Results or Facetime?

It’s that time of year again when it’s usually cold in the morning and comfortable in the afternoon.  Walking the few blocks into work from the parking garage on these very chilly mornings, I’ve noticed many people not wearing a coat.  Conversely, during the winter months, on mornings with the same temperatures, there will not be a single person without a coat.  Why is this?  Simple.  Many people use the warped logic of looking at the calendar to determine what to wear instead of dressing appropriately based on the current temperature.  Makes no sense.


Same goes for the thermostat in the house.  I know plenty of people who refuse to turn on the heat in the fall or the A/C in the spring because it’s ‘too early in the season.’  If it’s cold, turn the heat on!  If it’s warm, turn the air on!  A thermometer is the definitive indicator of temperature, NOT a calendar. 

 

The same illogical approach is sometimes used when managers evaluate employees (in this example I’m referring to exempt employees who are not paid overtime wages).  Numerous times I’ve seen employees lauded for the amount of overtime they put in, as opposed to actual results produced.  Employees who regularly worked late into the evenings or on weekends were held in higher regard than employees who worked a more standard schedule, even if they produced the same amount of work.  Facetime trumped results. 

 

Seems to me the opposite should be true.  The employee who can get her work done in 8 hours should be held in higher regard than the employee who needs 12 hours to do the same work.  I’ve seen many people over the years working nights and weekends purely due to their own shortcomings (i.e. poor organizational skills, inefficient time management, socializing with co-workers all day, numerous personal phone calls, internet surfing).  While the willingness to put in extra time if necessary is commendable, if it is purely due to an inefficient work process, managers should be on the lookout.  Bottom line is actual results are the definitive indicator of performance, NOT overtime.  Results should trump facetime. 

 

What makes the temperature analogy even more compelling is that this flawed logic is rarely challenged.  The greater concern may be that most everyone accepts this as valid reasoning.  That’s the part that surely needs to change.  No coat because it’s only September?  But it’s 35 degrees you idiot!  That employee is great because she works 60+ hours?  But all her co-workers can get the same job done in 40 hours!  We can’t change how people think, but we can change our reaction to it. 

 

Related reading:

Make Results Matter More Than Facetime

Flexibility vs. Facetime