IT was heartening to read on Wednesday in Al-Eqtisadiah Arabic daily an article by Muhammad Al-Tunsi on the importance of an early start to the workday. He focused on the present situation and was very right in his observations. However, let me be even more frank. The reason why you find empty offices in the morning goes far beyond not rising early or the excuse that the employee is delayed because he is dropping off his children at school.
I strongly believe it has to do with a complete lack of work ethic. It also has to do with complacency and the knowledge that whether one works or not, the result is the same.
It is very difficult to terminate Saudis, especially in the public sector. If the manager himself is absent, then there is no accountability. Few employees have the level of self-respect required to get to work on time and sit behind a desk when there is no visible reward for doing so. I have heard individuals who do so being criticized as “not too bright,” because they refuse to regard sloth as a virtue. They may even be feared and despised by others at their office. Just imagine that a man is hired to fill a post in a government office and for some strange reason he actually feels it is necessary to arrive at work on time.
Most likely everyone else has been coming late for years so it has been accepted as the norm. Suddenly there’s an “eager beaver” coming in and getting more work done before 10 a.m. than the others complete in an entire day. How to handle such a problem? In a quickly convened meeting at the water cooler, one of the “good old boys” will be deputized to go and have a chat with the new fellow. He’ll be quietly informed about the facts of office life. “What’s the hurry? What’s the rush? Sit back and relax. For goodness sakes,” he’ll be told, “it’s just a job.” If that strategy is ineffective, then soon he’ll find tons of paperwork directed to his desk. At the end of every business day all the unfinished files in the office will be turned over to him so he can complete them early in the morning. While abusing him his colleagues will give him a little smirk and say, “We’re so pleased that you’re willing to help us all out.” Seeing how productive he is, the boss will add to the misery by constantly giving him urgent tasks. How long do you think it will be before the “eager beaver” is transformed into a “somnolent slug”? On many yearly job evaluation forms there is an area in which an employee’s punctuality is rated. Who is supposed to do the rating? His manager.
But do most managers value punctuality?
Of course not and I can prove it! Go to any department at 7:30 or 8 in the morning and see if the manager is at his desk. At the higher levels the absentee rate is shocking. I think that many managers and heads of departments believe that the higher one is in rank, the more prestigious it is to come late. The lesson here is that being late is a virtue and punctuality is a tendency that employees should endeavor to rise above. Bosses are supposed to be role models. If a boss is late, lazy and complacent what would you expect of his employees? Resorting to time clocks and other draconian measures produces mixed results. In many cases employees gladly oblige their friends or even their bosses by punching a card or scribbling a signature. New technology to check attendance has been introduced in the market. But this has aroused anger as in the case of some at King Saud University in Riyadh who complained that taking thumb impressions is an insult. Let me tell these women that all NASA employees do it. So what’s the big deal? You are not being fingerprinted at a police station. This problem will continue. Many will write about it.
The only way it can be solved is if we really become patriotic and have true love for our country, which results in a desire to produce. We could also serve an even higher calling to be first among nations and to believe in the essence of Islamic thought which focuses on hard work. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the most active of people in Ramadan. But as I said in a previous article, role models are in short supply these days. Let me conclude by telling you about Saudia in the 1970s when TWA’s influence was strong. All heads of departments were in by 7:59 a.m. In fact it was a shame for anyone, Saudis or others, to arrive at their office after 8 a.m.
At 5 minutes past 8, the entrance to Saudia’s famous green building located at the Old Airport road in Jeddah was deserted and meetings were already in progress inside. The Saudia staff of that era came early, not out of fear, but because they had bosses who were there with them all the time. In those days Saudia employees took pride in their work. I hate to consider what the situation at the airline is now. Patriotism is not shouting and chest thumping and talking about Saudization. It is about work ethics, responsibility and the art of giving.