Originally Posted By: DoubleWasp
Originally Posted By: dnewton3
Naw - I think some of you are overthinking this and missing the point.
On Tuesday of this week, it was an average of -15F. The engineering leadership of our company made the decision that it was not mandatory to show up, due to the cold. But guess what ... it's -6 this morning (Friday), and yet no announcement of not showing up to work. So what is the litmus test here? -15? -10? -5? zero? Why an arbitrary number? The word around the building is that the workforce was allowed to stay home for the purpose of safety. But where's the threat? Cold is a state of mind; it's about being prepared. My point is that it was clear outside, the streets were easily commutable, and other than it being "cold", there was no reason given to call off work.
What would happen to folks in MN, WI, ND, the UP of MI,upper ME, and about all of central Canada, if the litmus test to stay home were -5F?????? Heck - they'd probably not work for 35% of the year! What if the litmus test were +40F? No one north of the Mason/Dixon line would go to work or school!
There are very good reasons to not show up for work or school; things that are real threats to life and limb which make venturing out truly dangerous. Or, if you're sick, stay home and don't infect others. But it's "too cold" on a clear day with open streets? That's just plain lazy. There are (quite literally) millions of folks who go to work when it's "cold" and do just fine, because they realize that challenge can be met and overcome with just a little extra diligence, planning and effort.
Which is why I say, in my first post, we're teaching people (of all ages), that it's OK to fail and use some thinly veiled lame reason as an excuse. The weather is often blamed for late arrival or outright cancellation, and yet other people in "colder" areas find ways to make life happen in the face of adversity.
Suck it up and plan your day accordingly. Get yourself to work or school on time by making the extra effort! Don't be or encourage a pansy!
Ok, few I porting questions then:
1. Does this act cost the business money?
2. Were there and pressing matters or obligations that were not met as a result of this act?
3. Is there a general discipline problem that you feel this act contributes to?
4. Is it possible that this a employee morale decision; going easy one day in order to facilitate good will when a great deal is asked back from the employees?
Not being sarcastic or patronizing. Serious questions.
Those are fair questions:
1) I would estimate that 5% of people came in, the rest stayed home. Of those whom stayed home in my work group, pretty much none of them did anything but a few folks did check/respond to emails (certainly not a full day's work - so yeah there were lost opportunities). I trust that my coworkers whom stayed home had an extra holiday of sorts. They each told me it was pretty easy to sit home and essentially do next to nothing. The company paid for a days work that didn't get done. I would say it "cost" money; yes.
2) Yes - I had tests that sat idle for the day in the test lab rooms because all the hourly techs were told to stay home. I lost a days work, in a project that cannot afford to fall behind. As the project manager, I'm held accountable when the monthly reviews come along. Ironic that the upper management that extended the day off will be the same that crushes me for being behind; irony at it's finest.
3) no - I don't think it's a matter of that; not that I perceive anyway
4) I rather doubt it. I think it was a feigned grasp at projecting "care" for the employees, but the reality is that is was nearly as cold this morning, and yet not one peep about staying home today ... I think most in the building saw it for what it was; a silly short-sighted decision that really didn't save anyone from anything particularly dangerous.
I like where I work. I think it's a pretty good place overall. I just see this mentality (blaming weather when things are not nearly as bad as they are pronounced to be) as becoming more prevalent. When I was a kid, it was common to hear adults around me down-play events, as if they could handle anything and take a punch from nature, as it were. Nowadays, it seems to be the opposite; every little drop of rain or snow is a cause for news-induced panic, and the phrase "It's for safety ..." has become a crutch.
Many years ago, for more than a decade, I used to be a supervisor of various production operations. If your department needs 100 heads to run a production line, you really don't operate well if even one position is not filled. A singular absence can upset a whole line; it's a flow thing. So I'm sensitive to when people don't show up to work. Also, the order to stay home came on the eve of the first day back to work from the holiday break. So, there were many folks that stayed home, and yet didn't have their computers with them, because they didn't plan on working from home when they left work at the end of December. So while folks were encouraged to work from home, and told to not come into work, pretty much nothing got done because the bulk of folks who stayed home didn't have any access to work anyway! In short, very few that stayed home did any work because they didn't have laptops with them, and those of us who actually did show up at work didn't get much done because the vast majority of folks stayed home are necessary to make work-flow happen, and you cannot get things done with only a skeleton crew.
I live in central IN; it get's cold here every year. Every year we get temps well below zero. What made this one day so "special" that we had to tell folks to stay home? I work in an engineering facility now, complete with lots of in-building test cells and lab rooms. When folks don't show up, things don't get done. It is true that some minor amount of work probably did get done by the majority that stayed home, but the work disruption in the building was tangible and caused delays. And for what? It was "cold" outside! It was only a few degrees colder on that day than it was this morning, and yet everyone made it in just fine today!
As I also said, we're now expecting a potential snow/ice story Sunday evening into Monday morning. For that, depending on severity, I can completely agree that perhaps having folks stay home might be prudent. Icy roads are a big issue, not only for safety of the public, but the special services that have to deal with the conditions such as cops, fire/rescue, DOT road crews, EL line workers, etc. The fewer folks on the roads, the less potential for injury and the easier it is for those who NEED to be out doing stuff to get it done without distractions of goof-balls getting in the way.
I've been LEO for more than 20 years. I used to be certified as a Firefighter I/II in Indiana. I spent nearly 8 years on a confined space rescue team, and was trained in confined space assessments and permitting. I pretty much can recognize REAL danger when it's imminent or present. But we've become a nation of pansies; over-reacting to things and blowing them out of proportion at times when it was not necessary. This in turn causes folks be become numb to "real" events, because they are desensitized. When everything is an emergency, you start to believe that nothing is an emergency; chaos become normal, at least in your mind. And if you do it enough, real emergencies become less important to folks, because they begin to distrust the misinformation.
I guess a 5 degF ambient temp delta is what separates the men from the boys, as it were.
