Thank you for your input.
I fully agree that such is indeed the case.
'Late coming' is a serious problem for some companies, especially where the purpose has nothing to do with the operational requirements, but simply for the ego-satisfaction of some or to make discrimination on the grounds of "disciplined" and "non-disciplined" employees.
Moreover, in companies where the boss sits late, and thus all other employees are forced to do 'late-sitting' for no reason other than that the seniors have still not left; the employees too find ways to compensate for their unwilling bondage.
There are many more factors that come into play. Why in some top companies, where employee engagement gets top priority, it's a joy for the employees to rush in for the day?
Where late-coming is a problem, is there any worthwhile work that the employees are required to do immediately on reporting?
It is possible to make work life more engaging, but through creative, purposeful, and resourceful manner rather than just employing a firm hand and a stick.
Warm regards.
From India, Delhi
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1497I fully agree that such is indeed the case.
'Late coming' is a serious problem for some companies, especially where the purpose has nothing to do with the operational requirements, but simply for the ego-satisfaction of some or to make discrimination on the grounds of "disciplined" and "non-disciplined" employees.
Moreover, in companies where the boss sits late, and thus all other employees are forced to do 'late-sitting' for no reason other than that the seniors have still not left; the employees too find ways to compensate for their unwilling bondage.
There are many more factors that come into play. Why in some top companies, where employee engagement gets top priority, it's a joy for the employees to rush in for the day?
Where late-coming is a problem, is there any worthwhile work that the employees are required to do immediately on reporting?
It is possible to make work life more engaging, but through creative, purposeful, and resourceful manner rather than just employing a firm hand and a stick.
Warm regards.
From India, Delhi
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You must have heard about the 90/10 principle. Just apply this for latecomers, and you will find that 10% of your staff members are contributing to 90% of your instances of tardiness. We will be spending all our time and effort tackling these 10%. Have rules as suggested by members here. Frame rules suitable for your organization. Analyze the individuals who are consistently late. If your analysis indicates that 10% of the people are responsible for 90% of instances, then address these employees through counseling, advising, warnings, etc. However, if your analysis shows that a larger percentage of people, for example, 30 to 40%, are in the habit of arriving late, focus on identifying and addressing the root causes rather than singling out individuals.
From India, Chennai
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From India, Chennai
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Dear All,
I think the best way to deal with latecomers and those who really don't care for attendance is to link up the attendance to performance appraisals by giving some weightage (5% or 10% weightage). Automatically, the problem of late coming/absenteeism will come under your control, and people will feel responsible for coming on time and not taking too many unnecessary leaves.
Regards,
Aditya Iduri
From India, Mumbai
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I think the best way to deal with latecomers and those who really don't care for attendance is to link up the attendance to performance appraisals by giving some weightage (5% or 10% weightage). Automatically, the problem of late coming/absenteeism will come under your control, and people will feel responsible for coming on time and not taking too many unnecessary leaves.
Regards,
Aditya Iduri
From India, Mumbai
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Hello Sir,
It is indeed a practice in many organizations where they track such records - attendance (the in and out time, absenteeism, etc) and also the timely submission of the projects.
Surely this would make them realize that attendance is now seriously taken and if you come on time, you shall get due credit for as we are allocating a certain percent of weightage in the appraisal process. This may help us reduce the late coming in, but does this motivate the people to come on time???
Would like to explain my point with an example -
Suppose the late-coming habit is like a weed, every day it just grows (either the number of people walking in late increases or the time frame to walk in late increases).
Now, the means like introducing rewards or aligning the attendance records to appraisal, is just the time-to-time gardening we do - a cut on the weed. While we all know that it would be back the next time, and we would have to use our scissors again. One fine day, the blades of scissors are not very sharp, and we can't cut this plant anymore. People will get bored of those rewards or start taking it for granted or would have many other reasons or rather disturbances to allow them to sidetrack their on-time coming habit. You'd bring in a new scissor (a new reward program), and the cycle goes on,
Instead, what we should do is find the root of this weed and uproot it so that it would never grow back (considerably for a longer period it won't bother us.)
I believe instead of curbing the late coming practice, why not find methods to motivate and engage our people so much that they look forward to coming to our place.
Just to give a personal example -
In my internship period with a renowned firm, I was so motivated and engaged by the firm, I used to be the 1st person every single day (no matter what) to reach the office. And it was not a next-door thing, it took me at least 2 hours to reach the place. The office time was 10-6, and I used to be there at 9 latest.
Engagement and Motivational Stuffs they used???
They trusted their employees and never micromanaged.
Once in a quarter meeting with HR so that they can share their concern which should be brought to the department.
Special female meeting where all the female staff meet the HR (again only females) and share particular concerns if they have.
That was into R&D, and hence it was very normal for engineers to wait back (both males and females). Although the office didn't have a transport or a pick-drop service, it ensured that if someone waits back, they book a car/cab and put the expense on the company.
They actually showed they care.
Canteen facility which had good quality food.
Employee engagement survey was conducted, and anonymity was maintained. The results were shared with the whole staff, and solutions were taken from them to increase their engagement.
Exceptional retention strategies like giving around 35-38 leaves p.a, which can all be carried forward till 100 days leave and anything above can be encashed.
My current organization cannot do so because of its scalability and it being a private firm. But do you care to show your care is all that matters at the end of the day.
If we always remind ourselves that our colleagues as well are humans, and we should treat them the way we would like others to treat us, perhaps we would be able to gel well with them and make the best of them.
[I am not that experienced in the industry and perhaps my views may be more theoretical than practical. Kindly correct me if I am wrong.]
From India, Mumbai
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It is indeed a practice in many organizations where they track such records - attendance (the in and out time, absenteeism, etc) and also the timely submission of the projects.
Surely this would make them realize that attendance is now seriously taken and if you come on time, you shall get due credit for as we are allocating a certain percent of weightage in the appraisal process. This may help us reduce the late coming in, but does this motivate the people to come on time???
Would like to explain my point with an example -
Suppose the late-coming habit is like a weed, every day it just grows (either the number of people walking in late increases or the time frame to walk in late increases).
Now, the means like introducing rewards or aligning the attendance records to appraisal, is just the time-to-time gardening we do - a cut on the weed. While we all know that it would be back the next time, and we would have to use our scissors again. One fine day, the blades of scissors are not very sharp, and we can't cut this plant anymore. People will get bored of those rewards or start taking it for granted or would have many other reasons or rather disturbances to allow them to sidetrack their on-time coming habit. You'd bring in a new scissor (a new reward program), and the cycle goes on,
Instead, what we should do is find the root of this weed and uproot it so that it would never grow back (considerably for a longer period it won't bother us.)
I believe instead of curbing the late coming practice, why not find methods to motivate and engage our people so much that they look forward to coming to our place.
Just to give a personal example -
In my internship period with a renowned firm, I was so motivated and engaged by the firm, I used to be the 1st person every single day (no matter what) to reach the office. And it was not a next-door thing, it took me at least 2 hours to reach the place. The office time was 10-6, and I used to be there at 9 latest.
Engagement and Motivational Stuffs they used???
They trusted their employees and never micromanaged.
Once in a quarter meeting with HR so that they can share their concern which should be brought to the department.
Special female meeting where all the female staff meet the HR (again only females) and share particular concerns if they have.
That was into R&D, and hence it was very normal for engineers to wait back (both males and females). Although the office didn't have a transport or a pick-drop service, it ensured that if someone waits back, they book a car/cab and put the expense on the company.
They actually showed they care.
Canteen facility which had good quality food.
Employee engagement survey was conducted, and anonymity was maintained. The results were shared with the whole staff, and solutions were taken from them to increase their engagement.
Exceptional retention strategies like giving around 35-38 leaves p.a, which can all be carried forward till 100 days leave and anything above can be encashed.
My current organization cannot do so because of its scalability and it being a private firm. But do you care to show your care is all that matters at the end of the day.
If we always remind ourselves that our colleagues as well are humans, and we should treat them the way we would like others to treat us, perhaps we would be able to gel well with them and make the best of them.
[I am not that experienced in the industry and perhaps my views may be more theoretical than practical. Kindly correct me if I am wrong.]
From India, Mumbai
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Hi, good day to one and all. I feel that installing a Biometric Time and Attendance Machine can help ensure employees are punctual and disciplined within the organization.
In our organization, we have informed the staff that arriving half an hour to 60 minutes late for 3-4 days will be considered as half-day leave.
Regards,
Kusum
From India, Chennai
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In our organization, we have informed the staff that arriving half an hour to 60 minutes late for 3-4 days will be considered as half-day leave.
Regards,
Kusum
From India, Chennai
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Please implement the Biometric Attendance system in your office. Whenever the employees enter, they will have to register their attendance (IN & Out Time). Use the data for preparing the Salary sheet. Obviously, you will get the correct data. You can declare a 100% attendance bonus, early in, and late out incentive.
From India, Kumbakonam
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From India, Kumbakonam
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A few more suggestions apart from what has been well said so far:
1. How far is the management really concerned with late coming? Is late coming a phenomenon that is an irritation only for you, or does the management also share your view?
2. How important is the 100% on-time arrival of employees at their desks/factory critical to your business? What could be the consequences to the business if, for example, one person from each department has reported late in a day in terms of loss of business, revenue loss, etc.? If the loss is significant, then management intervention is merited; otherwise, we should follow the Pareto principle, i.e., to address much more serious issues than breaking our heads over issues like late coming.
3. Considering your business, if the management thinks that timekeeping is critical to your company, why can't the company provide bus facilities to employees so that everybody comes on time and leaves on time?
4. I do not agree with the grace period concept wherever it is practiced. In our great country, the grace period becomes a right and habitual, and a time comes when people start asking for increasing the grace period from, say, 10 minutes to 15 minutes and so on!
I follow a simple trick in my own department. I have ten people working under me, and I have informed them that anybody coming late will have to give a reason for coming late in the daily meeting we conduct. I have seen that due to the prospect of humiliation of giving some excuse every time for coming late in front of the other nine colleagues, everybody comes on time!
From India, Mumbai
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1. How far is the management really concerned with late coming? Is late coming a phenomenon that is an irritation only for you, or does the management also share your view?
2. How important is the 100% on-time arrival of employees at their desks/factory critical to your business? What could be the consequences to the business if, for example, one person from each department has reported late in a day in terms of loss of business, revenue loss, etc.? If the loss is significant, then management intervention is merited; otherwise, we should follow the Pareto principle, i.e., to address much more serious issues than breaking our heads over issues like late coming.
3. Considering your business, if the management thinks that timekeeping is critical to your company, why can't the company provide bus facilities to employees so that everybody comes on time and leaves on time?
4. I do not agree with the grace period concept wherever it is practiced. In our great country, the grace period becomes a right and habitual, and a time comes when people start asking for increasing the grace period from, say, 10 minutes to 15 minutes and so on!
I follow a simple trick in my own department. I have ten people working under me, and I have informed them that anybody coming late will have to give a reason for coming late in the daily meeting we conduct. I have seen that due to the prospect of humiliation of giving some excuse every time for coming late in front of the other nine colleagues, everybody comes on time!
From India, Mumbai
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Change your system so that employees can record their attendance on entering office premises only, unless u have telecommuting facility..
From India, Mumbai
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From India, Mumbai
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Hi,
Late coming to work is a problem everywhere. The issue here is that those who are genuinely late sometimes suffer because of a few who purposely come late. Additionally, being late at work also depends on the industry.
Nowadays, it has become a trend to stay late in the evenings, but staff doesn't know whether this is absolutely necessary or not. What motivates employees to stay late at night, and what do they hope to achieve when the entire day was available for work?
Employees might come in late because they worked late the previous day, for whatever reason. You can implement standard guidelines, such as allowing flexible timings and requiring employees to complete assignments or tasks within a set timeframe, or mandating punctuality.
Consider implementing penalties, for example, deducting half a day's pay after accumulating three instances of lateness, based on discussions and approval from management. Instead of resorting to shouting or policing employees, focus on setting clear expectations, as the latter can always be manipulated.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
From India, Mumbai
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Late coming to work is a problem everywhere. The issue here is that those who are genuinely late sometimes suffer because of a few who purposely come late. Additionally, being late at work also depends on the industry.
Nowadays, it has become a trend to stay late in the evenings, but staff doesn't know whether this is absolutely necessary or not. What motivates employees to stay late at night, and what do they hope to achieve when the entire day was available for work?
Employees might come in late because they worked late the previous day, for whatever reason. You can implement standard guidelines, such as allowing flexible timings and requiring employees to complete assignments or tasks within a set timeframe, or mandating punctuality.
Consider implementing penalties, for example, deducting half a day's pay after accumulating three instances of lateness, based on discussions and approval from management. Instead of resorting to shouting or policing employees, focus on setting clear expectations, as the latter can always be manipulated.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.
From India, Mumbai
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Hi,
I just have a small suggestion. I am a student, and during one of the seminars held, the speaker gave this solution. He faced the same problem of his employees coming in late, so one day he placed a money collection box with the title of charity on it. Any employee coming in late by 5 minutes would have to put 10 rupees in that box, which would go for a noble cause. Initially, people would put in money accordingly, i.e., 20 rupees if they were 10 minutes late. But eventually, the late coming reduced since the money was going out of the pockets of the employees.
Regards, Dolly
From India, Mumbai
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I just have a small suggestion. I am a student, and during one of the seminars held, the speaker gave this solution. He faced the same problem of his employees coming in late, so one day he placed a money collection box with the title of charity on it. Any employee coming in late by 5 minutes would have to put 10 rupees in that box, which would go for a noble cause. Initially, people would put in money accordingly, i.e., 20 rupees if they were 10 minutes late. But eventually, the late coming reduced since the money was going out of the pockets of the employees.
Regards, Dolly
From India, Mumbai
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