Hidden tactics...

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Feb 2003
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Location
Chelmsford
The hidden tactic overloaded workers are using to catch up.

I was wondering how many people on the forums do this or feel like they need to. The company I work for has gone through various revisions of a slimmer branch including moving to much smaller premises. Each revision has put a greater strain on those that remain. With another round likely very soon, which I should be part of, it’s likely that those that remain will just be further overloaded.

It’s a very sad situation that people just can’t leave the office where it should be and very distant to the “life balance” that is I though was encouraged nowadays..

I myself, had work email installed on my phone a few years back which I opposed to. I found myself checking work emails at weekends and evenings when basically, the crafty buggers are getting my time for free. I has really cracked down on this. If someone needs me urgently, then they can call me.

I’m in a fortunate situation where work doesn’t really matter, but for younger people with bigger mortgages, I can see cooperates using this approach to bully staff into working extra hours, in their own time.


https://www.bbc.com/worklife/articl...ctic-overloaded-workers-are-using-to-catch-up



In my opinion, if you are playing catch-up in your own time, then either 1. You’re not functioning during the day or 2. There is a resourcing problem which is down to the employers.

I recall once, a manager once told me, if you mention to staff before they leave "I'd like to have a chat you in the morning about about x", they are most likely to think about it in their own time.

Thoughts?
 
Whatsapp is used widely where I work for group discussions, so I left it as I was finding myself checking it even when I muted notifications. I also get people messaging/ calling me when i'm on leave so I just ignore their calls and messages now. It's very annoying as it has mostly been queries that can wait.
 
Don't get anything like that where I work.
Go in work do my job and leave at the end of the day.
It's actually process not to overwhelm people and if you're not in the right mind to do something you don't have to. I only have work email on my phone so I can email in sick rather than phone.
 
There are various strategies to take if you're overworked, if it has got to the point where someone is secretly taking holidays to catch up then they need to get a bit more confidence to speak up tbh.. or need to speak to HR and get something done about it. There are plenty of jobs where there is a never ending backlog of work to do and multiple people all wanting things at once - it is essentially just a case of getting agreement on prioritising that and beyond that (so long as the work is being done properly and the delays mostly aren't the employees fault/result of their **** ups) then it becomes a resourcing issue for senior management.

In some cases it is a mutually acceptable situation, especially if variable pay is on offer (as in banking/financial services) or the employee has a significant interest in the company doing well (as in say a start up)... in those cases people are happy to forego (or roll over) holidays, sometimes come in at weekends and to work long hours/get contacted at any hour/anywhere.

For some in banking they might only take off say Christmas, some bank holidays and the mandatory 2 weeks holiday then forego the rest.
 
Never have your work phone as your primary phone. My current job offered to transfer my personal number to a company contract but I refused and have a separate phone.

When it's comes to 5pm Friday, work phone goes off and is switched back on Monday morning.
 
I leave my laptop at work each night (not supposed to due to business continuity but there's also nothing in my contract that says I have to bring it home) and have refused a work phone as I'm always in the office during work hours.

Works well for me and I can spend Monday morning catching up on the weekend in my employers time.
 
malachi said:
Never have your work phone as your primary phone. My current job offered to transfer my personal number to a company contract but I refused and have a separate phone.

When it's comes to 5pm Friday, work phone goes off and is switched back on Monday morning.
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Great idea.

My big boss wanted some information, but the guy who had the information was on leave. So i said to my little boss to drop him a whattsapp message, little boss point blank refused stating he was on leave.

That little boss has since moved on and his replacement thinks nothing of sending sms whether on holiday or whatever time of day or night.
 
Ah yes, the old “We need to be more lean/agile/flexible” speech. Translates as “I can’t or won’t resource this team properly, so you’ll have to work twice as hard for the same pay until you die or quit”.

Telecommunications industry seems to be particularly bad for this, especially American companies.

I strongly suggest looking for another job.
 
I think in a big company part of the issue is that you end up with many managers or departments needing your time and they all seem to think they all get 100% of it. Matrix management and multiple time zones exacerbate this.

Work email on personal phone was a no from me as IT security also insist on the ability to remote lock and wipe the phone. Turning that round so that a business justification is needed for the company to fund a dedicated work phone made that go away - especially as I work from home anyway and am rarely more than 30 minutes away from the laptop.

Whatsapp is another no as just as when I'm online with skype/messager you end up with people asking you stuff when they either should know the answer already or where to go and find it - it seems to encourage laziness and people not taking the initiative to figure stuff out for themselves.

Overall the balance in the part of the company where I am is good but there are parts, mostly on customer site, where people have ended up working silly hours for months on end and leave. The generally accepted way to tell someone to **** off when demanding unreasonable hours is to ask for a reporting code so that you can fill in your timesheet correctly. Once money is involved (even if you're not getting any of it) the "urgent need" often magically disappears - you just need to not fall for the "we'll get that for you next week" line.
 
I aim to ensure my days work is completed in the hours I am employed for. I don't have work emails on my phone, but always find myself checking them in my own time still, WhatsApp messages are unavoidable. My biggest problem is I constantly think about work, there is too much happening that occupies my thoughts.
 
Trifid said:
I aim to ensure my days work is completed in the hours I am employed for. I don't have work emails on my phone, but always find myself checking them in my own time still, WhatsApp messages are unavoidable. My biggest problem is I constantly think about work, there is too much happening that occupies my thoughts.
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As soon as they have your thoughts, in your own time, they have you for free.
 
This exact thing nearly made me quit, in fact I had handed my notice in but was soon offered a pay rise and a written agreement that things would change. It’s been good since then but a recent promotion and a colleague progressing into another role could soon see me back in a similar position.

The issue where I work is that each task, although essentially the same, varies massively in the time it can take, yet senior management believe it’s as simple as looking at numbers, and have recently had the nerve to say the reason the profit target was missed this year is down to lower level staff taking the ****.
 
I have a similar experience.

Four years in a role where I ended up peeking at, and often responding to, emails out of hours constantly; because it often feels better to know what has come in prior to hitting the office next day. This was particularly prevalent over a weekend as Monday staff meetings drag on to a nonsense level and most of the morning is wasted, immediately putting staff behind. Company keen to promote 'work life balance' but it often feels like lip service.

I made it known I was looking to leave with full intention to do so, and was approached to redefine my role with a solid pay increase. I am more engaged with it, but whether that will make a difference to how I operate out of hours remains to be seen. Being distracted by work whilst looking after a young family is not on really, but it's easy to fall into the habit. And prior to this, I wouldn't entertain work out of hours. I would hesitate to guess how many 'free' hours I have put in - it must stretch to weeks.

As Ayahuasca above, I often see the "well X figures are down, so..." argument. With zero conception of how business practices - and time spent on tasks - have been increased unnecessarily by half-baked ideas from above.
 
Happening at my work. You have you personal number, in case they need to contact you. Soon you're being tracked and manipulated remotely, as an Uber driver.
Last time, politely, just asked if any relative died. Answer was no. So don't call my private number unless is an emergency. I'm not a doctor on standby.
 
There are 5 of 'me' within my company all doing the same job role albeit in different areas.

We work Monday - Friday, 8.30 - 5pm. They expect us to have our work phones on all weekend, and be available for emails and questions from 8.30 - 8pm Monday - Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday. Three of the team are willing to do this, and spend time at weekends doing emails.

Myself and one other refuses to do this. I got quite angry when it was suggested we should be available at all times with no further pay/reward. Interestingly, if I was available then I'd consider this to be me working. I would then be paid less than minimum wage on my salary (I'm quite heavily bonus'ed) based on these hours. I wonder how that would stack up if I pushed it further?

I don't have work emails on my personal phone and very few people in the business have my personal number. I intend to keep it this way.
 
Ahleckz said:
There are 5 of 'me' within my company all doing the same job role albeit in different areas.

We work Monday - Friday, 8.30 - 5pm. They expect us to have our work phones on all weekend, and be available for emails and questions from 8.30 - 8pm Monday - Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday. Three of the team are willing to do this, and spend time at weekends doing emails.

Myself and one other refuses to do this. I got quite angry when it was suggested we should be available at all times with no further pay/reward. Interestingly, if I was available then I'd consider this to be me working. I would then be paid less than minimum wage on my salary (I'm quite heavily bonus'ed) based on these hours. I wonder how that would stack up if I pushed it further?

I don't have work emails on my personal phone and very few people in the business have my personal number. I intend to keep it this way.
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Say yes if it's classed as time and a half for every question asked on a Saturday and double time on a Sunday. :D
 
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