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Subject:Re: Like long hours? From:kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 6 Aug 2002 8:22:35
Andrew wrote:
>And while there are a 100000 legitimate reasons why a
>person needs to leave SNAP on the dot at 5 pm, what about
>the needs of the company to produce a product, make a profit,
>and fulfill its mission? When does the company's needs get discussed?
Maybe those needs should be discussed at a management meeting. If the
company's current staff cannot put out their products with personnel
working 40 hours a week, then maybe they should do one or both of the
following:
? Hire more people.
? Adjust their expectations: add a couple less features to the product,
move the deadline back a month, etc.
Note that I'm offering this suggestion for companies who ostensibly follow
a 40-hour work week. As I've said in previous posts, every employment
agreement that I've signed has stated how many hours they wanted from me
(40), and when those hours must occur. If the company expects more, they
should make that extremely clear before hiring you, and you need to make
sure you're willing to accept those conditions.
I've not yet encountered the "hours don't matter" work environment Andrew
describes. It sounds pretty swell, but that's not the world I currently
live in. And I have no problem with his "my work is my life" attitude, as
long as he doesn't impose it on me, while paying me a flat salary.
My main point is that many companies give workers tasks they simply cannot
finish within 40 hours. And like it or not, this does create adversarial
relationships. Particularly given how "disposable" many of us are made to
feel in this Golden Age of the Layoff.
That's why I've adopted my "you'll get the best I can do in 40 hours"
attitude. So far, it works for me.
Sic semper snorky,
Keith Cronin
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