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June 23, 2005
Working Harder Is Not Always Smarter
I am often amazed by how different work habits can be at any one place of business. You have your overachievers who work long hours, average workers who work the exact allotted time and finally your slackers who barely make it to the office. The question is -- does working long hours automatically mean you are a great worker? According to a recent CareerJournal.com article, no.
The article goes on to explain that working longer hours doesn’t necessarily mean better results. Instead it often is an effort to mask inefficiencies, either as an individual or within a team. Eventually the truth will come out, and you need to have more skills than just being a hard worker.
So how do you know if you work too hard? According to the article:
- Compare your hours to your peers'. If your hours are above average and your performance isn't, you're probably compensating for some kind of shortcoming.
- Listen to how people define your strengths. Adjectives such as "hardworking," "dedicated" or "committed" shouldn't show up among your top three qualities. These are copied easily and can't differentiate you as you advance in your career. Top managers are rarely described this way. Their list may include "visionary," "bold," "good communicator" and other descriptors, but probably not "hard worker."
- Finally, ask yourself how much harder you could be working if you really wanted to. If the answer is, "Not much harder," you're in trouble. Should your boss present you with an excellent opportunity and ask you to try harder in return, you'll likely fail to rise to the challenge.
I love number two. It’s so true. It’s important to take stock of your work habits every once in a while and determine how much time you’re putting in and if it’s effective time. Could you work a little smarter and leave before the sun goes down each day?
Time management can help. Here’s a great quiz to help you determine what you could do smarter instead of harder.
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Posted by Jayme on June 23, 2005 at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (24) | TrackBack (1)
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Tracked on Jun 27, 2005 11:53:00 AM
Comments
I think your comment is true in many cases. But then there are those who are in professions, like dance, where you consider it more an expression of creativity and you're doing it for "the love of it."
Posted by: lil | Jun 23, 2005 5:32:15 PM
Some positions require excessive hours. I used to put in excessive hours and my performance was on par with my peers. In fact, the hours that I put in were on par with the hours that all employees at my level put in. However, my lack of a real life away from the office was eroding my joy of working. As an INTJ, I need my personal/private time to recharge. I requested a change to a position that required less hours. Now I'm effective AND happier.
Posted by: Bert | Jun 25, 2005 10:29:19 AM
I learned the hard way that working harder may get the work done, but it doesn't necessarily get the job done. In my experience, it is not uncommon for the hardest workers and those who do their work well, to be one of the first to go. Why? The total job in a company is not just about the work. The people in the office are more important than the work in the office. Knowing what is going on behind the scenes, what's going on in the business, and who knows you is often more important than the work that you are doing. While you can’t control what others want, you need to know what you want. Before you spend all of your time on your work at the office, you might ask yourself:
1. Is my work building skills that I want?
2. Am I building relationships with people
that I respect?
3. Am I honoring my values?
4. Am I able to use my strengths?
5. Is my lifestyle healthy?
Success is more than hard work. Success is being who you want to be and creating a world that you want to live in.
Posted by: NJ Miller | Jun 27, 2005 1:22:59 PM
Working absurd hours is not only reserved for the lowest on the totem pole. I have seen management do the same. At first it impressed me that my former boss never shyed away from a 12-14 hour day. I believed he lead by example and was glad to follow his lead. Later I discovered that he was compensating for his own insecurities and his inability to communicate effectively with upper management. As a result, upper management would say "jump" and he would counter with "how high?" Collectively, our group's long, hard hours and dedication to our boss did not even garner an "atta boy!" from management. In fact when the Northeast was hit with the blackout in 2003 our effort for saving the company's hide, working straight through that Thursday to Sunday, was rewarded by a memo from HR stating that all those who did not make it into work on that Friday would not be charged a vacation day. It was time to break out of this concentration camp.
It is not that I look for recognition or extra compensation whenever I am called upon to go the extra mile. I still put in the hours and week-ends when called upon. My boss occasionally puts in the O/T as well but not as often. But he makes sure that those who go the extra mile get the recognition from management. Funny, it doesn't seem like hard work anymore.
Posted by: Ben Oddo | Jul 7, 2005 10:32:14 AM
Where do you go if you are working with a group of people who have nothing better to do in life than sitting in the office, mostly to impress the boss (and his boss), whose philosophy is - the harder you work (and thats (b)harder(b) in bold) the better you are!!
Having recently joined this job, puts me in an even peculier situation. Although time and again I put my theory across, but it falls on deaf ears, and it has come to this that I feel guilty/ashamed to leave the office at 6:00 after 9 hours of work :) watching people whiling away their time till 4:00 and then starting the 'real' work.
This is peer pressure. I wonder how come I never get to pressurize the peers :D
Posted by: Darash | Jul 7, 2005 10:58:29 AM
The real work sometimes does happen after the normal
( day shift ) time frame.
During working hours most of us deem to be spending too much time fielding the BS that is assocated with all the suits of higher position, and all the whims that they ask of the underlings.
I find that when all the suits go home I can get so much done because of the lack of interest in what I am doing by those under myself who happen to still be in office.
Productivity is better served when the powers that be are imbibing the cocktails that are served celebrating their brilliance while those with non (sic) are promoting the next days success for these powers of the chairs.
Posted by: greg | Jul 7, 2005 11:45:20 AM
I read articles on websites, or in the newspaper, and wonder: where did that person go to school? Can they really be writing a article for public consumption with such poor grammar? 8th grade English: do not end a sentence in a preposition! Editors, please 'edit'. Writers, please use correct grammar! Never end a sentence in a one or two letter word!
Posted by: JR | Jul 7, 2005 12:05:54 PM
I read articles on websites, or in the newspaper, and wonder: where did that person go to school? Can they really be writing a article for public consumption with such poor grammar? 8th grade English: do not end a sentence in a preposition! Editors, please 'edit'. Writers, please use correct grammar! Never end a sentence in a one or two letter word!
Posted by: JR | Jul 7, 2005 12:06:37 PM
Over the past 10 years, I have watched and observed office protocols and attitudes. The most pronounced attitude in an office is; some employees/co-workers do not like it when one person in the office works “smarter” and has not been noticed as working “harder” than anyone else. The HR representatives have it in their heads that; if a person, who, works "smart" and puts in the 40 hours a week, must do the same as the others in the office to be, and I will say this, "FAIR" to everyone else, including those who just work long, "hard" hours, with little productivity and personal life. I find this to be offensive as I have a life outside of the office and am a single mother of two small children who need my attention. I am very productive and have proven so by being able to finish the job well and in a timely manner (usually before the actual deadline), just in case I get called away to handle my personal life. The office protocols that I have observed are; working hours are between 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday. I noticed that most of the office staff come to work after 8:00 am (and sometimes after 9:00 am)and leave well after 4:30 pm (or even before 4:00 pm, provided that no one is watching them). And those who complain the most work from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm or later. Now how sad is that?
Posted by: ABTW | Jul 7, 2005 2:24:01 PM
If you do high-quality work then the more work that you do the better until you reach a point of diminishing returns through exhaustion.
It's a load of bahloney to say that being good at something can eliminate the need for effort and persistence...ridiculous...if you're a salesperson and you close 80% of the time then working 12 hours to make 12 calls rather than 8 hours to make 8 calls will result in 50% more sales (80% x 12 = 9.6 vs. 80% x 8 = 6.4...9.6 - 6.4 = 3.2...3.2/6.4 = 50%). In fact if you're lousey at your job, I want you to work LESS hours...so you'll do less lousey work...working longer will only hurt - not help.
So, saying working smarter is better than working longer is irrelevant...I want you to work smart for long hours...the rest of the equation is just ongoing pay negotiation...the compensation is set (let's leave bonus and commission off the table for the moment, which many people don't receive anyway) now the question is, "how much of your life are you going to sacrifice for the pay you get"...all a game...
Posted by: Tom | Jul 7, 2005 6:18:12 PM
I work smart, hard and I happen to have a genius IQ - and still mow my own grass and take out my trash. What I've found (as a consultant) is that the harder and longer I work, the more is expected of me - because when I've amost killed myself to get a job out, I'm told, "I guess that wasn't much work after all - anyone could have done it." And if I finish just ahead of deadline, it's assumed that I don't have enough work to do - so twice the work and responsibility are piled on. Even race horses can't move at a dead run forever!
I've also discovered that an employee who voluntarily starts work BEFORE 8 AM, works THROUGH lunch, and leaves AFTER 5 PM on a regular basis, is quickly assumed to have those hours as his/her "regular working hours" - even if it ends up as a 60-hour work week! But when that same person needs to take a child to the doctor at lunch, or that person decides a half-hour lunch is really needed for a mental break each day, management then decides that person is slacking off and not being at his/her desk "as required." ???? My solution is to begin at 8, take the allotted time for lunch, and leave work no later than 5 minutes after 5 PM. It's then more generally assumed that the employee is a professional who is aware of time deadlines and works hard all day. The unwritten rules of corporate culture, however, still play a huge part in a person's advancement - so keep your eyes open!
And by the way, language does change, and it IS now officially acceptable to end a sentence with a preposition - though I still hate to see it. (I have a M.A. degree in Communication.)
Posted by: Cindy | Jul 8, 2005 9:59:09 AM
I don't believe long hours equate excellent, or even, better performance. My boss feels the same way. Our field tends to be the normal 9 to 5, so when my boss receives emails, faxes, etc, on the weekend or after normal hours, he becomes suspicous that that particular employee is "behind or in trouble" because they can't function in their normal time frame.
Posted by: Sharon | Jul 9, 2005 11:32:18 AM
Hey JR - Please remember there are no absolutes in grammar. It is sometimes appropriate to end a sentence with a one or two letter word, and that's all I'm going to say about it.
Posted by: gail | Jul 12, 2005 10:48:45 AM
Interesant...
Posted by: cristina | Jul 13, 2005 6:50:31 AM
Pay attention to the office politics. That is all that matters. I was fired from two difficult jobs at which I worked very hard and very creatively and when the bosses decided they wanted to change staff (and put in people they liked) I was out.
Posted by: Paul Evans | Jul 13, 2005 9:15:14 AM
I agree with Paul. I have always been a person who has gotten work done on time and in the time frame required. But, not being liked by those above you is the proverbial "kiss of death." I think there has to be a balance, and initially observations or conversations with your managers is the first step to success, especially in a new position. They will realize that you have a sincere interest in being successful, and will give you some of the best information about the org - especially when your meetings are outside of working hours.
Posted by: BMW | Jul 13, 2005 10:47:33 AM
Long hours and sacrificing time at home with the family for someone elses company never pays off in the long run. Promotions are based mainly on who kisses the most you know what. Start your own business and you'll get a lot better reward and satisfaction for your long hours because the business is your baby. Why should I work 14 hours a day to help make someone else rich. Go home when you should and do the best job you can do when you are there. These days, those extra hours may get you a pat on the back but not much else. Learn to build a business in your spear time, it may pay off later.
Posted by: Marlon J. | Jul 13, 2005 10:52:13 AM
I see that there are two type of working activities: mechanical and managerial. While in both the other type of activity exists (you manage how and when you do your mechanical activities, and management activities require to do mechanical work -i.e. sending a detailed mail) the latter is easily dependant on the first one. Even if you are scheduled for certain activities, you may have to re-arrange them to support people to do their work. That consumes your working time that either has to be compensated by working more hours or delay your outcome (e.g a presentation).
Also, my personal experience is that during the day a significant part of my time is managed by others. There are meetings called by the boss, unscheduled calls to provide advise to several people on the other side of the phone, problems that need to be resolved and cannot be postponed, etc. To compensate for that loss of time, you either delay your output or you work longer hours.
On top of that is the fact that, and probably the reason for some comments about productivity, your work may require some planning or not. If it does not, mostly for mechanical activities, I do agree that working longer may mean "unproductive". If it does, depending on the job, environment, people that you support, customers, etc. finding planning time during the day is difficult. If it involves other people, it could be easier as you may schedule meetings. If the planning is done alone, then you have to be very disciplined to schedule time to do the planning and stick to that.
Posted by: Guillermo (Bill) | Jul 13, 2005 1:13:32 PM
Please take me off this mailing. I have gotten a JOB!!
It was off one of your postings. This is the THIRD request!! Thanks, Eldon
Posted by: Eldon Pineo | Jul 13, 2005 7:45:36 PM
I learned my lesson the hard way. The more you do the more is expected of you. If you always accept every assignment and just keep working longer and harder you are setting a trap for yourself. Eventually you will reach saturation. As soon as you cannot accept one more assignement you will be viewed as a slacker. If you build unrealistic expectations for yourself these will tranfer to others. I doesn't matter that you are doing 250% and your coworker is doing 80%. If he/she does 85% they will get praise but if you do 200% you will be criticized.
Another problem with long hours is that some people are substituting work for a real life.
I learned the hard way. When I reached the point of collapse and my boss could not just dump everything on me I got labeled as a problem. Now that I have adjusted my own expectations and those of my boss and others around me I am more appreciated. During the years when I was killing myself on the job trying to do the impossible I got zero raises for 3 years. Now that I am a more balanced person I have increased my salary by 20% in the last 3 years.
Remember this is your JOB, not your LIFE.
Posted by: Bryan | Jul 15, 2005 11:34:44 AM
I highly recommend to everyone the book "Peopleware" by Tom Demarco and Timothy Lister.
It talks very convincingly about why it's not productive to ask people to sacrifice their lives to their jobs.
Posted by: JB | Jul 15, 2005 10:03:57 PM
I am not sure I agree. I have worked with those that are slackers and those that do as little as possible. I have often been called hardworking, dedicated and a valued asset. This has caused my pay rate to accelerate accordingly. I have been known to pick up the slack left by those lazy persons and carry their load as well as my own. After so many years of this, and my continued aging, I have decided that it is only right that everyone carry their own load and those that are unable or unwilling to carry their load, are un-needed in the job. I hope others will agree with me. Keep those that always go above and beyond THEIR job requirements and get rid of the dead weight of those that do the dumping.
Posted by: Liza | Jul 22, 2005 7:34:50 AM
Dear Monster: This is very true, the more you do the worst, that happened to me and is not fun. The more you kill yourself the more impossibles dead lines they keep dumping in top of you, wow! Like preparing a cake with a lot of frosting for them to enjoy it. This actually happened to me with my last two employers (Aramark) & (Jones Lang La Salle) both on the Property Management Services business. They just Set-Me-Up for the last event, which was fired out my candles: I was their cake ! Bon Appetite ! The problem was that they let my candles melting all the way down until my beautiful frosting and myself got burned out totally, Too bad for me,Oh what a shame, Yes I did learn my lesson the hard way too, No fun Stuff ! and anyhow I ended out in the Un-Employment with a back injured and emotionally affected probably for life and on the Un-Employment lines anyway!
Posted by: Miguel Carattini | Jul 22, 2005 11:00:58 AM
I just had a very similar conversation with a person who is highly guilty of putting in long hours for no reason what so ever. the funny part of the whole situation is, my boss (our boss) has told me time and time again about the wonderful job I am doing. At the same time, my boss has made several open comments about how this particular supervisor is always behind the eight ball, screws up over 50% of his workload, and is not a team player. Now, this supervisor of equal statute as me, works from 7 am to about 8 pm or 9pm every night. I work 7 am to 3:30 pm every day (the norm. I get the praise, and he gets beat up for all the problems. I have tried to help this guy, but he thinks that I am trying to steal his job. My personal opininion is that the long hours compensate for some type of insecurity, nothing else. Meantime, we are both %45,000.00 a year employees, but my pay breaks down to about $21.50 per hour, where his breaks down to about $13.00 per hour. Which employee do you want to be?
Posted by: Bill Kirchoff | Jul 23, 2005 2:33:45 PM
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