Why cant they start work on time?

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Posted Wed 17 September 2008 @ 11:02 a.m. by Megan Lacy

I've had a couple of enquiries recently around what can Managers do, to get staff, to start work on time. This is a ‘hair pulling out’ issue for Workforce Planners and Managers and is in my Top 10 frustrations as a Centre Manager. 

To this day I still don’t understand why some staff members can’t get to work on time. I can and 99% of the Centre staff get to work on time, so I need help to understand what the problem is and why? Of course I’m talking about the serial offenders here; they are always late and seem to take no ownership of being late. To me it shows a lack of respect for their fellow team mates and the customers.

It’s simple stuff really; Contact Centre’s need people to be logged in at the right time down to the minute, as that’s what is forecasted, based on the call patterns. Not 2, 5 or 15 minutes later as I have seen and experienced.

Is it just a pure lack of understanding from the staff member, the importance of logging in at the correct time? I know it is talked about to every new staff member, about the nature of the Contact Centre environment and why timing is everything, so I don’t personally accept that excuse.

Isn’t it the most frustrating, time wasting issue that Managers or Leaders need to deal with?

Managers and Leaders need to act and take responsibility for this poor time management from the staff member quickly.  And sadly it is always at the expenses of the other team members who do get to work on time and pick up the slack. 

What does your Centre do to combat this issue?  How long do you put up with this issue? How do we get this ‘late trait’ identified in the recruitment process? 
Email megan@tuanz.org.nz with your thoughts.

Categories: Leadership

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7 comments

• Anne W says:

  Lateness is a perennial problem, but only with some staff. Management of adherence via KPI's is the stick. Perhaps looking at this from a "carrot" perspective could help to achieve a desirable outcome and encourage a change in behaviour. So have a think about what might need to change in the environment to encourage people to come to work a bit earlier. Install a fancy coffee machine, provide toast for brekkie, a paper to read, bake some muffins & hand them out to people who arrive early for shift. Also constant obvious praise and thanks handed out to those people who regularly arrive at work on time. Just a few ideas.

  Added: 19 September 2008, 11:02 a.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

• Ian L says:

  I agree - some staff haven't developed the "punctuality habit". I've addressed this in the past by focussing on the reason for lateness; is their alarm clock loud enough? do they get enough sleep? how is their home situation? For some people I found it was a simple matter of arranging a flexible work arrangement like sticking to a particular shift. For others it became a matter of non-performance and finally resulted in a warning letter - and that did the trick. When people realise their job *requires* them to be at their desk at a certain time and that not doing this puts their job on the line, I've found they take it seriously.

  Added: 19 September 2008, 12:26 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

• Anonymous says:

  Deal with it in your plans. Accept that many staff have lives, work later than others, and keep odd hours. Don't try and fit your staff into arbitrary slots. This is not 1930s and we are not on the Ford assembly line.

  Added: 19 September 2008, 12:32 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

• Clunking Fist says:

  Helpful insight from Anonymous Gen why-ne there.
  warn and then sack the lazy frickers. Gen-Y are like they are because we tolerate it.

  Added: 19 September 2008, 2:09 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

• Glyn says:

  I don't work in callcentre and probably never could... I'm one of the people that has always asked for a little flex in my working hours (and I gather the govt and most international organisations recognise a need for this ?) In return, I will provide some flex back to the company.. I'll move 11hours into the same working day to help with a problem so long as I'm able to.. they get those at normal pay rate (I'm not entitled to overtime) unless it is a callout that really should have been avoided.
  I'd be interested to know all the reasons given for lateness, and whether there is any merit. eg. My drive time to work is typically 40min, but there will be many days when it goes out to 55-60min+ If it were entirely my responsibililty to compensate for that (in some jobs you might accept this responsibility in your contract) then I must leave home (and not drop kids at school) at least an hour before my start time and possibly not be paid for the extra time when (90% of the time) I arrive early.
  Some people (no kids OR can rely heavily on someone else to pick up the pieces OR live in an apartment nearby OR always catch the same bus/train every day OR have a routine that works and always sleep well at night) will have a much more reliable arrival time. Not everyone is in the same situation in life.
  Incidentally, I will probably never be allowed to telework in my current position, as I am required to be in the office between certain hours.
  

  Added: 22 September 2008, 4:23 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

• wokky says:

  organisational culture is key to managing attendance and punctuality, some leeway and understanding of your employees personal and familiy lives goes a long way, and as long as it's give and take, sacrificing a few minutes adherence every now and then won't kill anyone. In return i find the average employee will "dig in" when the going is hard and give you a lot more than they take.
  
  For serial offenders, they find the door swings both ways - for good and for ill, and your flexibility with them becomes short lived, and the grace and favour other receive that they do not, the habit soon changes or the employee finds other roles to be in.

  Added: 2 October 2008, 2:39 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

• Michael Maryan says:

  This is a perennial issue for many contact centres. Punctuality seems to be a particular concern with the "whatever" (Y) generation, as many contact centre team leaders will tell you. I am surprised that so many managers risk a bit of tail-wagging-the-dog and actively reward staff who turn up when they should. Punctuality and adherence to schedule lie at the foundation of contact centre management. The time to establish expectations, and negotiate flexible working arrangements, is when the staff member is hired. They need to know at the outset what is expected and why it is so important. You can be a bit more relaxed about other issues but punctuality and adherence to schedule should be non-negotiables. If you tolerate lateness (without a reasonable excuse), or repeated poor timekeeping, you will effectively be changing their contract and you'll find it hard to change the behaviour. My advice is to be bold: make timekeeping one of your non-negotiables and treat it accordingly.

  Added: 17 April 2009, 3:49 p.m. Flag as Spam  |  Flag as Offensive

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