Reply to Sick Kids--did my boss cross the line?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I assume you used sick leave during your half work days?  If not, then I would have to side with the boss.

You may have met your basic deadlines despite working half days, but if you are only working 4 hours in a job that requires 8 hour days, you aren't "getting all your work done."  You are either cutting corners or failing to take advantage of downtime that could be used to get ahead or work on business development.  There is no such thing as doing a full day's work in a half day; at best, you're just doing a very efficient half day.  In other words, there is an opportunity cost to staying home with sick kids, and it isn't one that the employer should be asked to shoulder on anything but the most rare occasion.

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And you are the polar opposite of me as a manager. I don't measure my team's output or value to the organization by measuring whether or not they worked 8 hours in a day. I don't care. I measure results. People who can deliver quality work time and time again and who build the business are valuable; people who think of 'time' as the objective function to maximize or otherwise optimize, are thinking about the problem set the wrong way. At the end of the year, no one is going to stand up and give anyone a performance evaluation that's normalized for hours worked. No one says "Sally did X, and Johnny did Y, but Sally took twice as long, so therefore Johnny is better." Time just isn't the issue. Rather - if Sally ACHIEVED twice what John did - thats what will matter. Or, if John achieved twice what Sally did.

And if someone is regularly KILLING IT *and* they are working 4 hours a day, then that means I'm not doing a good job as a manager in giving them stretch opportunities and fully leveraging their potential. I like to keep my team on the edge of their comfort zone - thats how people grow. Never negotiated a multi million dollar contract? Great. Go do it. Never presented to an executive? You're up. Never done a financial forecast? Your turn. Never figured out a marketing campaign? You take lead. Want to do it at 2am from home while snorting ground up coffee beans? Be my guest. Prefer to do it at 10am in a suit and tie sitting at your desk? That fine too.

And you know what? They all appreciate it because they know they are measured on the merits of their contributions, not on 'face time' or any other meaningless metric. If a long day comes up - they all put the hours in - and if something comes up for them - they all take the hours out.

You and you ilk are the old guard. I hope you eventually come to change your way of thinking. 
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How sanctimonious, and myopic.  You pretend to be so enlightened, but then assume what works for you, in your workplace, in your industry, will work best for everyone.  (And isn't that really what you're accusing others of doing?)

In addition, the time it takes to complete a task is absolutely a component of performance.  And for anyone who bills time, finishing a task in 4 hours and then not working the rest of an 8 hour day absolutely is a problem.  If you're finished workign, you need to get another project - otherwise, you're not earning.   [/quote]

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