Re: Working later than the boss

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

My point was, your manager doesn't have to be
working when not in the office, or even when
*in* the office.  You're not being paid to do your 
job on the basis of how many hours your manager 
is working, or on how hard your manager is working.  
My boss works longer hours than I do; he's always 
here in the morning when I arrive, about 50% of the 
time he's still here when I leave and he spends half
of the rest of his life travelling on business, but even 
if he only put in four hours a day and spent the rest
of his time at the track, my primary concern is whether
I am being compensated within our agreed-upon
terms for the time and effort *I* put into *my* work.

To put it in other terms, I have a gardener.  He
came to my house, we talked about what I wanted
done, he quoted me a price for the monthly service.
He comes on our agreed-upon day, does the agreed-
upon work and sends me monthly bills, which I pay.
Is it "inherently wrong" that I am not there when he
arrives and leaves, or that I am not busily working
on some other aspect of my home maintenance while
he does the work I pay him for, and should he be 
"irritated" or "resentful" if I choose to go to a 
movie instead?

The manager/employee relationship is based on
you doing the work your manager assigns you and
your manager getting you the resources you need
and compensation you consider appropriate for 
what you do.  Your manager's workload is 
between your manager and whoever he/she reports 
to.  You're not characters on "Lost" who have some 
moral obligation to shoulder all of life's burdens 
equally.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Janice Gelb" <Janice -dot- Gelb -at- Sun -dot- COM>
> If employees have a sense that their manager is
> working when not in the office, that's one thing.
> However, while we don't have all the facts we need
> from the message to make informed judgments, there
> is something "inherently wrong" with a manager
> arriving after her employees and leaving before
> them if it affects employee morale. It might be true
> that the manager is accomplishing Herculean tasks
> outside the office but if the employees don't know
> that, and they're being asked to work what appear
> to be longer or more inconvenient hours when the
> manager appears to be setting her own hours to suit
> herself, resentment is a predictable outcome.

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