February 12, 2010

The Measure of Work


"It's not the hours you put in your work that counts, it's the work you put in the hours."

Sam Ewing
Retired Professional Baseball Player


Probably a good summary of the difference between the way most management and most employees see the role of labor.

Which matters most; the number of hours or the results of those hours of work?


If management says results, why do they pay based on hours?

3 comments :

  1. Good question, particularly since so much effort is expended attempting to measure ROI on everything, including cost of labor.

    Professional athletes would love to get paid for hours but they don't. They get paid for production. Ideally, so should all employees no matter what they do.

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  2. Employers pay for hours because it is the one thing they can reasonably measure. "Production" depends on too many things not within control of the employee.

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  3. I understand your point Robert but I also agree with Willis. Shouldn't we all be asking, "I know you were here but what did you actually DO today?" (Emphasis purposeful.)

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