One of the major complaints that I hear from many a corporate sister is that unfortunately commitment is very often measured in terms of “face time” as opposed to real “work time” in the corporate game. “My manager expected me to leave after him every day, which meant staying at work until 9pm every single night”, Z. confided. “I always get the “look” from everyone around when I leave on time to pick up my daughter from school”, S. admits. “Yet not only is my work done, but I’m actually ahead of schedule most of the time.”
What it seems to many, and rightfully so, is that in many an organization, management values face time more than…actual work time. “If you are here before the boss gets here, and after he leaves, you’re golden”, A. says. What happens then to the working mothers, those who are still trying to complete their degree, and also happen o be outstanding, innovative and faithful employees? Do they just fall through the cracks of a sometimes faulty management that relies more on appearance than actual performance? Apparently so…
When Yahoo’s executive Marissa Mayer made the controversial decision to let go of the company’s work at home policy, it stirred an impressive debate about the myth of office face time. Is it just implying, in a categorically dismissive way, that we only work when we’re in the office? And if so, what is the benefit of loading employees with all types of remote connectivity devices that are supposed to make it easier for them to be productive outside of the office?
According to a 2013 CNN Opinion column, employees who have control over where and when they work are actually more productive. Additionally, virtual interactions also have the benefit of making cultural and gender differences “virtually” disappear, which in turn facilitates and increases productive communication, as opposed to the proverbial office “water cooler” conversations that tend to bring together people who think (and happen to look) alike. And from my own experience in Corporate, most times, it is easier for male employees with supportive partners at home to put in extra hours at home, even if the time is no exactly as productive as it should be, than for a working mother whose partner is also employed (or not) to burn the corporate candle at both ends. Hence the increasing working moms’ corporate brain drain….
If organizations and their management really looked at what motivates employees, increases productivity and fosters a healthy and respectful sense of diversity, they would also work on ridding themselves of the elusive face time myth…In the Corporate world, it is definitely not a case of “absence making the heart (or the company’s bottom line) grow fonder…
Are you buying into the “face time” myth of productivity?
The Corporate Sister.
