This morning, I was listening to the radio and this topic came up. “Should we reply our bosses if they were to message us after working hours?” What are your thoughts? As usual, many employees called in to complain about their bosses being very inconsiderate. They said that their bosses expected immediate reply regardless of time, sometimes even in the wee hours of morning. Frankly, I am very sure that there are many bad bosses out there. However, I think it’s not just about after working hours or during office hours. It’s also about RESPONSIBILITY. The world is now a borderless one and that’s the only reason why there are many job opportunities which were not available previously.
A business owner (boss level) listener called in to tell his side of the story. He said that many times it is not just a question of should the employee reply after office hours or not. The question is about the nature of work. Furthermore, if certain issues are critical enough to be answered, the employee should also respond. In fact he said that he does not mind to pay these employees extra commission for example because this is really considered extra work after office hours. The two young DJs then asked whether his staffs complained. They had failed to understand his meaning and kept repeating that the bosses should not expect employees to respond after working hours.
Dear readers, if we are working in a company where the bosses are really inconsiderate, it’s best that we find another job. If we are not able to find another better job, the problem may not be with the boss. In my 20 years of working life, all my bosses were very demanding but they have been very considerate as well. In my first company, I have on a few occasions worked till 3am in the office too but that was because of the work requirement and not because my boss was bad. In fact my boss even told me to come in only after lunch the next day. I think I did a good job because I got so many opportunities even when I was just a fresh graduate then. I got to visit our UK office after joining just a few months and was sent to Tokyo for an important negotiation despite joining less than 2 years. By the way, I love all my bosses for the past 20 years even if some of them were really tough on employees! Haha.
Perhaps the reason all my bosses treat me well is also because I know that a working professional should understand the urgency of issues. Responsibility comes in. It’s not about the working hours, it’s only whether it’s appropriate or not. Remember, the choice is also ours and as soon as we browse JobStreet.com for example, we would note that there are 30,000 jobs posted today. As for the two young DJs, it is really important to have a much better understanding of the complexities of the working world. That issue is definitely not just about ‘respond or not respond to bosses after working hours.’ Happy working!
written on 24 Oct 2018
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