Professionals have always been "allowed" to work more hours
than they are paid. This is only an issue when the employee
is in a wage-grade position (employer can not allow or
ignore unpaid labor by someone in a wage-grade position)
or actually required to work more hours than they are paid.
Discussion on:
As a psychologist, I may add, increasing out of office imposition of work on already stressed people is leading to increase in personal anxiety.
There is a place and time for work, and a place and time to relax.
Let us have a strictly imposed policy that official work NOt be done on berrys & other RAD's.
Re the business of money for out of office work, surely, if I ask a man to work, I must pay him, at double the normal rates!
Makes sense - right?
There is a place and time for work, and a place and time to relax.
Let us have a strictly imposed policy that official work NOt be done on berrys & other RAD's.
Re the business of money for out of office work, surely, if I ask a man to work, I must pay him, at double the normal rates!
Makes sense - right?
The situation existed long before Blackberry or email. Techies have traditionally been on-call 24x7 (for me, since 1963).
Isn't it odd that nobody paid much attention until now - when management is finally having the same issues.
BTW: The psychologist might consider that different people react to stress in different ways - and some types of stress are actually beneficial. Read the literature.
Isn't it odd that nobody paid much attention until now - when management is finally having the same issues.
BTW: The psychologist might consider that different people react to stress in different ways - and some types of stress are actually beneficial. Read the literature.
We can easily understand he's talking about mobile in general, and he's emphasizing the Blackberry only because it is more sophisticated than pagers from years gone and thus takes connectivity and availability to a higher level.
If some people like stress, it can't stay non-regulated because of that. Policies and standards should be improved for sake of health and work quality. Then those who like stress are free to offer their extra time for free for the company and not expect special evaluations because of it.
If some people like stress, it can't stay non-regulated because of that. Policies and standards should be improved for sake of health and work quality. Then those who like stress are free to offer their extra time for free for the company and not expect special evaluations because of it.
The Blackberry uses very advanced technology sometimes called the OFF BUTTON. Unless you are "bound by contract" to be available to respond out of working hours then may I suggest that the OFF BUTTON is used at clocking off time!
I am working in a project rolling out BlackBerry phones worldwide. The employees are almost kicking down the door vying for their latest "status symbol"
My productivity has gone us since I ditched it. 90% of the off hours calls were not emergencies, just adminitrivia. I am not required to be 24/7 and am not paid to be available 24/7 -- so I'm not.
I am sure in 6 months, the status symbol will be viewed by many of your end users as one big boat anchor that wastes time.
Good luck and may your deployment go well.
I am sure in 6 months, the status symbol will be viewed by many of your end users as one big boat anchor that wastes time.
Good luck and may your deployment go well.
I'll say what no one else will. People who keep there Blackberry on all the time are not only keeping up on Email and texts with work related items but also with NON-WORK friends. Those people don't want to turn off there 'status' symbol.
The point here is not whether the company expect out of hours work via the Blackberry or Remote Access, it is derivative of a working culture where people are judged not on their performance but by their availability.
People rightly or wrongly believe that they need to be available to their management at all time to be seen as going the extra mile and to be recognised, and to their team mates or staff to be perceived as a good colleague or manager.
It is true that a sad day has come when performance doesn't count towards your rewards but your ability to type (not even communicate effectively) has become a KPI.
I have implemented blackberry's into a variety of industry types and have always (and will continue to) set the corporate policy to be that the device will solely function as a mobile/cell phone (no live e-mail or access to corporate network) outside of the core business working hours, any amendment to this on an individual basis must be authorised by department head and staff member.
May not be much but hopefully will help in the struggle for all to have a reasonable work life balance...
People rightly or wrongly believe that they need to be available to their management at all time to be seen as going the extra mile and to be recognised, and to their team mates or staff to be perceived as a good colleague or manager.
It is true that a sad day has come when performance doesn't count towards your rewards but your ability to type (not even communicate effectively) has become a KPI.
I have implemented blackberry's into a variety of industry types and have always (and will continue to) set the corporate policy to be that the device will solely function as a mobile/cell phone (no live e-mail or access to corporate network) outside of the core business working hours, any amendment to this on an individual basis must be authorised by department head and staff member.
May not be much but hopefully will help in the struggle for all to have a reasonable work life balance...
I think the bigger question here is not whether or not the PM checks his BlackBerry, but rather how a man entrusted with government at its highest level is not using a Nokia device--say, an E71?
Drop the kiddie phone, Mr. Brown. When you're ready to grow up, graduate to a real man's device.
Drop the kiddie phone, Mr. Brown. When you're ready to grow up, graduate to a real man's device.
Bigger the fool for purchasing one in the first place! If you don't own one, no one can expect to reach you.
Unless your company provides you with one - and then stipulates in your contract that you are expected to be reachable out-of-hours and compensates you duely - then I say tough!
Until people learn that being in constant contact, and therefore constantly contactable, is a side-effect NOT a benefit of these latest technologies, then I say suffer in silence.
Unless your company provides you with one - and then stipulates in your contract that you are expected to be reachable out-of-hours and compensates you duely - then I say tough!
Until people learn that being in constant contact, and therefore constantly contactable, is a side-effect NOT a benefit of these latest technologies, then I say suffer in silence.
As an employer myself, I do not expect employees to work on their time or vacation.
If an employer is doing this to you, you should mention it and put a stop to it. Mention requiring to pay overtime and watch how many employers will stop bothering you on YOUR TIME.
More and more, I see many people wanting a better work/life balance. Perhaps it's time to adopt a new standard of full time work hours (like other countries).
If an employer is doing this to you, you should mention it and put a stop to it. Mention requiring to pay overtime and watch how many employers will stop bothering you on YOUR TIME.
More and more, I see many people wanting a better work/life balance. Perhaps it's time to adopt a new standard of full time work hours (like other countries).
I'm a salaried IT guy and the Blackberry saves me time by allowing me to stay on top of server events and user requests. ALL hours show up on my timesheet and time lost reading my work mail at home is offset by the time spent reading my personal mail at work.
Granted, I use my blackberry to keep up with not only
professional but also personal contacts as well. That's why
I have separate email addresses, and turn off the work
account when I'm *not working.*
As far as text goes, does anyone really use it for
professional purposes if the topic is NOT of absolute dire
importance? The way I see it, text is half a step away from
calling someone at home when you know they're hosting a
BBQ. Or worse yet, actually on vacation.
professional but also personal contacts as well. That's why
I have separate email addresses, and turn off the work
account when I'm *not working.*
As far as text goes, does anyone really use it for
professional purposes if the topic is NOT of absolute dire
importance? The way I see it, text is half a step away from
calling someone at home when you know they're hosting a
BBQ. Or worse yet, actually on vacation.
I am a COO and I am addicted to my blackberry. It has caused problems at home. As a small but international company, there is more work than can be accomplished in a 40 hour work week. It just hast to be done and as we are a service provider, we have to provide adequate coverage.
I had my blackberry set so that emails would give a specific ring when they came in. This led me to have and average response time to new emails of less than 5 minutes (30-50 emails/phone calls a day on average on my blackberry alone). My contacts began to expect this level of responsiveness.
This was definitely having an effect on the home front, vacations included. I was with my family but constantly on my blackberry (like a teenager texting) and not "home" in person or attention to my wife and kids. It was constantly pulling me back to my computer and into a desire to finish projects.
I finally had to turn off the email notifier. If there is an emergency, I trust my contacts to call me (they usually don't but wait for the next day when I respond to the emails). I still sneak a peak every few hours at my new emails to see if there is an emergency, but I definitely agree that even this should be considered as being "on call" as far as compensation goes.
I just have to remind myself what is most important and that I am working so I can be with my family...so I better "be" with my family.
I had my blackberry set so that emails would give a specific ring when they came in. This led me to have and average response time to new emails of less than 5 minutes (30-50 emails/phone calls a day on average on my blackberry alone). My contacts began to expect this level of responsiveness.
This was definitely having an effect on the home front, vacations included. I was with my family but constantly on my blackberry (like a teenager texting) and not "home" in person or attention to my wife and kids. It was constantly pulling me back to my computer and into a desire to finish projects.
I finally had to turn off the email notifier. If there is an emergency, I trust my contacts to call me (they usually don't but wait for the next day when I respond to the emails). I still sneak a peak every few hours at my new emails to see if there is an emergency, but I definitely agree that even this should be considered as being "on call" as far as compensation goes.
I just have to remind myself what is most important and that I am working so I can be with my family...so I better "be" with my family.
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