21st October, 2010
Does you “arse in seat” time matter at all?
Posted by Navin Harish - 2 Comments
In his latest book Linchpin, Seth Godin tells us that the jobs where we get paid to just turn up are gone. Those jobs are being fast replaced by jobs where you have to be a Linchpin, in his words, you become indispensable.
When I think about it, those new jobs demolish a lot more than just the old structure and the biggest of those is the office itself. If you have managed to position yourself as the best in what you do you have also ensured that you will be assessed by your output at the end of the year/quarter which in turn ensures that you are not judged by the time you spend in the office. Your “arse on the seat” time has no meaning or value.
Taking this a little further, you see the annual paid leave is also not something as it existed in your dad’s time. If your next appraisal is based on what your output is, it doesn’t matter if you go on a vacation once a year or 5 times an year.
You can stop looking at the clock, you decide when you come and when you leave
So does this mean the companies and employees will stop obsession over annual leave? I don’t know. however what is the point of even trying to negotiate here when it is pre-decided what all a person is going to accomplish in a year.
His work load is not going to be shared by anyone so if he is going away for a week, either he has to deal with it before he goes of after he comes back, in a scenarios like this, how does it matter if he goes away for a week or for a month? Of course there are issues of being available on particular times for particular activities but I am assuming if you are a Linchpin, you will have considered those before making your holiday plans.
So what do you say, would you like to be in charge of your own office timings or would like to be led? Do share your opinion as a comment.