Has lateness at work become a problem in your office or workspace?
Are you looking for some key reasons as to why you should stop tolerating late arrivals?
You may regularly find meeting begin fifteen minutes late.
Perhaps a worker routinely arrives late to work.
Or maybe workers regularly join a meeting that’s more than halfway done.
While it may seem benign at the surface, latenesses can cause more problems than you think.
In this post, you’ll find four compelling reasons to stop tolerating lateness at work.
You’ll set a healthy example for your employees.
Everyone talks about work-life balance nowadays.
But does anyone truly talk about nipping lateness in the bud?
Well, not so much.
Humans have the unfortunate habit of making up their own rules.
This typically happens when rules aren’t created or enforced.
The reality is that people can have a better work-life balance when firm structures are set in the workspace.
This gives both workers and employers a clear distinction between work and personal time.
Do your best to encourage punctuality when it comes to work hours and meetings.
People will get a crystal clear, first-hand message about proper work-life balance.
You’ll save money.
We’ve all heard of the phrase, “Time is money.” And who doesn’t want to save money?
Lateness can be a real drain on a business’ finances.
It could be something as large as mismanaged workforce hours or something as small as late fees.
Case in point? Let’s say a company uses a paid video conferencing service for hour-long weekly meetings.
If that meeting starts half an hour late each week, that adds up to an additional 1,560 minutes in conferencing fees!
Saved money is not a bad reason to start a meeting on time…especially when it comes to business.
You’ll make your clients and customers happy.
Have you ever had to wait fifteen minutes for a meeting to begin?
Now, think about how your client or customer might feel if they were kept waiting. Not a pretty sight, is it?
Take care of your clients well an treat them as you would like to be treated.
This is more within your control than you may think.
Arrive on time, start on time, ship packages on time, and communicate on time.
People will notice. They’ll most likely sing praises about your punctuality…and continue to work with you in future.
You’ll get more work done.
Lateness doesn’t help you finish your work any faster; it only prolongs it!
Latenesses mean missed deadlines, delays in working, and additional work hours.
Timeliness is key if you want to get things done.
Being on time means you can better attend to time-sensitive tasks, requests, or projects.
What’s more, you can get more done than if you had arrived late to the party.
How about you? What’s your #1 concern with lateness at work? Why? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!
I once had an employee who was perpetually late. I offered to adjust her work schedule so she could start later, but she admitted that she would be late anyway. She was one of our best workers so she basically got away with it.
I later worked for a company who paid a 10% bonus every day that you clocked in at or before your scheduled start time. (It was really a more positive way of saying you would be penalized for being late, because your official salary assumed that you would earn the bonus every day.) It worked – but there were downsides to that too. I remember taking a risk while driving to work that I wouldn’t have taken if there wasn’t money on the line.
Great stories, Janet. It’s interesting to see how different companies handle lateness. I love the idea of the “10% bonus.”
I hate the idea of 10% extra pay if your on time for your shift. Just send your employees to a third world country where being late to a shift could mean no food or cloths on your back for the week.
Employers should not have to reward somebody for doing the pure basics of a job role IE actually starting work when they are fostered in.
Exceeding what’s expected should be rewarded.
Ali
20 year old business management student & part time sales assistant at a local food chain.
Thanks
Hi Ali, you raise an excellent point. In this case, it was the employer’s decision to have that “extra.” I do agree with you, however. The basics of a job should be performed, period; going the extra mile should be duly rewarded.