PEOPLE
HR Insight
Fired for being
five minutes late
I
once dismissed a new recruit
on day three of his employment
for being late. It wasn’t the fact
he was five minutes late that
really bothered me, it was that
he was clutching a Starbucks
coffee as he casually ambled into
the office. The logic behind my
decision was this: I concluded that
he just didn’t care. If he couldn’t
be bothered to arrive on time moreover, he deliberately made
himself late by stopping for coffee
(which he could have had in the
office for free) - how would he
ever care about his work?
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM
WITH BEING FIVE
MINUTES LATE?
The habitual five-past-niner
may not be an issue for most
employers, but it does have
hidden costs for a business, not
in money, but in staff morale.
Those who stroll in late may
be causing issues for their
colleagues that managers aren’t
even aware of. However, the
day the seemingly unaware
manager arrives to work at
9am and no-one is at their desk
might be the day they realise
there is a problem. Don’t let it
get to that stage.
THE KNOCK-ON EFFECT
The vast majority of employees
want to follow the guidelines and
rules. Despite what most people
say in private, employees do like
to be managed, and want to know
that managers are managing
their colleagues. There are more
complaints about peers ‘getting
away with it’ than there are about
managers being too demanding or
unfair. Employees who continually
have to put up with those who
persistently run late for work feel
they deserve the same flexibility.
They may not necessarily come
to work late, but they will take
longer lunches, stop for more
chats, and leave the telephone
unanswered. These passiveaggressive tendencies are
contagious and rapidly change
the culture of an organisation,
which in most instances are
only reversible by changing the
management.
In worst case scenarios,
the situation can become so
awkward for hard-working
employees that they exit
the organisation. The sheer
frustration of observing the
daily slacker can be so irritating
that your star employee never
even complains - a quality
which adds to their star status
- but quietly starts looking for
alternative employment. At
this stage the outlook is bleak;
managers can expect a future
of idle employees who never
appear to be around. This all
started because one employee
couldn’t get out of bed on time.
Why it is important to set the
tone early in your business,
according to HR Insight's
Richard Cummings
These passiveaggressive tendencies
are contagious and
rapidly change
the culture of an
organisation which,
in most cases, is
only reversible
by changing the
management
THE ADVICE
Managers should take time
to note these behaviours or
frequent occurrences and
deal with them promptly. For
those who are now becoming
late starters, the secret is to let
them know you know. A quick
chat in the office to remind
employee that they do start
at 9am may be all it takes to
rectify the situation. Managers
will be hailed, for a short time
anyway, as being the ‘people
issue fixer’ by their currently
disgruntled employees.
Contact:
www.hrisight.co.uk
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29/08/2014 14:57