The ‘STAYING BACK’ Culture Still Prevalent in Many Organizations


Are your working hours from 9 am to 6pm yet you are not able to leave at six?

And if you go back on time, your boss may not like it. This is a common situation among most local private organizations.

There are many organizations that practice this “staying back culture” where employees are indirectly prevented from going back on time.

My interviews with employees from various organizations reveal that more than 90% of them stay back due to the demands of their immediate superiors and not because of workload.

From my observation, most employees delay their daily work as they have to stay back anyway.

Some years ago, I joined the management team of a private education institution and my working hours were from 9 am to 6pm. However, I left at around 6.30pm daily which I already considered it as late.


On third day on the job, one of my colleague advised me to stay back until 8pm or 8.30pm. I told my colleague that I had done my work for the day. However, she warned that the Datuk (our superior) did not like employees leaving before 8pm. She also told me that she actually starts her work daily at 11 am so that she could be seen busy after 7pm. 




This scenario is repeated in many organizations in the country. Employees stay back for the sake of staying back and not because they have work to do.




These factors will determine a good bonus and increment or even promotion if the abide to all the demands of the bosses.




Actually, it’s not how much time that an employee spends that matters but the amount of work he or she has completed which determines the achievements and success of the employees as well as the organization.




There are however companies that don’t believe in employees working late.




These forward looking companies focus on efficiency in completing tasks, productivity and work life balance for its employees. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of such organizations.




As a developing nation, the human resources and management teams of each organization must look into the efficiency and effectiveness in completing tasks rather than wasting time on staying back or doing overtime unnecessarily. 




On my side, I boldly never complied to that superior’s so called “staying back“ wish but ensured my efficiency and effectiveness in completing my tasks timely.





VIGNESWARAN KANNAN


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