of job you can do from home or the road, and you’re accessible, why not let people set their own hours and be flexible when and where they put them in. The real problem is old-fashioned provintial management, busy body coworkers who snipe every time someone isn’t there, and control freak managers who don’t trust workers.
That’s way the concept of paid time off banks appeals to me. As someone who has worked many years without missing any time due to health issues, I don’t use sick days. Yet, I could use some extra time off for other personal needs. If all of the time were converted to paid time off, there would be no issue why anyone wants to be off - just do it!
This is a sticky subject. If you look at who the decision-makers are and what school they come from (old school or new school management), there seems to be more managers who feel you should put your time in at the office. It’s true, I feel tremendous guilt even when I leave on time let alone before a full 9 hours at the office. And who suffers most but my family and my health! You need to ask yourself this - if you owned a company and were paying people to work for you, would you care if they left early (even suggested they have a life outside of work) or would you want them working for you until their full 8 or 9 or 10 hour shift is up? Most owners and senior management are workaholics, but I am seeing more executives leave the office on time or even early to get off on some family appointment (maybe even get out on the golf course for an afternoon tee time).
A change is definitely needed in the way we all view the time we spend working at the office. Some of the more creative companies allow working out of the home, flex time, 9/80 workweeks and other options that not only raise productivity levels but allow employees to treat thier job as more of a job and less as a essential life function. We’re still a ways off until more companies take this approach, so hang in there, try to influence your decision-makers and remember these things when you make it up the ladder to where you can implement one of these programs to add value and meaning to your workers’ lives away from work.
When your boss tells you he’s leaving early to get his kid to baseball practice, he’s lying.
Actually he’s going to a hotel room to boff that hot 23-year-old secretary who won’t give you the time of day.
If this upsets you, understand your boss’s wife is at home alone and would be very glad to see you. Use as your excuse for leaving early, “I have to run an errand for the [Boss’s last name]s.”
Haha, that is really funny. I think its safe to assume that it’s not true considering secretaries are more or less non existent these days.
I believe the term is administrative assistant. But secretary sounds so much more fun!