How to motivate non exempt employees (on the clock)

[Anonymous]

We do all hands and such. But the hourly employees it is a bit weird.

For instance we have a holiday party off site after work all fancy. In a fancy place. But only top people go.

I found that weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

I have been working for long enough to understand the rules for promotion, going above and beyond is the bare minimal, there are other rules such as “cultural fit with upper management” that some of us just know we will never get there. So why bother to do that to get disappointed? At least using that time to do personal hobbies is good for my mental health.

Seriously, no sr mgr is going to bad for a random hourly employee they met once for a drink. They know the score, OP, that you just want free work from them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

Well that's a pretty terrible work environment if the only way to interact with Sr Management is to go to an after-hours, not paid for event. Why in the universe would they do that?
You can make it a nicer place by getting all of their management - from you to the top - to treat them like valued employees, rather than being too high and mighty to even interact with them.
Do you not have (paid, on the clock) town halls? Skip level meetings? All hands? Departmental meetings?

OP said that the employees have set tasks and times to do them. Unless the company is willing to push less product out the door, your production employees are not attending skip level meetings and all hands in any meaningful way. Maybe OP should encourage them to unionize?

Good idea! Start a union, OP, or at least give them the tools to do so if they want to.

https://www.wikihow.com/Form-a-Union

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there is no room for promotion as it is hard to break the “on the clock” mentality.

For instance we have a few corporate events on the weekend or after work each year.

I noticed the on the clock people don’t go. But it is only chance to interact with sr. Mgt. which would help their case for a promotion.

I have no clue how to make it a nicer place. They have tasks to do and a set time to do it. To be honest I would tell them to quit if I was giving career advice.

I have been working for long enough to understand the rules for promotion, going above and beyond is the bare minimal, there are other rules such as “cultural fit with upper management” that some of us just know we will never get there. So why bother to do that to get disappointed? At least using that time to do personal hobbies is good for my mental health.

Seriously, no sr mgr is going to bad for a random hourly employee they met once for a drink. They know the score, OP, that you just want free work from them.

+1 I've managed employees with no promotion path. If you want to motivate them, it's over time (as in time and a half real overtime) opportunities or production bonuses paid regularly enough that they don't view them as a pipe dream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

OP on the clock has badge swipes tied to timesheets. They cant
Eat at desks on the clock. The whole building on camera so they go to lunch or coffee have to swipe. Once outside building clock stops ticking.

Interesting we have a coffee shop next door. I go there as have a great egg sandwich, I told my staff about it they did not know it existed. I then realized they have to punch out or go on a break to go there.

It is bizarre. So bizarre we have birthday cake the other day and on the clock people not invited.

We are doing breakfast next week “voluntarily” from 8-9am and we will pay then for hour. But not mandatory.

Interesting to see who goes. It is mandatory for me.

How much are they making? Senior managers making a few hundred k don't mind a $6 latte and a $11 egg sandwich in the morning. The guy packing boxes in shipping making $15 an hour isn't going there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

OP on the clock has badge swipes tied to timesheets. They cant
Eat at desks on the clock. The whole building on camera so they go to lunch or coffee have to swipe. Once outside building clock stops ticking.

Interesting we have a coffee shop next door. I go there as have a great egg sandwich, I told my staff about it they did not know it existed. I then realized they have to punch out or go on a break to go there.

It is bizarre. So bizarre we have birthday cake the other day and on the clock people not invited.

We are doing breakfast next week “voluntarily” from 8-9am and we will pay then for hour. But not mandatory.

Interesting to see who goes. It is mandatory for me.

How much are they making? Senior managers making a few hundred k don't mind a $6 latte and a $11 egg sandwich in the morning. The guy packing boxes in shipping making $15 an hour isn't going there.

They’re making like $35 an hour. This place is cheap! $4 bucks an egg sandwich. But they don’t want to punch out.

[Anonymous]

I am an hourly employee (but I don’t have to punch in and out).
I like it this way, no corporate BS, great work life balance.
What do you want to motivate them to do? Just stay on the job? Do more during their work hours? Do higher quality work?
Once you know what you want from them, you try to identify personalities that are susceptible to it.
If you just want them to love you and be literal, organize events with catering which are inside the building (so they don’t have to punch out to get there) and where they are essentially getting paid to eat.
What motivates me personally: a nice boss, lots of leeway in doing my job, and not having to punch out for breaks that are mandatory due to the schedule I have (so it’s not like I am choosing to take a break but there is no action for an hour so I have to sit there and wait to go back to work).
I don’t go to team building events because I have no interest in advancement, I don’t want to say too much to which I am prone tbh, and I am not paid to be there.

[Anonymous]

OP, what motivates you? Why do you go to work every day? Money. You may say you believe in the company's mission, or work on exciting projects or whatever, but would you actually come to work every day if you weren’t being paid to work?

Why do you expect anyone to work for free?

[Anonymous]

OP, you need to completely change your mindset. These aren't just random hourly employees. They are YOUR employees. Who just happen to be paid hourly. You are their new boss. It is your job to go to bat for them. You need to sit with them for a day, see what their day is like and what it entails. You need to identify what is getting in the way of making this team successful and then advocate with your own manager for the necessary changes to be made.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

OP on the clock has badge swipes tied to timesheets. They cant
Eat at desks on the clock. The whole building on camera so they go to lunch or coffee have to swipe. Once outside building clock stops ticking.

Interesting we have a coffee shop next door. I go there as have a great egg sandwich, I told my staff about it they did not know it existed. I then realized they have to punch out or go on a break to go there.

It is bizarre. So bizarre we have birthday cake the other day and on the clock people not invited.

We are doing breakfast next week “voluntarily” from 8-9am and we will pay then for hour. But not mandatory.

Interesting to see who goes. It is mandatory for me.

How much are they making? Senior managers making a few hundred k don't mind a $6 latte and a $11 egg sandwich in the morning. The guy packing boxes in shipping making $15 an hour isn't going there.

They’re making like $35 an hour. This place is cheap! $4 bucks an egg sandwich. But they don’t want to punch out.

I'm an hourly employee making $55 an hour. Im not punching in and out iust to go get a latte and I have no idea why that seems to bother you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

OP on the clock has badge swipes tied to timesheets. They cant
Eat at desks on the clock. The whole building on camera so they go to lunch or coffee have to swipe. Once outside building clock stops ticking.

Interesting we have a coffee shop next door. I go there as have a great egg sandwich, I told my staff about it they did not know it existed. I then realized they have to punch out or go on a break to go there.

It is bizarre. So bizarre we have birthday cake the other day and on the clock people not invited.

We are doing breakfast next week “voluntarily” from 8-9am and we will pay then for hour. But not mandatory.

Interesting to see who goes. It is mandatory for me.

How much are they making? Senior managers making a few hundred k don't mind a $6 latte and a $11 egg sandwich in the morning. The guy packing boxes in shipping making $15 an hour isn't going there.

They’re making like $35 an hour. This place is cheap! $4 bucks an egg sandwich. But they don’t want to punch out.

$35/hr x 40 hrs/wk = $1400. Would YOU punch out to pay for a latte and then only end up with a $1360 paycheck?

Seriously OP, you need to get away from your computer and get to know your team. Put yourself in their shoes. You are their boss, its time to act like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a non exempt employee. There is no way I’m staying late or coming in early unless I get OT but I make sure my job is done well when I’m at work.
Why can’t your employees not punch out and go out for lunch? You can also treat them all to coffee or breakfast if you wanted to right?
Can you let them go early on occasion without making up the hours?

OP on the clock has badge swipes tied to timesheets. They cant
Eat at desks on the clock. The whole building on camera so they go to lunch or coffee have to swipe. Once outside building clock stops ticking.

Interesting we have a coffee shop next door. I go there as have a great egg sandwich, I told my staff about it they did not know it existed. I then realized they have to punch out or go on a break to go there.

It is bizarre. So bizarre we have birthday cake the other day and on the clock people not invited.

We are doing breakfast next week “voluntarily” from 8-9am and we will pay then for hour. But not mandatory.

Interesting to see who goes. It is mandatory for me.

How much are they making? Senior managers making a few hundred k don't mind a $6 latte and a $11 egg sandwich in the morning. The guy packing boxes in shipping making $15 an hour isn't going there.

They’re making like $35 an hour. This place is cheap! $4 bucks an egg sandwich. But they don’t want to punch out.

$4 plus the time that their either lost clocking out, walking down ordering and eating and then walking back makes it a $20 egg sandwich or means that they get to arrive or leave 15 or 20 minutes earlier or later.

[Anonymous]

Are you the weird poster with two jobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you the weird poster with two jobs?

No. But I did offer to take then on tour of headquarters next week, me paying for lunch and metro and let them go home at three and get paid whole day.

I am not on clock but I am not a clock watcher. I was on the clock when younger and know how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you the weird poster with two jobs?

DP I think it's him. Any posts about workers clocking out for breaks or workers goofing off or having multiple jobs while WFH are from the same guy. His writing style is distinct.