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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