Late office leaver – A potential threat to company and staff alike
Ever since the policy “Work harder, gain more” was launched in our company, there has been a dominant trend that our staff leave the office late at night. The policy was meant to offer an incentive for people to work more diligently, thereby raising the company productivity. The result, however, is counter-productive. In view of this, I wish to pinpoint the situation along with two viable solutions to the problem.
“Work harder, gain more” indicated clearly that employees are rewarded two-hundred dollars for every hour they work outside the normal working time. To cope with the ever-increasing living costs and enrich the material aspect of life, many opt for working longer hours. Most workers have a nine-to-five job. Now, however, there is preponderance of them working from nine to eleven or even midnight. They all can finish their routine as well as additional work assigned to them. A lot of them, every day, are actually attempting to accomplish tasks assigned one or two weeks earlier. It is common to see many working round the clock in the office. This can be totally reflected by the skyrocketing electricity bills. The incentive has made so many leave the office after eleven, which makes the operating hours six hours longer.
Absurd though it night sound, the productivity our company is dropping as a consequence of the situation. Our staff have worked to the detriment of their health. Many have to leave work early or even take a day off to visit a clinic because they have contracted both physical and mental illnesses. All these result in less labour available in the office. The company’s development is considerably hindered by the workers blighted by illnesses.
Not only is the situation a stumbling block to the company’s development and staff’s well-being, but it also weakens the bond between employees and the company. Many in the company are greatly under pressure. Even though some are not willing to work longer hours, they still try to maintain staff competitiveness by doing so. It seems everybody is stuck in a race – they have to either join the line of workaholics or be ousted. It is the tremendous stress that causes a climate of discontent among staff in the office. The high turnover rate at 60 percent quintessentially reveals the severity of the situation.
The development of every company is not hurdle-free , the crux of the matter is to take a sanguine view and come up with solutions to the problems.
To address the problem, I suggest that weekly overtime be restricted to 4 to 5 hours. The heart of the problem is people working too much, leading to bad health of them. Once the overtime is restricted, employees can relieve themselves the unbearable stress coming from tonnes of workload and get enough rest. This boosts their physical and mental health. Better health means larger productive workforce available for our company. All these lead to the resurgence of the company’s productivity.
The second viable solution is that the company could allow more time for staff to finish their work. Sometimes, staff are overloaded with the work that is unduly heavy. Delaying the deadlines of tasks can, at the same time, allow workers to produce quality work and to avoid leaving the office very late in order to complete their daily tasks. The company and employees are all going to benefit from the suggestion.
Employees are valuable assets to the company. I am in high hope that the company will pay heed to the problem and take into account the above suggestions and finally take action to grapple with the problem.