If only

[zippyt]

in the real world, truly useful and talented employees are rare, and it is more than worth it to an employer to keep them happy with perks--such as an unrestrictive internet policy.


EXACTAMUNDO !!!

Folks that Will answer the phone at 2 AM on a saterday , pack up and leave for a job accross the country at a moments notice , and actualy be trust worthy , so you DON'T have to worry about them Fucking up ,etc,,,,
When some body like this needs a few hours to deal with his wifes car , because it is dead , well you learn to be flexable , if they are waiting for a call back from an engineer and they are surfing , WHAT is WRONG with this ????

[BobT]

Much to my dismay, I was thrust into a management position early in my career. I had to learn that the people that worked for me were not as motivated, and in many cases not as intelligent as I. The other lesson was that despite the fact that they were not performing their tasks in the same fashion as I would have, the job was getting done “satisfactorily”. Industry survives on “satisfactory” performance.

If the work product of the individual is “satisfactory”, their annual job review should reflect a “satisfactory” evaluation. If their work product is suffering from too much time “on the net” they should be placed on probation and considered for replacement as a “unit of production” in the workplace. Likewise, if an employee is exceeding their work expectation, then they should get a “superior” review, and a “superior” raise. If a worker has too much “spare” time on their hands, then it could be their supervisor’s fault. They may be being asked to accomplish too little in their work day. Additional tasks should be found for them. This is a test of their manager’s supervisory skills.

Some of the most productive workers in American history have been those who take frequent “breaks”. Thomas Edison, for one, comes to mind. If you study his work habits you will find that he took frequent breaks. I don’t think that anyone can find fault with the sum total of his work product.

[9th Engineer]

With the exception of perhaps JA's position I still think the whole issue is a rotten apple. I agree that frequent breaks are a good idea, the Japanese have put it to great success, but most office workers spend more than 10 hours a day at the office! As an aside, a Japanese office worker would probably think he was about to be fired if he found himself with sizable chunks of free time in the day, they believe that "those who can do the work, get the work". I'm not singling out individuals here and saying "If you don't spend every minute of your shift working as fast as you can then you're a lazy bum!". If a valuable employee has too little to do then his management is messing up, if it's an excuse of "well the world works by getting by on average" then ask yourself if you think it has anything to do with our failing industry practices. Not everything can be conveniently blamed on top management.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

If a valuable employee has too little to do then his management is messing up, if it's an excuse of "well the world works by getting by on average" then ask yourself if you think it has anything to do with our failing industry practices. Not everything can be conveniently blamed on top management.

If you haven't checked lately, American workers are the most productive in the world.
Most jobs depend on interaction with others.
Visualize a well oiled machine....got that?
It's nothing like that. It's herky, jerky, pulsing and surging, through no fault of the workers.


I've had the great displeasure of being the dreaded Time Study Man. That vile taker of bread from mouths of babies...the grinch that stole a night out on the town.
I can tell you with great confidence, Corporate America is dancing in the boardrooms, when workers are productive 6.5 hours out of 8.