Would you show up to work on time if it increased your chance for success?
Good Answers (8)
David A.
Partner at moddern marketing services
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What kind of idiotic question is this? But then what can we expect from someone who is on the nine year plan at the local community college. Why does anyone answer this guy's inane questions?
Josh D.
Listing Agent at Bucceroni Realty
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I'd be early.
Jonah,
It's not the hours you put in your work that count, it's the work you put in the hours. And so, the question really is "would it increase your chance for success if you show up to work on time?"
Well, of course, it will - as opposed to not showing up on time, that is, and assuming you are asked to be at work at a certain time.
The fact is, punctuality is one of many factors that will influence your chances of success at work. However, lack of it will result in seriously diminishing returns for you. Especially if it is highly valued by the person who signs your pay check. As a matter of principle, I myself make a point of getting at work before my boss, and leaving only after she leaves.
As well, are you self employed? You will conclude a tremendous amount of business very early in the morning, way before most people have even ordered their first latte. You're likelyt tol meet the most efficient yet accessible people early in the morning.
Eileen B.
IT Professional, Information Security Quality Assurance Operations & Administration
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I am always in early, so yeah! :)
Eileen
Sheilah E.
Owner, ★SME Management:.......... Business Management and Accounting Consultant
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I don't think doing the right thing thing for the right reason should be a motivator to success. How about if people just show up on time because that is the hour of the day they agreed to show up when they were hired. I am always early, I hate tardiness.
Sheilah
Jeff B.
Online Community Webmaster at EMC
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It is unlikely that I would take a job that valued something as stupid and silly as showing up to a particular place at a particular time. Any idiot can do that!
I have a standard lecture I give to all the folks I hire. It goes like this:
I do not care if you ever come to work at all. I do not care if you work from home, your office or on the beach. If you have a doctor's appointment, need to take your car to the mechanic, or have a meeting with your child's teacher, please, please, please do not call me and tell me that. I don't care. I have better things to do than try to monitor your physical location in time and space. I will simply give you a set of objectives. Even those will be negotiated between you and me. We will determine a timeframe in which those objectives will be met. You and I will meet regularly to discuss your progress on those objectives. The means and methods in which you meet those objectives are yours to decide. You will simply be measured on how well you met those objectives.
In my experience there are two kinds of people who have two kinds of reactions when confronted with this level of trust, respect and freedom. The first requires lots of hand holding and security. This person I fire. I try to identify them beforehand if possible.
The second kind of person is a person who self starts and revels in this environment of mutual trust and respect. I do not manage this person. I unleash him or her. They become wildly successful and create enormous value for the enterprise by application of tremendous creative energy. Which would not have occurred had I suppressed the creative outlet by "managing" the person.
So, again, I do not agree with the premise. I think that the monitoring of an employee's attendance to a job is a sign that an organization is a hairball. See the URL below for the definition of what I mean by that.
Links:
I have always been in to work early, and have been one of the last to leave. I like the time in the morning to get myself re-acquainted with what I'll be handling during the day (i.e., meetings, presentations, etc) and to go over my e-mail. At the end of the day, I make sure that I have accomplished everything that I possibly could from my list, make additional notes on different projects, meetings, impressions, etc, then I leave. This enabled me to go from an Administrative Assistant to a Division Manager in less than a year.
Adam L.
PCC SE Projects Development Manager, GT-Consulting - Owner
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Showing up to work on time should not be the measure of success and such criteria could be very damaging....
The correct measure is getting the job done right and on time....
If people at your org. do not show up at work on time you must first check what causes such behaviour? Do they stay late at night? Is there anything else you can do yourself first before blaming the workforce?
Whatever the reason may be for people to be late, you must use different incentives to change their working habits....
Remember that people in general tend to obey the rules related to beginning and ending the shift/work.... If they dont obey the rule something is wrong with the business rather than with the people...
More Answers (34)
Alex E.
Seeking Associate role in Equity Research - MBA Finance, MS Computer Science, CFA Level 2 Candidate
yes, that would be the best motivation
You mean as opposed to showing up an hour or so early, as I tend to do?
Seriously, if there is tight coupling between punching in at a certain time and getting a raise, that may get the attention of certain people. However, I don't think there is a tight coupling for most people between mandated work hours and "success", if "success" has to do with the project (rather than the individual) going well.
Harry H.
CEO Octane Interactive
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I would show up at work on time becuase it is the right thing to do. If you do the right things you have a better chance for success.
My work ethic is to always show up on time. On occassions when I can't, I call in or email. So, the short answer is "sure!".
Gary L.
Capitol District Commercial Sales Manager at ADT Security Services
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I always use lombardi time (if you are on time, you are late) because I would not want something silly like that getting in the way of my success!
Daniel J.
Division Leader with Primerica Financial Services
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If you define success as "not getting fired", then yes, absolutely.
Adrian D.
Recruitment Consultant / Account Manager at Client Server Ltd
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sorry is it the norm not to show up for work on time ? .... like most other replies I tend to arrive up to an early before I 'should' get here but then am more than happy to leave the office 'on time' ( and log back in remotely at home ! ) as I'm happy I've done a full day's work and achieved all I intended to do. ..... I;ve always believed that if I plan my days / weeks properly then the results should follow and therefore I've been "successful". Interesting side-note that my definition of success has changed the older I've gotten and finding a work / home balance is more important than it used to be !!
With certain types of jobs you have no choice - you have to be there before the customers are :) Otherwise "success" would mean "not being fired" :)
In other areas it is not required. Personally I prefer to come in and leave at ~ the same time. I do not think my boss cares about me coming at 8:30 or 9 (he comes a bit later anyway). Simple work ethics require that you should be in the office with other colleagues so you can collaborate in the most efficient way.
Janette C.
Marketing Manager Membership Services
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Jonah,
Most certainly, but then I would only be late due to things beyond my control i.e. Motorway traffic jams, Train cancellations, Flight cancellation etc. However, I don't subscribe to a long hours culture i.e. be there just to be noticed and try to be the last out of the building to gain 'Brownie' points. Your productivity, quality and contribution is what you should be measured by and not how long you stay in the office. Even being at the office on time shouldn't matter that much unless it means you are inconveniencing your colleagues, as long as you make up the hours you are contracted to do.
Unless you are explicitly told by your employer that showing up late will not affect your chance of success, you should always assume it does. I have never met a manager that does not prefer punctual employees. However, this is just one aspect of reliability, which is just one aspect of a quality employee.
I would personally show up for work on time if I felt it was important to the job, knowing that my commitment to the job is a greater factor in being successful than the appearance of being in the right place at the right time.
You're kidding, right?
Who could think they might be successful if they can't even show up for work on time?
Amy F.
Integrated communications pro, specializing in B2B tech and agribusiness
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Being on time seems like common sense in the business world, but I think being seen is just as important. If you show up on time, stay late or come in early, but no one knows, you're not reaping the rewards of your actions. My advice is to make sure that the people who matter to your success are aware of the time you're putting in. If you want to be successful, go over and above when you can and make sure people see it. This also sets a good example for others.
It does and I do.
You do not need any fancy incentive program to get your employees to show up on time. If your environment really does require punctuality, I would expect to see one’s ability to arrive on time reflect positively on their career. Those that arrive late should see their careers progress slowly or even see their employment end.
If punctuality is simply a nice to have or personal pet peeve, get over it. Don’t expect anyone to react to “I wish…” Give them an “If… Then…” and don’t fail to follow up on the “then.”
Bernard R.
President at SolorIT, Inc.
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I have heard of people who may show up "on time" but don't become effective until an hour after they step foot in the building. I'd prefer an employee that walks in 5 minutes late and gets right to business over the slow starter.
2 cents.
James W.
Generating excitement and affinity between customers and brands across channels at Aflac
Short Answer: Yes, of course.
Long Answer / Anecdote: I had an "old school management" EVP join our org a few years back that had an office in the corner of the building near our team. He complained to my boss that people on her team weren't staying late - he stayed until 7:30-8:00PM most nights. So we had a powow and concluded that some of the team would come in early and some would come in late (I was in the late crowd) - to leave after he left so he'd see "warm bodies" on the way out. This gave him the impression that I was a dedicated, hardworking soldier (which in truth I was), but he assumed that I got in when he did, not @ 10:00AM which was the reality. He was from that point onward always nice to me, helped me get on good projects, and allowed me up the ladder.
I personally think this anecdote should be taken as a cautionary tale for all managers and an advisory tale to employees under clock-punching managers. The whole thing was an irritation to the whole team and the team effectively fooled him because of his idiotic requirement that people be seen working when he left. He didn't trust the team to do the right thing for the business, nor did he empower us to schedule the best thing for the business (which would not have been splitting the team into two offset shifts which was an inconvenience for our other colleagues). This sort of old school management mentality ignores work/life balance and the benefits of telecommuting that many companies (Best Buy - see link below) have discovered. It also ignored the fact that I was oncall 24/7 and that I worked many hours outside the office in addition to the time I was there to be checked on.
Advice to managers: focus on real, demonstrable results and stop with the clock-punching. It works at McDonalds but not in a high-performance corporate culture where retention is important to ongoing success.
Links:
In my field, as a Realtor I find that not only do you need to get on your day early, you need to have the tools at the ready to do some mop up work in the evening when you're at home and relaxing. The people that work like that find the most success and get through the hard times, which we're definately headed for right now with the lending market correcting itself unfortunately.
When the alternative is that showing up late reduces your chance for success, the answer seems obvious :-) Although, based on the patterns of some individuals, I guess it's not obvious to everyone.
Links:
Keith H.
NA at n.a
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I'll go along with the handful of answers that say that the specific hours often don't matter much.
I've worked many jobs (retail as one particular example) where being at a certain place at a certain time really matters. Currently, with what I'm doing, it's not so important, it's the work that gets done that matters more than anything else.
As a manager or a team supporting techs and customers in all of North and South America I'm very flexible with my employee's time. I expect them to report their time accurately and to get everything they need done in a given day or week. Beyond that, I really don't care when they come in and leave. Things can pop up at any time and we can't always be guaranteed to be here when something happens. I have a company phone for emergencies 24x7, but my employees don't. They just have their 40 hours in a week to get done what needs to get done and it really doesn't matter much when that's done.
In other words, I think each manager needs to really evaluate their own situation and determine how important it is for employees to work a specific schedule vs taking care of what needs taken care of. Sure, there are plenty of situations where schedules matter. But, if you're not in one you will find you have happier and more productive employees if you don't focus and nitpick on the things that really aren't important to success.
Keith
Tom F.
Editorial Director at Information Security Media Group
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Jonah:
I'm a morning person, so I've always been the first one in an office -- usually by an hour or two. And it helps me immensely to get a leg up on the day.
But know what I've found? Managers don't recognize the people who get to work early. They pay attention only to the ones who stay late.
So, I don't know that it helps the career to arrive on time or early. Stay late, and everyone will laud you as a hero.
best,
Tom
If, as Woody Allen says, "Eighty percent of success is showing up."
I think the other 20% would consist of:
"being on time"
"arriving early"
"getting the job done on-strategy, on-time and on-budget"
