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If it bothers you enough to come here and post, it must pertain to you. So don't do it anymore.
If it didnt hit a nerve, you would have forgotten it the minute you read and deleted it. For example, if I got a mass email at work saying, "please make sure when using the urinals that you aim properly" I would read it and delete it. Because it doesnt pertain to me. Now if my name were Joe, I might come here and say, can you believe that Company X sent out these emails?
I dont think its unprofessional or passive aggressive. It is obviously a company wide problem, and they are hoping people like you will appreciate the email and stop doing it. Also, the email is the initial warning. If you keep doing it, you're likely going to get more serious consequences.
I agree this email is unprofessional. It doesn't surprise me though. It's a classic HR passive aggressive strategy to send an email to everyone instead of confronting the actual time thieves.
I think corporations are "time thieves" more often than employees, especially in the salaried management world. expecting someone to work 6 days, 13 hour days etc. is also a great example of time thievery. Actually, it's life thievery. Yet I've worked for bozo's who think this is acceptable. They are usually the ones who go home at 3pm and are off every weekend. It's absolutely infuriating.
Last edited by fortwashingtonkid; 12-25-2013 at 11:05 AM..
To me it sounds like a major culture problem: addressing adults like children being babysat. I think that's why OP thinks it's demeaning. I've been spoken to like that before at work, in a group, and it doesn't come across well. It sounds like an outdated management style and a distrustful setting.
In respect to HR they are just trying to do their jobs, and apparently they have several people that have violated company policy regarding time. Of course they can NOT account for the hours that one stays longer or comes in early, this is why it seems coquettish to address the employees (unless they have a standard clock in time daily - such as a factory job). If I work 40 hrs in 4 days, you can bet I will do everything in my power to leave early on Friday, because I'm only being paid for 40 hrs of work, everyone understands this and does this.
They have a bunch of employees taking advantage of the company by leaving 5 -10 minutes early and coming in late for work/meetings. OP probably does these things thus the offense at the email.
I can understand HR's issuing that email company-wide. HR may be aware of a few people violating company policies but how can it know which of hundreds more are doing so? As others have said, such an email should bother only those who've been leaving early, whether infrequently or regularly.
What used to irritate me was when the head of a department, which consisted of 6-7-8 employees, would send the same kind of email to his department. In that case, it was like saying "I dont want to confront the violator directly so the rest of you have to be bothered with this email."
Where I work, they weren't sending out emails, but instead had this kind of "motivating" message displayed on the computer screen when we signed on at the beginning of the day.
Sort of juvenile, but about par for the course at this point in the history of HR.
What your employer is doing is just standard operating procedure in many quarters now, I wouldn't feel insulted over it.
They should single out the individuals who are slipping out early and talk to them, and not blanket-condemn the entire staff. Or better yet, they should shut the heck up and leave the staff alone. Judge people not by their adherence to an arbitrary schedule but by their performance. If I'm getting my work done and I leave early one day, late the next, which is the way I tend to be, then everyone should be happy.
They are probably too scared to do it or don't know who is doing it.
I remember I worked a job where our team had to go through "group therapy" because of THREE catty girls. We wasted a whole week on this when the best thing to do would have been to take those girls aside and tell them to stop stirring the pot!
"Plan your day so you are punctual. And never ever leave 5 or 10 minutes early. Over a year, that's 20 hours of unpaid time."
"Plan your day so you are punctual. And never ever leave 5 or 10 minutes late. Over a year, that's 20 hours of unpaid time that you will have donated to the company."
"Plan your day so you are punctual. And never ever leave 5 or 10 minutes early. Over a year, that's 20 hours of unpaid time."
"Plan your day so you are punctual. And never ever leave 5 or 10 minutes late. Over a year, that's 20 hours of unpaid time that you will have donated to the company."
Thanks, Dave. I was just getting ready to comment asking whether the employees are salaried or not and if they are ever expected to stay later than usual...
Last edited by ThisIsMe123; 12-25-2013 at 12:48 PM..
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Respect the corollary
