R16 billion lost to time-wasting workers

I should be working right now. But I am doing this in my own time. That said, I can see how easily many in my work place get distracted. Cell phones and IM seems to be one of the distractions. On the flipside, many of my colleagues spend plenty of time working at night or over weekends. The time they put in there is significantly more than wasted.
 
Not to mention if people are unhappy and feel like they are in prison they are even less productive or just don't work there at all.

Give people freedom and make them feel invested.

If more companies offered shares packages or paid directly linked performance (not bull**** review nonsense) bonuses then a lot of people would work a lot harder.
 
IFact said that the best solution to combat worker time wasting, insecurity and low morale is to engage with them via a wellness programme.
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BS. Both parties must adhere to their sides of the employment contract.

Touchy feely programmes mean absolutely bugger all. Management wants improved productivity and efficiency (leading to increased profits) while employees want MONEY.

If you are contracted to work a 40 hour work-week, then that's what you work. If you are performing to your contract and the work cannot be completed, then either your company is understaffed or your contract is flawed.

If you are required to work beyond the 40 hours then you (a) have to agree to work overtime and (b) be paid for it or be given time off.

If you are working "for free" then you are to blame, not your employer.

Another common tendency is to arrive at work at 8am if your working hours are from 8am to 5pm. Work for me and I'd kick your ass. You start WORKING at 8am and walking in the front gate/door is not working.

Same with tea times and lunch time. At the prescribed times you stop and take a break. And it MUST be away from your workplace. That you forfeit these breaks is your problem and not the employer's.

I'm of the opinion that the Human Resources divisions of companies have become to influential and need to be squeezed back into a dark little office at the end of the passage and made to focus on their core function.
 
SauRoNZA said:
If more companies offered shares packages or paid directly linked performance (not bull**** review nonsense) bonuses then a lot of people would work a lot harder.
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Will said employees also pay back their bonuses in years when the company makes a loss?
 
MickeyD said:
If you are required to work beyond the 40 hours then you (a) have to agree to work overtime and (b) be paid for it or be given time off.
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Just a note - The BCEA does make exemption for "Occasional overtime" to be unpaid for salary earners taking home over a certain amount. Last I checked, it was around 210kpa. Linky Click
 
bullzeye.za said:
Just a note - The BCEA does make exemption for "Occasional overtime" to be unpaid for salary earners taking home over a certain amount. Last I checked, it was around 210kpa. Linky Click
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I know it well... and it goes on to say:

However contrary to popular belief, the employer also cannot force such employees to work overtime and cannot demand that they work overtime without compensation, unless the employee agreed to this.
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and
The employer is in a similar position; the employer also cannot demand that employees earning over the threshold must work overtime, standby duties, attend callouts etc, without limitation and without compensation.
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SauRoNZA said:
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If more companies offered shares packages or paid directly linked performance (not bull**** review nonsense) bonuses then a lot of people would work a lot harder.
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Personal experience. It makes people give a lot more productive/quality time toward the job.

MickeyD said:
/snip...
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Good post. A lot of quality points in there which I also need to reflect on.

The question I would like to ask is this, what does an employee do if the constantly feel distracted in the job. You love the work you do and it gives you the pleasure you seek in employment, but struggle to concentrate.

MickeyD said:
Will said employees also pay back their bonuses in years when the company makes a loss?
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Good point, but what if it is well and truly beyond your control? In my line of work, for example, short term insurance, a massive hail storm rips through the N1 (Ben Schoeman) at 16h30 on a week day. Something like that could easily wipe out the profits of a company for the year. You have done everything right and excelled in what you do, but one act of nature wipes it out.

I suppose that it depends on the type of work. I also feel that there needs to be reasonable provisos built in if that were the case.
 
MickeyD said:
There are circumstances beyond both the happy employer and the happy employees' control that could lead to the company suffering a loss.
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Obviously.

I wasn't saying pay crazy salaries. I was saying pay bonuses on the performance of the company and pay them equally to all employees to encourage them to work harder and stick around.

Not saying share all profit so the company runs at a loss, but have a transparent benefit in place that if company does X you get Y.
 
McT said:
Personal experience. It makes people give a lot more productive/quality time toward the job.
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Same here.

Was working quite happily and with major dedication. Then Americans took over and stopped this happening and now I don't give a damn.

Now I do the bare medium and keep my head down because I don't feel a vested interest any more.
 
McT said:
Good point, but what if it is well and truly beyond your control? In my line of work, for example, short term insurance, a massive hail storm rips through the N1 (Ben Schoeman) at 16h30 on a week day. Something like that could easily wipe out the profits of a company for the year. You have done everything right and excelled in what you do, but one act of nature wipes it out.

I suppose that it depends on the type of work. I also feel that there needs to be reasonable provisos built in if that were the case.
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Remember we are talking solely about bonuses.

Let me put it to you this way... I am a 30% non-executive (external) shareholder in your company. I bought those shares as an investment and would like to see a return on them.

Your company suffers a net loss after tax and your free cash flow has taken a big knock due to that hail storm.

Yet the executives of your comapny still pay you an annual bonus but me as a shareholder (a) gets nothing and (b) my investment has tanked.

How would you feel if the roles were reversed?
 
SauRoNZA said:
Obviously.

I wasn't saying pay crazy salaries. I was saying pay bonuses on the performance of the company and pay them equally to all employees to encourage them to work harder and stick around.

Not saying share all profit so the company runs at a loss, but have a transparent benefit in place that if company does X you get Y.
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I fully support incentives schemes, split into (a) short term and (b) long term.

Short term would be based on periodic targets (eg. bi-annual or annual) and these targets can be reviewed be top management if very extraordinary circumstances arise (or provisos can be built in).

Long term would be share options vesting on a future date if the company achieves targets over a longer period, eg. 3 years.
 
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