Poll Results: On Time and Leaving Early
June 30th, 2008 by Cali & Jody
We’ve been running polls over at CultureRx and today we’d like to open up the results for discussion. A few weeks back, we asked what was considered coming in “on time” at people’s workplaces. Most recently, we asked what was considered “leaving early”. Here’s what you said:
On time
34% Before 8:30 a.m.
30% There is no such thing as “on time”
27% Before 8:00 a.m.
9% Before 7:30 a.m
Leaving early
41% Before 5:00 p.m.
22% Before 4:00 p.m.
13% Before 3:00 p.m.
13% Before 6:00 p.m.
11% There is no “leaving early” — we leave whenever we want
What we found interesting about these results is the difference between the beginning of your day and the end of your day. It seems that the rules are looser in the morning than they are in the afternoon, that you are more likely to get in trouble for leaving early than for being late.
Our first question is whether or not these results ring true for you. Do 30% of you out there honestly not have to worry about being “on time”? Or is something else at work?
Our second question is why there is a gap in the first place. Why would the traditional work environment have more of a problem with people leaving early than they would with them coming in late? If the goal is to put in an eight-hour day, then what difference does it make where you miss the time?
Thoughts? Insights? Witty comments?
It makes me think of the “Seinfeld” episode where George’s car broke down at work and his boss thought he was working all the time.
In my experience, coming in a little late in many offices slides because managers tend to come in later. Everybody is a little late sometimes, so it’s less noticeable, and you may just be able to slip in unnoticed. But at the end of the day, everybody is still there, and many are going to be staying and working late. So if you want to leave early, you have to actually make a point of excusing yourself.
That rings true around here. I come in at 9 ± 45 minutes or so, and no one has seemed to mind. But the sometimes-spoken expectation is that quitting time doesn’t start until 5ish.
You can use the same reasons for arriving or leaving, but they’re perceived differently depending on when you use them. It’s easier to make excuses in the morning — running late, traffic, doctor, kids. But for some reason, they don’t work as well in the daytime — ahead of schedule, beating traffic, doctor, kids. Definitely seems like there’s a friendlier social norm for “easing into” your work.
I think part of it is what Laura pointed out, many managers come in later and stay later. Also, most folks in the morning are either 1) already on their game or 2) getting coffee, socializing, knocking out a few emails, etc. So officemates probably don’t even notice when you started your work.
As for the why:
-We imagine “what if…” disaster scenarios
-Payroll convenience. We’re paid for 40 hours, so 39.5 is theft.
-No one notices who starts when (because they were already working or still warming up), or even if they did some work before even coming to the office. So we have only 1 data point to compare: when we leave.
-You can’t manage what you can’t see… right? Right?
this is really interesting concept to think about. I’m a morning person, so I have a tendency to get to work before 8:00, but still feel the need to stay till 5 (we are paid for 8hrs a day). But the not so morning people will stagger in for the next hr or so. And I never get any credit for coming in earlier, but feel bad if I “sneak out” a few minutes earlier.
I realize also, it’s hard not to have sludge in an office environment where they expect you to be there at a certain time. If I have to be there, shouldn’t everyone else?
It’s really opened my eyes to see how this time concept makes me feel like a kid asking their parents if they may leave the table. Now to get my manager to understand this:)
At a previous software job, we practiced the Extreme Programming methodology which calls for teams to work in pairs of two programmers per computer, mixing up the pairs halfway through the day. In order to make this work, we had to create set hours. So “on time” was 8:30 am and leaving anytime before 5:00 was “leaving early”. It was one of the most smoothly run projects I have ever been on.
I agree with the observation that there is more penalty for leaving “early”. If you come in an hour before others, they don’t notice because they weren’t there yet, and they sure don’t know how long you’ve been there. But people sure do know how much time is left before *they* leave. The fact that you were there an hour before they arrived means nothing, but they know if you’re leaving when they still think there’s 30 minutes left in the day. The worst sludgers are often the ones who watch the clock most, themselves.
As far as the “paid for 40 hours” part, I promise if you work a few long days in a week and put in 50+ hours, that’s when you’ll be reminded you’re on salary. People “forget” to remind you of that when you skip lunch to finish your work and cut out “early” to beat rush hour.
It’s sad that the focus is on time, not the work performed (or accomplishments achieved).