Thank you for coming to work. Now scram!
Most modern countries are seeing a steady rise in the amount of time people spend at work. There is some evidence, however, that this trend contributes neither to the bottom line nor to our overall well-being.
Esther Derby euthanizes the idea that long hours are a sign of employee commitment. She cites some alternative reasons people stay late at the office, including:
- One woman’s marriage was disintegrating and she stayed late to avoid tension at home.
- Another woman was using company assets to run a side business… and it was easier to hide it when people weren’t around.
- Two people who were having an affair stayed late at work to be together.
Via Jason Yip’s excellent blog.
As for productivity, the sociologist Arlie Hochschild in one of her books mentions an IT copany that were in big financial trouble. Rather than lay some people off they switched to a 30-hour work week and a corresponding pay cut, and experienced no reduction in production. They did the exact same amount of work in 30 hours a week as in 40.
When the company righted itself each employee could choose to return to the original work schedule and pay or remain at 30 hours a week. They all chose to keep the short work week. Read the whole amazing story here.
A recent Danish study found that 90% of managers who worked 30-37 hours a week were satisfied with their work-life balance. Among managers working more than 48 hours a week, that percentage dropped to 46. The consequence: More stress, less job satisfaction and an increased risk that they will leave the company.
We’ve long known that reasonable working hours are one of the most important factors determining whether people are happy at work (and in life). Long working hours are not a sign if commitment and may not even contribute to business productivity.
Therefore businesses should stop encouraging (implicitly and explicitly) long work hours and start rewarding the people who go home on time. They’re good for business.
Permalink
Spread the message:
reddit
del.icio.us
digg
Positive Sharing » How NOT to lead geeks Said,
March 14, 2006 @ 10:04 am
[...] “Let’s wring the most work out of our geeks, they don’t have lives anyway,” seems to the approach of some managers. That’s a huge mistake and overworked geeks burn out or simply quit. In one famous case, a young IT-worker had a stress-induced stroke on the job, was hospitalized, returned to work soon after and promptly had another stroke. This post further examines the myth that long work hours are good for business. [...]
Nick Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 3:03 pm
I think this is a Spain-only thing: a lot of companies force their employees to take two hours to eat. The eating habits are a little different: more food and later, about 14:00 or 15:00. But certainly everybody can do it in less than an hour. The two hours break, unless your house is very close to your office, are useless, added to commuting time completely kills any free time, and encourages spending part of it at the office.
Alexander Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
Huh, that doesn’t sound fair, Nick. I would certainly prefer to take a shorter lunch break and then leave a little earlier. I know the siesta is traditional, but it doesn’t make sense to make it mandatory.
herve Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 4:38 pm
So, we’re in France with 35 hours a week on the right way.
What about holidays ?
We have at least 5 weeks of holidays per year.
One thing, I’m sure about, 2 weeks of holidays is NOT ENOUGH.
Alexander Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 4:46 pm
Absolutely Herve, the European countries are on the right track compared especially to the US.
Here’s an interesting fact: Danish workers work less than their counterparts in other western countries (we usually have SIX weeks of vacation), but they are the most productive. So us danes work less, but get more work done. And that is probably a typical pattern.
And i could never settle for 2 weeks of vacation a year either :o)
Riley Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 6:01 pm
Define “work.” The fact is that most time spent in the corporate workplace is wasted time. The corollary is that time is wasted primarily because the organization can’t define, communicate, or properly schedule objectives.
Unless one is a skillful player one ends up becoming a Process Donkey. Competent employees are, unless they’re skilled avoiders, relegated to redressing problems created by the laziness and incompetence of their co-workers.
Some time ago I started working as a primarily off-site, flexibly scheduled techncial writer. What I discovered was that I could produce far more documentation of far higher quality by staying off the customer site and out of the organizational quagmire.
By working outside of the quagmire I effectively immunized myself against the rampant Process Donkeyism — recurring meetings, needlessly-complex administrative processes, struggling to identify goals — that’s taken over corporate culture.
As such, I redfined “work.” The contemporary corporation defines it as time spent running in spirals, moving forward one foot for every fifteen feet of exertion. I define it as documentation produced.
Finally, working as an independent allowed me to recover something I thought I’d lost forever in the mid 1980s: the ability to take pride in a job well done.
euroman Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 7:14 pm
“Absolutely Herve, the European countries are on the right track compared especially to the US.”
Yeah sure. And what proof do you have that Europeans are getting more work done than their US counterparts? And why are European startups virtually non-existent– is it because you refuse to work as hard and as long as it takes to get the job done and therefore can’t be competitive?
the proof is in the pudding my friends. take a look at the growing economies and the time they spend holidaying. forget about these studies.
Alexander Said,
May 25, 2006 @ 7:48 pm
Riley: You’re on to something very important. Way too much time is wasted at work. Lars Kolind, one of Europe’s most respected business leaders just published a book called The Second Cycle, in which he announces his “war on bureaucracy”.
There’s more information on the book here: http://www.thesecondcycle.com/
euroman: You’re kinda right. Here’s one article on the matter:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-09/01/content_260175.htm
The article says that:
U.S. workers are the world’s most productive, but they put in more hours than Europeans to score higher… In terms of output per hour we have three European countries doing better than the U.S. … and they have done so ever since the mid-80s.
So yes, american workers produce more than most, but they spend more time at work to do so.
And there are plenty of european start-ups. I’ve started a few myself. I’ll grant you that many of the most spectacular start-ups are american. Americans do seem to have an admirable gift for thinking big.
catharsis » 5pm wakeup –> UTUCA.com Said,
May 26, 2006 @ 7:37 am
[...] esoterica: work less and… let’s get lazy! why we all sell code with bugs users vs hackers - organizational security. torrentspy is suing the MPAA. haha.. yes! concerning the McComb’s recent SSN problem.. get SSN’s for free! hahaha. genius teenagers. teen mosquito –> teen buzz 10 steps to failure [...]
Successful Blog - Great Find: Go Give It Your 75% Said,
May 29, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
[...] Great Find: Thank you for coming to work. Now scram! Type of Article: Report on productivity Permalink: http://positivesharing.com/2006/03/committed/ Target Audience: Everyone who works [...]
Claire Tompkins Said,
May 29, 2006 @ 5:39 pm
I agree that there’s plenty of time wasting going on in American companies, but I have also worked with clients who struggle with workloads that get heavier every year. To increase profits, companies trim down the staff, which means that people are doing jobs that two or even three people did before. They can barely get through their work in 40 hours; less time wouldn’t help.
But this double-duty technique can backfire too. When workers are overloaded, some tasks just slip through the cracks and never get done at all.
Alexander Said,
May 29, 2006 @ 8:41 pm
I see what you’re saying Claire: Sometimes the work needs to be done, and the only way to get it done is longer hours, often because of cut-backs.
I think that fundamental realization here, which you also hint at, is that after a certain point, longer hours mean *less* work gets done, due to fatigue, stress, low creativity, resentment, negative impact on personal lives, etc.
In this case, rather than working more, you need to work more at prioritizing, instead of trying to do everything.
the mind of a nard » Blog Archive » How not to lead geeks… Said,
June 2, 2006 @ 3:27 pm
[...] “Let’s wring the most work out of our geeks, they don’t have lives anyway,? seems to the approach of some managers. That’s a huge mistake and overworked geeks burn out or simply quit. In one famous case, a young IT-worker had a stress-induced stroke on the job, was hospitalized, returned to work soon after and promptly had another stroke. This post further examines the myth that long work hours are good for business. [...]
» Blog Archive » How NOT to lead geeks Said,
June 4, 2006 @ 10:24 am
[...] “Let’s wring the most work out of our geeks, they don’t have lives anyway,? seems to the approach of some managers. That’s a huge mistake and overworked geeks burn out or simply quit. In one famous case, a young IT-worker had a stress-induced stroke on the job, was hospitalized, returned to work soon after and promptly had another stroke. This post further examines the myth that long work hours are good for business. [...]
Adam @ Bitscribe » Spend Less Time Working, Get More Done Said,
June 10, 2006 @ 1:21 pm
[...] This piece makes a strong argument for keeping hours worked per week low in order to enhance productivity. Low, as in less than 40. “The sociologist Arlie Hochschild in one of her books mentions an IT copany that were in big financial trouble. Rather than lay some people off they switched to a 30-hour work week and a corresponding pay cut, and experienced no reduction in production. They did the exact same amount of work in 30 hours a week as in 40.” [...]
En Español » Como NO liderar geeks Said,
June 12, 2006 @ 4:50 am
[...] “Exprimamos a nuestros geeks, de todas formas no tienen vida”, parecería ser la visión de algunos gerentes. Ese es un error enorme, los geeks estresados son menos eficientes o simplemente renuncian. En un caso famoso, un jóven IT tuvo un ataque por estrés en el trabajo, fue hospitalizado, volvió a trabajar luego de un tiempo y tuvo otro ataque (otro artículo examina más a fondo el mito de que largas horas de trabajo son buenas para los negocios). [...]
Fudeblog by Cesar Cardoso » Como NÃO liderar geeks Said,
June 21, 2006 @ 1:42 am
[...] “Vamos puxar o máximo de trabalho de nossos geeks, afinal eles não têm vida”, parece ser a abordagem de alguns gerentes. É um grande erro e geeks que trabalham demais ficam improdutivos ou simplesmente vão embora. Em um caso famoso, um jovem trabalhador em TI teve um ataque causado por stress, foi hospitalizado, retornou ao trabalho logo depois e logo teve outro ataque. Este post examina mais a fundo o mito de que longas horas de trabalho é bom para os negócios. [...]
Positive Sharing » Steve Forbes doesn’t get it - or why having the world’s highest taxes is a good thing Said,
June 21, 2006 @ 10:43 am
[...] It’s true, people would work more. But would they achieve more? This story argues that it’s a little more complicated than that, and that more time at work does not necessarily mean that more work is being done. [...]
Marcel Peruch Bloglines » Como NÃO liderar geeks Said,
June 22, 2006 @ 4:33 am
[...] “Vamos puxar o máximo de trabalho de nossos geeks, afinal eles não têm vida?, parece ser a abordagem de alguns gerentes. É um grande erro e geeks que trabalham demais ficam improdutivos ou simplesmente vão embora. Em um caso famoso, um jovem trabalhador em TI teve um ataque causado por stress, foi hospitalizado, retornou ao trabalho logo depois e logo teve outro ataque. Este post examina mais a fundo o mito de que longas horas de trabalho é bom para os negócios. [...]
m4zi blog » Lavorare di meno != produrre di meno… Said,
July 20, 2006 @ 11:25 am
[...] Probabilmente avrete già sentito parlare di questa storia, ma voglio riproporvela con due considerazioni finali. As for productivity, the sociologist Arlie Hochschild in one of her books mentions an IT company that were in big financial trouble. Rather than lay some people off they switched to a 30-hour work week and a corresponding pay cut, and experienced no reduction in production. They did the exact same amount of work in 30 hours a week as in 40. [...]
Ask the CHO: Implied overwork Said,
October 12, 2006 @ 11:06 am
[...] I’m fairly sure that this kind of situation is quite common. The rules say “work X hours a day”. Practically everyone works more or way more. You can stand up for your rights, but then run the risk of hidden punishment - you may be passed over for a promotion or a raise the next time around, because you’re obviusly not as committed as the other people who work more than you do. This is of course total bullshit, as I pointed out here, here and here. [...]
Como NÃO liderar geeks « Ricardo Sérgio Said,
May 28, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
[...] “Vamos puxar o máximo de trabalho de nossos geeks, afinal eles não têm vida?, parece ser a abordagem de alguns gerentes. É um grande erro e geeks que trabalham demais ficam improdutivos ou simplesmente vão embora. Em um caso famoso, um jovem trabalhador em TI teve um ataque causado por stress, foi hospitalizado, retornou ao trabalho logo depois e logo teve outro ataque. Este post examina mais a fundo o mito de que longas horas de trabalho é bom para os negócios. [...]
Cómo no dirigir a los “frikis” informáticos Said,
March 17, 2008 @ 2:09 pm
[...] «Pongámosles todo el trabajo posible a nuestros frikis, ya que, de todos modos, no tienen vida privada», esta parece ser la visión de algunos directivos. Es un terrible error ya que darles demasiado trabajo los quema o simplemente hace que se vayan. En un caso famoso, un joven empleado informático sufrió una crisis relacionada con el estrés en su trabajo, fue hospitalizado, volvió al trabajo y al poco tiempo sufrió otro ataque. Este post examina en profundidad el mito de que trabajar muchas horas es bueno para el negocio. [...]
Gracias por haber venido a trabajar. ¡Ahora pírate! Said,
April 7, 2008 @ 8:19 pm
[...] Original de Alex Difunde el mensaje: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]