You came back for more? Great! So did I!

First, an announcement about the blog. The Robert Blog is now appearing in two locations: www.blog.robertraber.com and http://the-robert-raber-blog.blogspot.com/.  It’s the same content in both places so feel free to access it from either site. Also, you should find the subscribe link on this page (look down or look to the left) and set instant notification of when the blog is updated. That will get you back here sooner rather than later.

I received some great feedback regarding the blog. Please continue to feel free to send along your comments and support. Some of the comments I received were recommendations about what subject to discuss next. Always feel free to post your comments directly on the blog itself.

Recently I was over at www.linkedin.com and was posting answers to questions when I stumbled across this one “Would you show up to work on time if it increased your chance for success??” (PERMALINK) Of all the different ways you could look at this question, here is my thought. It doesn’t matter how many hours you put in, it matters the ideas you bring in. It’s not because Henry Ford took five years to make an assembly line work, or because Ray Kroc spent his life growing McDonalds. Their success was from having an idea that was able to strategically change their industry. Did it really matter if they came to work at 10:00 AM? When your responsibilities are critical analysis or strategic transformation or sales leads, which is more important: that you contribute to the success of the company, or that you spent 40 hours in week developing a plan?  In the information age with mobile devices I’m sure there are already people doing their entire jobs waiting on lines at amusement parks. With the opportunities for telecommuting, remote employees, and virtual teams many people don’t even need to go to work these days. Let me fill you in on something about Voice over Internet Protocol systems (VoIP). I’m keeping this example really simple. The phone plugs into the computer. The computer plugs into the network. Does it matter where in the world the computer is? Wherever I am, that’s were my phone rings. From a management perspective I love VoIP. Makes business continuation plans very easy to design.

It is unfortunate that throughout my career I have seen, and continue to see, credit given to employees who work longer hours than others. This actually goes against everything I have been taught and learned myself as a manager.  There are employees who come in early, work through lunch, and are the last ones out of the office.  What do I think of this group? They can’t prioritize their work or eliminate time bandits; they have no work life balance; they are working harder instead of smarter. Or, to think even worse thoughts, they might be trying to take advantage of the workplace or might already be taking part in something a manager needs to know about.

I am not advocating we all go to work for only five minutes tomorrow. The workplace needs to have operating hours to be productive. Planes fly, trucks drive, customers call and place their orders. There are designated start and end times for multiple shifts everyday. You are risking your job if you are 30 minutes late everyday. Getting to work on time will help you keep your job. I believe, and I want to nurture this as a member of management, that an employee’s knowledge and ability far outweighs the fact they are always 15 minutes early for work.

As always thanks for stopping by and be sure to visit my sites:

www.robertraber.com  www.rjrabersports.com