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Subject:RE: Increasing your corporate value (long) From:"Damien Braniff" <Damien -dot- Braniff -at- asg -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Tue, 7 Jun 2005 08:41:38 +0100
Stress is a part of modern life and, at least some of it, is of our own
making. It's the work/life balance thing (or the work to live/live to
work) and the pressure seems to be to squeeze as much out of workers as
possible (oversimplification I know!). However, doing the hours has no
direct link to the amount of work done.
There are enough examples around where less is more - one recently here
(can't find the link) where the company owner just became a father and
saw, first hand, the additional calls on his time. To meet HIS needs he
re-organised the company policy (less hours, more flexible etc) and he
ended up with increased productivity and lower costs (less time off ill
etc). Too often it's the 'being there' - quantity, not quality.
Holiday/time off is vital to re-charge batteries, no matter what you do.
The last place I worked the US staff said the ideal was US pay and UK
holidays (25/yr ply 8 stats). One place I worked was flexi so you could,
in theory, have an additional 2 days/month if you made up the time.
Excellent place to work :-)
All companies are profit driven (as they should be) but too often that's
ALL they think about with no regard to staff etc. I'm with Scott Adams
on the 9-5 run. If the work can't be scheduled for the normal working
day then it's badly planned and you need more staff. I know there are
occasions when extra time is needed but these shouldn't be the norm. In
a 'good', well run company you have productive, happy employees who,
when those times do arise, are prepared to put the time in.
As for the Titanic (been lots about it here in Belfast) it was a mix of
many things, one of which was 'standard' even now - they knew about the
potential bulkhead problem (OK in most cases, but not hitting an
iceberg!) but the launch had been announced and that date wasn't going
to slip. Know software companies with that attitude :-)
Damien
Damien Braniff | Technical Writer
damienb -at- asg -dot- com
Technical Communications
ASG | asg.com
Waterfront Plaza
8, Lagan Bank Road,
Belfast, N. Ireland BT1 3LR
Tel: +44 (0) 28.9072.3124
Fax: +44 (0) 28.9072.3324
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