Is your workplace pro-family?

[Nebbermind]

MMM:

Any suggestions on how to stop a subordinate's MC Queen/ King behaviour?


While we give people the benefit of the doubt that they are sick and need to stay home to rest. There are as usual people taking advantage of the trust and has the mindset that they must fully utilise their 14 days MC...

It really depends on their general performance. Do they have any performance issue? Some maybe be MC king/queen but uber efficient, high productivity

[Funz]

MMM:

Any suggestions on how to stop a subordinate's MC Queen/ King behaviour?


While we give people the benefit of the doubt that they are sick and need to stay home to rest. There are as usual people taking advantage of the trust and has the mindset that they must fully utilise their 14 days MC...

Unfortunately, they are entitled to that 14days. If a doctor certify them unwell what can we say. It also depends on whether with all the MCs are they still able to deliver. If they can, no reason to fault them.

For those MC Kings & Queens who also do not perform well, that will be
noted during appraisal. It will have some impact on their increments and bonuses.

I've had staff who are forever on MC or urgent leave on Mondays. Usually the younger fellas. So to try to minimise such habits we put in an incentive instead. Those who do not take any MC or urgent leave for the qtr, will get additional bonus.

[Imami]

MMM:

Any suggestions on how to stop a subordinate's MC Queen/ King behaviour?


While we give people the benefit of the doubt that they are sick and need to stay home to rest. There are as usual people taking advantage of the trust and has the mindset that they must fully utilise their 14 days MC...

From my own experience, these are generally unmotivated/ disgruntled employees. If they are of a higher ranks (managers and above), usually these people will leave the organization soon.

If they are from the junior levels, do they just step into the working society? Have they been in the organisation for a long time? But generally, these group of folks are also unmotivated individuals. Unless the earlier group, these people are less mobile for various reasons eg still doing a part time course or lesser employment opportunity due to age/qualification.

My take is 心病还需心药医。It could be hiring fault, it could be placement fault. If these are unsuitable for the organization, no amount of incentives/penalties will work.

[MMM]

On the MC thingy, it is interesting because, dh manages a big team and on certain days, he would get sms early in the am/ when driving to work from people calling in sick. The funny part is that as he is driving and I check his sms for him, I would ask him… is it A, B, C today??? So yes, it is those standard few. But nowadays, it seems better.


A friend who recently moved to a new job had a MC queen in her team…So much so that the other person in the team was very upset with it. She has feedback in terms of performance but the person don’t seem to bother… So I was telling… sometimes it might be good if this person resigns… she will be able to choose her own team.

The thing is that we need to give people the benefits of the doubt. However, this is an area we need to thread with care as well. But as managers, we also don’t want to send the wrong message to imply that the individual is taking mc for the wrong reasons….

[yqyq]

jedamum:

they MC their business.

but they must finish their own share of work.
so my MC my business if i can finish my own share of work. :evil:

although i hardly used up all 14 days..but throughout the yr, 5-6 days MC unavoidable, cant control if falls sick. But even after MC or AL, the next day also must clear own work, nobody will help, that's y agreed wit jedamum.. :hugs:

The 'head' dept must not only see the MC or Leave days..and take note the completed assignments as well.

My work mates dare not take MC, even though v sick..end up spread the virus to so many of us, then we spread to our family... :nunchuk:

[Imami]

MMM:

The thing is that we need to give people the benefits of the doubt. However, this is an area we need to thread with care as well. But as managers, we also don’t want to send the wrong message to imply that the individual is taking mc for the wrong reasons….

Time will tell. There are those who mc but still pass up work. These folks, in my opinion, I won't go and question them. Chances are they really feel a need to be out of office. So long as they still deliver their share of work, don't bring too much inconvenience to the team, just close one eye la. I know of a friend who would take mc to stay at home to work. Her take is there are too many distraction in office.

There are those who mc, really stop work for the period and expect people to finish his/her work. these are the ones who shd be penalized during appraisal.

[nms1]

As someone said earlier, I think those people who take "fake" MCs are generally those who are not happy in their job or not engaged. The manager should look at why they do it. Obviously you can’t ask it in such a way but look at whether they are a good fit for the job. Would they be better moving to another role? Are they looking for more responsibility? If they are really just plain lazy then there is little you can do unless they really underperform.


You can’t penalise someone for not meeting a deadline if they are sick but if they do it all the time then it can be raised in their appraisal.

In many cases, if the manager is more flexible then people do take less MCs. For me, if someone in my team feels under the weather (i.e. just a cold or sore throat) then they will usually go home/stay at home and do a bit of work. No need to have an official MC. But if they really need to rest then I will make sure that they rest and they don’t work. I will cover for them.

[2hotTOhandle]

Tq for feedback on stat boards! Decided not to consider as it is too diff from my current job!

[Wan]

straffan23:

Re working in Statboards... The grass may not be greener on that side. I know of people that work in Stat boards, Gov, and Non-profit... it all depends on the team/department that you are with. Some are flexible and on their staff handbook, allows you to start as early as 7am (end at 4pm) or as late as 10am (end at 7pm); and even have allocation for tele-commute (work from home) - but the fine print always state that the approval is from your immediate supervisor / HOD.


We each have different priorities in different stages of our lives - is it to establish a career, to climb the corporate ladder, to spend more time with kids, to make a lot of money, or to do something we like, etc. At the moment my priority I have decided to have mainly a low-key 9-5 job and spend a lot of time with the kids. And the nursery is just down the road from my office. So I will be here for a few more years.

I was one of those who made the switch from pte sector to stat board when my 1st born was 8mo (after clearing my entitled maternity leave over 6 mths). It has been 7 years & no turning back. I used to think once kids go pri sch, I can consider pte sector again, but the other camp said parents need to guide children in their homework & prepare PSLE with them. So I guess there is no good time.

Comparing pte & stat board-
1. Leaving on the dot- if u r someone who feels guilty when u leave office b4 ur bosses & teammates is a nono, stat board is better bcos chances are pte sector have longer working hours. Of course there are exceptional cases. My boss works round the clock & send email after midnight

2. Flexi hours- there are HR policy in place at stat boards. U can opt to start work at 8 to 9.30am & end work from 5.30 to 7pm. I always joke that I choose to start work at 9.30 & end at 5.30. That would be in my dreams...

3. Telecommuting- this is the most \"trendy\" thing. Although there is also HR policy in place, my application has been rejected twice by my boss (bcos worklife balance is not a good enough reason) We are equipped with laptop & HP & contable 24-7. So it really doesn't make a difference where I work. Office have alot of distractions (can't be helped bcos staff needs to clarify things with u & bosses need work updates) so I play by ear, if I need to concentrate, I work from home & remain contactable, just make known to all. On those days, colleagues \"disturb\" u only on urgent matters

4. Worklife Balance- my personal definition of workplace balance has changed over the years since my kids have outgrown babyhood & into school phase. My son was not close to me when he was a bb becos of limited face time. After leaving pte sector, I managed to \"salvaged\" that situation with more bonding time. My 2nd maternity leave when I had my girl was also a good time to bond with my son & new bb. I must say I wouldn't be ableto do this in pte sector unless I stop feeling guilty


2.

[leo]

2hotTOhandle:

Anyone working stat board? I wonder if it is a good idea to leave Pte sector for stat board? Will it be v different?? My current workplace is quite pro-family. I let my staff convert to pt basis as her son is taking O levels this yr. I was working pt too for 6 months after the birth of my DD2. I wonder if stat board can be flexible...

depends. better check on the stat board that u r eyeing. I work in a stat board and working past midnight at home and weekends are common. The good part is that we can work from home if required (provided your RO is OK and you have no meetings). Ditto with some people that I know who work in civil service.

Now I am thinking if I should go back to private sector because with my work-life-integration (integrate your work into your life), I had been neglecting DD and her studies