The job would have been similar to what I'd enjoyed doing, but with less of the graphic and web design elements I'd thoroughly enjoyed, so that was a little offputting. I asked about the corporate culture and was told: Our hours are 8.30 to 5.00, but nobody leaves before 6.
Hmm, I thought. That told me there was a culture of 'sucking up to the boss'. In this case it was a family-owned company and sucking up to the boss was obviously a good thing. Yes, the pay was more than I'd earned previously, but the location was in North Sydney which then paid more than Ryde.
I'd be spending up to an hour each way each day in getting to and from work. I'd have to drive as the bus option from Hunters Hill involved three buses (and heightened, therefore, the chance of delays and being late for work), and the ferry option was pretty awful with connections not meeting within an appropriate timeframe.
But it was ultimately the corporate culture that made me turn down the opportunity and start my own business instead. I'm not afraid of hard work - in fact I spend longer than I used behind a desk these days, but then it's for myself, not the boss-to-be-sucked-up-to. But a nine and a half or ten hour day with an extra one or two hours of travel was not the work/life balance I was seeking.
I don't believe in staying back late to impress the boss. As someone who held a middle management position in a corporate, I was impressed by staff who could get the work done in the alloted time, and leave each evening with tasks completed and everything up to date - and particularly those who had initiatives to streamline processes and make tasks easier and quicker. To me that's an example of good time management and efficiency. That's what counts - that's more impressive than sucking up to the boss by being the last to leave. Sure, I stayed back when I had to, when something had to be completed, and did it with good grace and enthusiasm. But it wasn't a daily ritual.
I was interested by one of Claire Madden's comments at September's Gen Y breakfast workshop. She stated that the Gen Y attitude towards being given a task that had to be completed each day was, "Yes, well, I'll start and let's see how far we get by five pm." On the other hand, "the baby boomer attitude was to stay until the work was done." I guess I'm more baby boomer than Gen Y in attitude (and gosh, in age. gulp.), and I'm wondering, nine years after I rejected that job offer, what the corporate culture is in companies now that more Gen Y employees are in the marketplace.
Do people routinely stay back in your organisation to impress the boss? Do you think that's a good thing? If you're boss or employee, I'd be interested to hear your comments on corporate culture and work/life balance.
