Dear Team,
In my organization, we have two office timings: one is 9 am to 5 pm and the other is 9:45 am to 6 pm. Our Marketing Manager's timings are from 9 am to 5 pm, but she consistently arrives late, around 10 am, without informing HR or Management.
When I raised this issue with Management, they mentioned that they are more concerned about the completion of work rather than strict adherence to timings by employees.
Despite warning the Marketing Manager multiple times, she justified her lateness by stating that her offer letter only requires her to report to Management, not HR. As a result, I stopped issuing warnings.
I seek your guidance on how to address this situation promptly.
Regards,
Divya Shah
HR Manager
From India, Pune
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1In my organization, we have two office timings: one is 9 am to 5 pm and the other is 9:45 am to 6 pm. Our Marketing Manager's timings are from 9 am to 5 pm, but she consistently arrives late, around 10 am, without informing HR or Management.
When I raised this issue with Management, they mentioned that they are more concerned about the completion of work rather than strict adherence to timings by employees.
Despite warning the Marketing Manager multiple times, she justified her lateness by stating that her offer letter only requires her to report to Management, not HR. As a result, I stopped issuing warnings.
I seek your guidance on how to address this situation promptly.
Regards,
Divya Shah
HR Manager
From India, Pune
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Dear Divya,
I find a contradiction in your post. You have written, "When I discussed this with my Management, he stated that he is not concerned about timings; he is concerned whether work is done or not by employees."
Once management says that they are not concerned about the punctuality of one of the managers, then what was the need to warn the Marketing Manager? If you are an HR Manager, then by now you must have realized that any kind of warnings are to be issued through the top management. Why did you try shooting while keeping the gun on your shoulder? Smart HRs always shoot by keeping the gun on the seniors' shoulder!
Discuss the issue once and for all with the management. Explain to them that giving exemptions to individuals smacks of favoritism. Other employees may become disgruntled because of the partial and uneven treatment. Exemptions of this kind degrade the organization's culture as a whole. If the management listens to your plea, then well and good; otherwise, drop the matter there itself and move on!
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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I find a contradiction in your post. You have written, "When I discussed this with my Management, he stated that he is not concerned about timings; he is concerned whether work is done or not by employees."
Once management says that they are not concerned about the punctuality of one of the managers, then what was the need to warn the Marketing Manager? If you are an HR Manager, then by now you must have realized that any kind of warnings are to be issued through the top management. Why did you try shooting while keeping the gun on your shoulder? Smart HRs always shoot by keeping the gun on the seniors' shoulder!
Discuss the issue once and for all with the management. Explain to them that giving exemptions to individuals smacks of favoritism. Other employees may become disgruntled because of the partial and uneven treatment. Exemptions of this kind degrade the organization's culture as a whole. If the management listens to your plea, then well and good; otherwise, drop the matter there itself and move on!
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Dear Divya,
Many times, people working in marketing or business development enjoy special privileges within the company. Therefore, if your management is satisfied or appears content with the marketing manager's performance, you may consider refraining from involving yourself in this matter.
Thank you.
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Many times, people working in marketing or business development enjoy special privileges within the company. Therefore, if your management is satisfied or appears content with the marketing manager's performance, you may consider refraining from involving yourself in this matter.
Thank you.
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Hi Divya,
Punctuality and attendance are fast losing their importance in modern businesses that aim to be employee-friendly, as flexible timings are becoming the norm. Modern businesses are primarily concerned with results and the quantity of work hours (i.e., 8 hours), which means if you come in late, you leave late, but not necessarily that the employee must arrive at the starting time. However, there is an exception to this flexibility. In customer-driven offices like bank branches, sales outlets/shops, or insurance offices, staff need to be punctual, whereas administrative offices often allow flexible timings.
You have brought the issue of her tardiness to the attention of management, and they have no problem with it as long as she delivers results. Therefore, it is advisable to close the matter and avoid prolonging it further, as it may backfire on you. To safeguard yourself, report such incidents or any behavioral issues on the part of the staff to management to gauge their response and determine the appropriate course of action to address them.
B. Saikumar
HR & Labor Relations Advisor
Navi Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
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Punctuality and attendance are fast losing their importance in modern businesses that aim to be employee-friendly, as flexible timings are becoming the norm. Modern businesses are primarily concerned with results and the quantity of work hours (i.e., 8 hours), which means if you come in late, you leave late, but not necessarily that the employee must arrive at the starting time. However, there is an exception to this flexibility. In customer-driven offices like bank branches, sales outlets/shops, or insurance offices, staff need to be punctual, whereas administrative offices often allow flexible timings.
You have brought the issue of her tardiness to the attention of management, and they have no problem with it as long as she delivers results. Therefore, it is advisable to close the matter and avoid prolonging it further, as it may backfire on you. To safeguard yourself, report such incidents or any behavioral issues on the part of the staff to management to gauge their response and determine the appropriate course of action to address them.
B. Saikumar
HR & Labor Relations Advisor
Navi Mumbai
From India, Mumbai
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This kind of laissez-faire atmosphere will make other employees follow suit. You have done your role by informing management. Whom did you inform in the management? The problem is: To some, being late may seem like a minor issue to overlook. To others, it is what determines a good business outcome versus a great business outcome. Here, due to the manager's inconsistent and confusing conduct, lateness and repeated late-coming were not seen as serious offenses and were openly overlooked. The manager has abdicated their duty to take appropriate corrective steps regarding the employee's chronic late-coming issue. You could probably document the chronic lateness and leave it at that.
From India, Pune
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From India, Pune
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Thank you, sir, for your response. My management has set two timings for the flexibility of employees. However, this is viewed as a disadvantage by the Marketing Manager. She is very egoistic and argues a lot. Due to her behavior, management has indicated that they are not concerned about her arriving late to the office. I have been advised not to argue or disrupt the environment. This situation has left me feeling upset as I have been attempting to maintain discipline in the office by implementing rules and regulations. Unfortunately, there seems to be a negative perception of me that I am too strict with rules.
I am unsure of what to do next. Should I avoid discussing this topic with the manager or should I simply observe the situation from a distance?
From India, Pune
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I am unsure of what to do next. Should I avoid discussing this topic with the manager or should I simply observe the situation from a distance?
From India, Pune
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You sit back and watch what happens in this particular case, whether the malaise spreads to other marketing employees. Remember, all of us work within our roles and powers. You have informed the departmental manager concerned about late arrival on a regular basis, and they are cool about it. Document it and stop raising this issue again.
From India, Pune
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From India, Pune
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Pl follow the words of Saikumar Sir. I think the timing is not right to rake up the issue.
From India, Mumbai
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From India, Mumbai
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Dear Manoj Kamble,
You have written, "Many times, people working in marketing or generating business enjoy special privileges in the company. So, if your management is okay or apparently happy with the performance of the marketing manager, then you may avoid getting into this matter."
Yes, management may want to run the company the way they want. The average employee, which includes HR as well, cannot question the wisdom of the top authorities. Nevertheless, what matters is how one looks at the performance.
Good performance or super performance cannot have any trade-off. Any performance, however excellent, must be delivered while remaining within the framework of discipline. If an employee performs well but at the cost of punctuality, then it is not good performance at all. Condoning punctuality cannot be a privilege at all.
Argyris has compared discipline to a hot stove. Whoever touches the hot stove gets an equal burn. The stove does not differentiate based on the person touching it. The execution of discipline is similar to the hot stove. Therefore, Argyris teaches us that the principle of equality is the foundation of discipline. Violate the principle, and troubles may arise elsewhere.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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You have written, "Many times, people working in marketing or generating business enjoy special privileges in the company. So, if your management is okay or apparently happy with the performance of the marketing manager, then you may avoid getting into this matter."
Yes, management may want to run the company the way they want. The average employee, which includes HR as well, cannot question the wisdom of the top authorities. Nevertheless, what matters is how one looks at the performance.
Good performance or super performance cannot have any trade-off. Any performance, however excellent, must be delivered while remaining within the framework of discipline. If an employee performs well but at the cost of punctuality, then it is not good performance at all. Condoning punctuality cannot be a privilege at all.
Argyris has compared discipline to a hot stove. Whoever touches the hot stove gets an equal burn. The stove does not differentiate based on the person touching it. The execution of discipline is similar to the hot stove. Therefore, Argyris teaches us that the principle of equality is the foundation of discipline. Violate the principle, and troubles may arise elsewhere.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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