Stay Late or Go Home? Many a night, I pondered this question! I noticed it was 5 PM, just ten hours after I arrived. Should I work late or go home? Do you feel the pressure to work late? I am a morning person and do my best work before 9 AM. What do you do?
My History
Very early in my career, my boss told me no one notices when you arrive, but they notice when you leave. Working for a large Fortune 100 corporation, I was very interested in getting more responsibility and more money. I was lucky to be on a team that was on a high profile project. If I succeeded, my career would be set for a while. If I failed, I probably would have to leave. I love pressure, but hate stress. The project lasted eighteen (18) months and came off without a hitch. A software conversion of a payroll, labor and personnel system without errors! Almost unheard of!
I worked long hours, but not late hours. Some people were not happy about my time commitment. Results spoke volumes; however it did little for my teambuilding skills. In the 70s, this was unusual! After the success of the project, I used the opportunity to transfer to another division as a financial analyst. I learned and honed my financial modeling, programming, budgeting, long range planning and financial analysis skills. These skills helped me in every financial job after I left the Fortune 100 company. This division was more entrepreneurial and everyone was on flexible schedules. Work environment is important!
Pressure to work late
Can you ignore the rules and still succeed? The short answer is no! I bet you are surprised with that answer. Although things have changed, bosses still expect people to work late. How late depends on your boss. Whether it is stated or inferred, there are clear expectations that employees should work more than forty (40) hours and stay past 5 PM. Can you work at home? Many people take work home in addition to working late. How did we get here? Shouldn’t you be rewarded for high productivity or efficiency? Instead, working late is like a merit badge!
Workers in the United States, work the most hours in the world! Yet, we are not the most productive. A report (24/7 Wall St.) generated in 2010, listed the United States third using GDP per capita. The GDP is affected by the country’s population, natural resources or manufacturing expertise. Many of these countries do not work nearly as much as we do. They shut down for a summer vacation and still produce more than we do in fewer hours. How do you explain this difference? I cannot!
Why do we continue doing the same things that make us less productive? It could be the same reason education is not as effective as other countries. There are differences in education in various states as well. I think the biggest reason we do not make changes is because we are unwilling to change. I think many people feel if it is not broke, why fix it? The reality is it is broke and we need to fix it! If you ask the people in charge, they would say we always did it this way and we always will!
Future
Can you not work late and succeed? If you are productive and efficient, can you succeed? In the last few decades, I have seen flex hours, restructuring jobs, adjusting work schedules, telecommuting and working from home. Why haven’t did these things become more widespread? People change slowly and hold on to habits of doing things the same way. Will it change? I think it depends on who is in charge and do they want to accommodate the change. Can you be successful? Can you be a leader or promoted with these limitations. It will depend on the circumstances and who is in charge.
Final Thoughts
Can you change the future? Yes, if you are in charge! You can follow my journey to success. The easiest way for you to be in charge is build your own company and pay people on results. It is an incentive for higher productivity. Do you think Steve Jobs believed in higher productivity? Yes, however he set impossible goals with impossible deadlines. He still expected success! The only difference was he paid you extremely well with salary, bonus and stock option. You were thrilled to work for the best corporate businessman and company in the country. Your success was guaranteed because you performed for the best. The reward is there and it will keep the status quo. Stay Late or Go Home?
Photo by: Aubrey Stoll
Usually I would just stay a bit later – it’s true that no one knows when you arrive but everyone sees when you leave for the day. I try not to leave too early, but sometimes I’ve got other commitments that i need to fill.
Everything depends on your management and how they view your effort.
Absolutely agree! Results matter, not appearances! If someone can get a job done on time, I don’t care if he doesn’t show up at work and decides to work from home!
If you are putting in too many late nights, you are probably doing it wrong! Work smart, not hard. That’s my motto.
Perhaps things are changing as people your age become executives. It will take generations to see real change though.
When I was working 60 to 70 hours in finance, i loved to come in at 6 am and work until 6 pm and one weekend day. It worked best for my productivity and my boss was really impressed. He saw me hard at work every morning, and since he was not a morning person, he was more impressed by my schedule than those whe worked late.
I think it all depends on the workplace and your boss if you have to work late.
Pretty much all my places of employment have encouraged working long hours, it was part of the culture. Some fellow employees would take pride in sending company emails super early or late to make it known they were in the office at that awkward time, sacrificing all for the comany. If you get your numbers (results), when you retire or leave that workplace, no one will ever say thank you for working late on so many occasions.
Candidates should ask about the culture of the company before they are hired. We usually don’t because the question could be a deal breaker.
I totally agree! As a CFO, I worked with other executives who wanted to work late versus coming in early. I used the early hours to contact out branch offices in other parts of the country.
Believe me they all keep track of when you come and when you go by your card swipes at entrances and exists. Off course they should do it, if its your money you need to spend wisely. For upper management its their company and they should track it. If its required in my job to stay late I would and I am doing it. The day I realize its going in vain, I would stop.
As an executive, I remember that all meetings were either at the end of the day or started late enough to go past the end of the day. Any meeting that goes longer than 45 minutes is a waste. I think we should encourage higher productivity not just in manufacturing, but all areas.
I have heard many of these points before. I wish more managers understood that some people are more productive in the morning and others can work smart and don’t need to stay till all hours in the night. When you do find managers that understands this, you will find a happy team. Also, when people are happy, they work harder too! I am fortunate to have a manager that understands human psychology and is very nice. In return, his team is happy to work hard.
The very definition of a good manager is to get the most out of their team. Individualizing how you manage the team members will get the most out of the team. You are one of the lucky ones that has a good manager.
I’m a morning person as well. I recently did a rough calculation over the past two weeks, and I believe I am about 300% more productive from 6-8AM, then I am from 5-7PM. The reverse is true for working out; therefore, it makes a ton of sense for me to plan my work schedule this way. I started making the coffee at work every morning so people will notice I am the first one there! It might be a little petty, but its gotten me a lot of cheap compliments so far.
Making the coffee was a smart move. I used to go running at 5:30 AM for 30 minutes and still get to work around 7:15 AM. I was lucky that another executive arrived early too.
Early is for go and late is for show.
As I’m an early riser and get to work early, I feel more burned out if I stay past 5.
I am the same way! I always wonder why meetings are set late when you are tired. I remember one guy who would fall asleep in the meetings. He came in early like me. I think that was a sign everyone failed to recognize.
KC, that is a particular breed of office sadist that schedules meetings for the doldrums of 2 pm. I have a hard time staying awake at that time if i’m just sitting.
Then I worked for the Marquis de Sade because meetings were scheduled at 4 and 5 PM. Personally, I think many meetings are a waste of time unless they are really well organized and to the point.
Fortunately I stopped staying late several years ago now. Earlier on in my career I did stay quite late and fortunately it was noticed by my managers which worked out in my favor. I worked my way up and have more flexibility now, better responsibilities, and better hours. Hard work pays off but balance is important and staying late isn’t worth it if your managers have no clue and aren’t going to reward you for it. -Sydney
I think you are lucky and it helps that you are still working for the same people. Everythingdepends on your management and their attitude about results.
I love @centavos comment. I’m an early riser too, but sometimes, like today, I won’t get in early despite being up. I like the culture at my job: it is very flexible. Some people leave at 12pm if they come in at all, but I always assume everyone is working hard.
Someday, people will measure you based results versus effort or long hours. Unfortunately, many people work in teams where they must be present to work together. I find teaching is changing and will measure productivity based on results. Unfortunately, the tight budgets mean larger classes and it affects the results.
I don’t mind working late from time to time. I am more of a late person than an early person, and I appreciate a little extra sleep in the morning. I do my best work around lunch time. If I am working on an important project, I am happy to stay late. Being a salary worker has that downside, but there are also benefits like being able to shift things around for travel or doctor appointments.
You make a good case for flex hours. Everyone is different and should contribute in their own way and hours. I would rather evaluate work more on productivity than how many hours you put in.
In theory, it shouldn’t matter when you go home, but to many, it does. I knew people that arrived at 6 and left by 3 everyday to miss traffic,and people accepted it just fine. However, this person was definitely never ‘fast tracked’ either. I think it depends on what you want to do with your career, and what the work environment is like. For instance, a team I was on when I was younger had to fix computer program issues, and time was of the essence. Those that stayed to help when something critical was happening (regardless of when they came in) were very appreciated. Those that left ‘on time’ were frowned upon and considered to not be a team player. It can be a tough balance.
I think a lot of the attitude regarding staying late is habit! It is just the way, we always did it! I think that is the wrong reason to maintain it. Emphasis should be on productivity!
Im definitely the stay late type since im not a morning person…but there is a pressure there to simply be there for so many hours. I think the only way you truly win is if you are there early and leave late lol.
You are probably right! This reminds me of when a teacher asks for 500 words essay regardless if it could be done in 250 words.
I definitely see this pattern too; that’s why coming in at 8 and leaving at 4 doesn’t work. I can see the point in staying late to be a team player and to get things done, and I’ve been there more than a few times, but I don’t believe in staying late just to win some sort of Darwinian contest and “get selected”, especially if the managers don’t do it themselves. Maybe that’s why I’m not that enthralled with the corporate world.
I never understood it either! It seems more of a sign of poor organization then an opportunity to show increased effort. I think it will take generations of change to get away from this.
I liked your point about working late is like a merit badge. Something is broken. Most people only know how to work harder rather than work smarter!
When you are working for someone, you are at the whim of their beliefs! It is about time, we brought productivity into all parts of the workplace.
I enjoy working late here in the Bay Area – it’s a sneaky way to avoid traffic and avoid the rush at the gym. I know that’s not what you were getting at… but it has a nice side effect of me being around later than most of my coworkers.
Staggering your hours to avoid traffic is a choice. One of the reasons for going in early was to avoid rush hour. There is an expectation of working long hours just because everyone does or it is expected is so unproductive.
The place where I work, there is some bias on working late (or overtime). But it is also helpful if you come into work everyday. There are people who come up with different reasons why they cannot come into work and thus have to be out or work from home. Bottom line is you should give your best and your boss will notice your effort. It may not be immediate but if you are consistent at it, then your boss will take notice.
Apparently work has changed at least in your environment. As I recall, everyone worked on a schedule at the office or from home. Evaluations based on performance or results should be the goal.