Gauging your "commitment" by hours?

[lozina]

I've got what I consider a good job and I enjoy the work but one issue is really getting annoying especially now that they sent out a staff e-mail about hours. They are complaining that "some" people are not showing enough commitment to the company because they are not spending the minimum (emphasis in original statement) 9 hours a day (1 hour for lunch).

Now, I come in around 8 and leave a little over 8 hours later around 4. Not the 9 hours but this is because I don't spend an hour for lunch, I eat quickly at my desk while I work, so I don't feel I need to stay for 9 hours. But regardless of whether they might be implying me in their anonymous criticism, the premise absolutely stinks. I mean, how can you gauge commitment by time staying in the office? What about a guy like me that works hard and gets alot of things done in a short amount of time? Is a idle slouch who sits there staring at his monitor for 10 hours a day exhibiting more commitment?

It makes me think of Office Space with the whole flare thing....

So am I right in this? I'm going to talk to them about this just to clear this up but just wanted to make sure my argument seems sound.

Edit: Furthermore, when it came down to it I did spend my own time during weekends or in the evening from home if there were pressing issues. Of course it conveniently was not an issue about commitment to me given that they do not compensate people for overtime...

 

[isasir]

Your argument is sound and I agree with it, but, unless someone is hovering over you 8 hours a day and assessing your efficiency, more time in office generally translates into a stronger commitment at most companies.

 

[MrPickins]

The difference is: in office space, Jennifer Aniston's character was meeting the minimum, whereas you don't seem to be.

It may suck, but having a mandated length for the work day is just how some places operate.

I'd say just take your full lunch.

 

[nakedfrog]

As far as I can tell, a certain percentage of management is only sure you're doing your job if you're there X amount of hours per week. I used to have a manager that would just wait until everyone else left, and then go home, so it looked like he was putting in extra time (although he wasn't doing squat). Same guy would close his office door, sneak out, and have somebody pick him up so it looked like he was there since his car wasn't gone.

 

[Dirigible]

Some places require a lot of time in the office. Others don't care about anything except what you accomplish. A few years ago I worked at a place where if you didn't stay until 8pm you were viewed as not having commitment. Didn't matter that I got in at 7am and a lot of others didn't roll in until 10am or later. If I regularly left before 8 there were problems. Consider yourself lucky you can leave at 5.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: lozina
So am I right in this?

it doesn't matter if you are right or not
you have to play their game or find a different culture/company to work in

if the execs are parking lot watchers and see too many peoples leaving too early, that is their reaction

you don't work at Cerner do you?

 

[gamepad]

Fight the system. Stay an extra hour, but use the extra hour at work for what you would do at home.

You can bring breakfast and waste 15 minutes every morning eating. You can take 15 minute breaks to read the newspaper or nef on ATOT. During lunch you can run a few errands.

There are many ways to show your commitment.

 

[jtvang125]

Just because you're putting in your hours doesn't mean everyone else is.

 

[D1gger]

Granted that you are working hard for the full time that you are sitting at your desk, if the remainder of your office mates sees you leaving at 4 instead of staying until 5 when they will have completed their "8 hours of work" they will get the impression that it is OK for them to leave at 4 o'clock as well. It is very hard, especially in a larger office to grant exceptions, so many large offices simply set hard rules.

Luckily, my administrative staff is small enough that I do grant exceptions on hours worked and we have have quite a flexible arrangement with some starting at 8 and leaving at 3 to work at home for another hour or two and some starting at 9 and working until 5. We are small enough that we can monitor work actually done and feel comfortable that everyone is pulling their weight (or they are let go).

 

[Chaotic42]

Yeah, I'm salary and we have a 40 hour minimum. Anything over 40 we don't get paid for, and working anything under 40 is a "performance problem". Some days I spend literally half of my day waiting for the computer. I've told them about the problem and new equipment would be "too expensive".

That's fine. 8 hours is 8 hours.

 

[acole1]

Obviously they don't care about how much work you do, but how many hours you sit in their chair.

They are teaching you to slack off! Learn from it, and slack off. It's hard to be at work more than you need to, but if you take breaks like gamepad said, it should go buy relatively easy.

Just remember: different companies have different work environments, and it looks like yours is one of where people are expected to put in X amt. of time, not X amt of work.

This might or might not be by management's design, but either way it looks like you?ll have to comply. If I was you though, I?d mention the concern to my supervisor and see what he/she says.

:thumbsup: to working hard though. Not many people do it anymore.

 

[kranky]

That's a tough situation when they focus on hours instead of results. I once worked for a guy who used to complain that people didn't work hard because "you can walk around here at 6PM and it's like a morgue". I would come in at 6 and leave around 4:30, and he along with most people would come in about 8. I didn't want to throw that in his face because I didn't think he'd take it well. It wasn't going to sound good to say "Well, I come in at 6, so compared to the people who show up at 8, I leave at the equivalent of 6:30."

I was glad I didn't because a while later I heard him tell someone that it's irrelevant when people show up very early, since they don't even do any work until 8 when most people come in. So I wasn't going to win anyway.

Realistically, if they want to see butts-in-seats for 9 hours, no matter how much you produce it's going to look like you're skating by. It's very likely they don't know how to measure results, so they rely on how many hours people are there as a measurement.

Your defense plan should be to carefully document your results and achievements, and regularly review with your immediate boss. For the people who can supply bulletproof evidence of solid performance, the "how many hours" thing is only a minor irritant. They may still not like it that you leave around 4, but it shouldn't hurt your reputation. Do not mention getting paid for overtime, as that is certain to get you branded as small-minded. But it's certainly fair to diplomatically point out that you have worked and do work from home in order to make sure things are taken care of.

Also be aware that the "I eat fast at my desk" thing usually doesn't matter. While I understand what you're saying, most people hear that as an excuse for not working a full day. It sounds like you're a clock-watcher. I would not bring that into the conversation. I once heard a manager debate that with someone and the manager said, "That's fine. You only take 30 minutes for lunch and want to leave 30 minutes early. So next time there's heavy traffic, or you need to run to the post office, or need to leave a little early to get to the ballgame, or had a flat tire on the way to work, or a day that you choose to go out to lunch, or any other reason you will not be here for exactly 8 hours and 30 minutes, please notify me so I can make sure you make up the extra time. Because I just want to be fair to everyone else." Totally backfired.

If you have a good relationship with your boss, and you know you are a good performer, you might come right out and ask if he is OK with the amount of time you are there.

 

[Colt45]

Work 3 hours, take a 4 hour lunch, work 3 hours.

That would make you super-committed.

 

[her209]

Oh... kay....