Employee Reprimanded For Being Unfair To Co-Workers By Leaving Work 3 Minutes Early
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock A man named Ryan posted an email from his supervisor on Reddit reprimanding him for being unfair to his co-workers because he left work 3 minutes early. The absurdity of the complaint made it seem more like his boss was using his co-workers as an excuse to micromanage.
Most employees are aware of workplace obligations, including pulling their own weight. If a supervisor is efficient and good at her job, there should be no need for micromanagement. But that clearly wasn't the case for Ryan. Micromanaging might seem like a good solution when managers need to keep things on track, but it's often met with dissatisfaction, which often has the opposite effect.
An employee was reprimanded for being unfair to co-workers by leaving work 3 minutes early.
"Hi Ryan, I noticed you headed out a little early yesterday (4:57 PM). While we appreciate your work, we need to make sure we are being fair to the rest of the team who stay until the end of the workday," the boss, Sharon, stated in her email.
She went on to say that, to make up for leaving oh so early, he had to either take a shorter lunch or stay until exactly 5:03. Sharon even encouraged him to watch the clock moving forward so that it wouldn't happen again, and finished off her email by happily stating, "We are a team!"
Reddit
It was only 3 minutes, but it became a much bigger issue than it needed to be. Maybe Ryan wanted to use the bathroom before heading out for the day. The reasons for his "early" departure weren't really important, as most Redditors pointed out. That's because employees have been conditioned to rarely receive emails praising extra effort, but the second someone leaves early, it becomes an issue.
The most disliked boss is the one who micromanages.
Bosses are generally disliked to some degree among employees. That's normal. However, most employees can recognize when a good manager is trying to help rather than hinder. That's why micromanaging bosses are so problematic.
"The main distinction between (reasonable) close management and dysfunctional micromanagement is the need for it," explained management expert Victor Lipman. "There are naturally times when an employee isn't performing satisfactorily, so a manager needs to pay close attention to how daily tasks are being handled. That's just basic good management."
However, Lipman pointed out that managers and employees are not in a relationship. There is no desire to feel like you're being controlled at work by a micromanager who can't seem to acknowledge that there's no reason to stand over your shoulder and pay close attention to when you're leaving work early by a measly three minutes.
Good management should help an employee succeed and improve. Micromanagement breeds contempt, and performance inevitably suffers.
Micromanaging bosses are usually the number one red flag in a workplace.
In a survey from Monster.com, nearly 3 out of 4 workers said micromanagement raises the biggest red flag about a workplace; almost half, 46%, say they’d leave a job because of it.
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"Micromanagement is awful," explained Mikaela Kiner, founder and CEO at HR consulting firm Reverb. "It’s annoying and disempowering at the same time. Micromanagement comes from disorganization. Building those skills for managers — to delegate but also check in and monitor progress in an appropriate way — can really decrease micromanagement."
Employees want to feel trusted by their boss. They don't want to feel like every move they make is being tracked and subsequently judged. Whether it's turning in assignments on time or even choosing to leave work three minutes early, employees start to feel as if they're being looked at through this intense microscope. When they don't feel trusted, job dissatisfaction increases. That hurts productivity and retention.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
