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Boss School by Jay Goltz
Jay Goltz, who has never held a full-time job but now employs more than a 100 people as CEO and founder of the Goltz Group, writes about the tough calls that bosses have to make, the conundrums no one has ever warned them about. Until now.
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January 2, 2008
How Many Hours Does the Boss have to Work?
Posted at 11:18 AM
Some bosses pride themselves on leading by example. When it comes to hours worked, they believe they should come in early and stay late. Other bosses (myself included) have hired people to do particular jobs that require them to come in early or stay late or both. I didn't always feel this way, but after 29 years in business, I feel as though I've earned the right to come and go as I please -- as long as I am taking care of my responsibilities.
I now come in at 10 a.m. to miss rush hour. I work until 6 or 6:30 to miss it on the back end. I call it semi-retirement. And I don't believe any of my employees are complaining about it -- in fact, I think they are enjoying it, too!
I think it makes a difference if you have three employees or 100. My theory is, if you have 100 employees and you always need to be there for some reason, you are doing something wrong. You obviously haven't learned to delegate. If all else fails, it's not like you can't be reached by cell phone. What do you think? Do you believe the boss should be the first one in and the last one out?
Jay Goltz is the author of The Street Smart Entrepreneur. You can buy his book here.
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I believe that it all depends on the ground work that a business owner does before he decides the business can run without him. If s/he has been operating his business as a job, and not as a business - that is spending the time to develop the right people and procedures - then he will have to spend the hours doing the work. If he has - the mythical 4-hour work week becomes a possible reality. If he tries to remove himself from the business before doing the necessary work - he is setting up both the business and himself for trouble!
For a long time I felt the boss should be the first in, last out (FILO). But now as someone who has been in the working world for more than 30 years and owns my own business, I think bosses should feel the freedom to be last in, first out (LIFO) if they so choose.
If you hire the right people, empower them properly and pay them well, they should understand and not be concerned about what the boss does.
One key to make this work is this: the boss’s absence cannot impede the staff’s ability to get their work done. Delegate, empower, and get out of the way. Go home when you want.
Your employees *might* be enjoying it, but my guess is they are actually upset about it. Sure, you're the boss and you can come and go as you please, but if you are excessively late (10:00 is quite late) all the time, they will start to feel that they are here doing all the work only so you can play golf all morning. That's not good for morale. You don't have to be in first and out last, but maintaining a similar schedule to your employees builds the atmosphere of "we're all in this together", instead of, "you're all my peons doing my bidding".
In addition, if there are things they need to "run past you", and you're not there, you become a roadblock to the business getting things done.
Unfortunately, the answer is a strong: "It depends . . . ".
If you are running a 24 X 7 operation or a business with high customer contact that is open at a set schedule, reliability of the owner's availability needs to match how the business operates. If the organization uses good remote tools that require far less onsite interaction, physical visibility is less of an issue.
I totally agree with Jay- I ran and sold a business and I feel that you need to have empowered employees who feel that they are able to contribute and are accountable for their actions. Most people realize that the owner is always on call for real emergencies (you do have a cell phone right) and more importantly you have trained your resources to do the right thing. If you believe that one of the most effective business leaders of our time - Jack Welch - talks about inspriring risk taking, rewarding smart decisions and admitting mistakes. As an owner you need to think like a gardner - growing your people with a watering can, some fertilizer, and pull the weeds and dead branches and watch it bloom! That is the type of business you CAN build if you break free of the mold! I personally try to work 20 hours a week (high value and high impact!)
I believe that the boss should be the one leading by example as the employee will see him as the role model. But being the first one in and last one out is definitely not being a good role model for achieving work life balance! If your subordinates see that you've put in quality work during the day, it doesn't matter if you're the first one to leave the office.
i think what time an owner comes or goes from the office should be of no concern to employees provided one thing. that is is the owner|boss doing their job or filling their role. in todays connected world who knows when someone says when someone is working or not. i dont pay people who work for me for the time they put in but rather the results they achieve.
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