To start with, here is a dilbert strip trying to explain what usually the managers think about the output we produce.
I was just wondering why my office has a concept of Leaves and vacation.
Here is a background:
I work in a product company and out here, every single person has different sets of responsibility and areas of specialization. Net result is that a manager cannot offload one engineer’s task to another engineer easily. (unless he accounts for the time that would require to train that new engineer to get familiarize with the setup.)
So the net result is that an worker here is responsible to get the work done. It does not matter how many long hours he takes, how many weekends he works (and yes, there is no overtime). If I want to take a vacation, then I am expected to work a little harder before the vacation and after that so that the project deadline does not suffer because or me.
This phenomenon makes me wonder:
Since I am responsible for my output and that does not suffer because of the fact that I had taken a week off, should my company deduct no of leaves for that period?
How is it in your office?
10 replies on “Concept of leave”
wwll,i have not yet started my corporate life so will take to understand these things.. 🙂
I think it is same in all the product based companies.
http://www.bombaytoday.blogspot.com
Isn’t there a team? A team where one can do anothers task or take care of a task under grave circumstances?
Voracious Blog Reader
well, all the corporate works the same way, i think. but i have been told time and again, that in MNCs its a bit better. But i don’t know for sure! 🙁
In most of the product based companies, the work will not be reassigned to someone else that much easily. But, in good companies, if we tell the plans for the vacation in advance, then they will plan in such a way that, we don’t need to work on weekends. For example, in the next 3 months, if we want to take 2 weeks vacation, then they will give 2.5 months work for the next 3 months. Of course, If we want to take a vacation immediately, or if there is a product release in the next few days, then this problem still remains.
In all the products companies, or in fact in any company where different people are specialized different fields, that the way life is.
One is given leaves so that he/she can do those personal duties which demand more time than one gets after office hours but that does not mean he is let off from his part of job in the office. when you are back, you got to finish it up :(.
Unless you are in a customer dealing job, where there is no concept of jobs being delayed for a moment, this has almost become a norm.
PS: Me too in a products company.
@bombay…
i agree.. this is what the order should be. however its very hard to realize the importance of this order 🙁
@vbr…
theoretically yes. but in reality there rarely is anybody or any team that can understand what you do… they can take over if you plan to go for an extended leave for a couple of months or so.. but for a couple of days or a week, you will continue to stay responsible for your work.
@sakhi…
in MNC its even worse.. because they are always stretched for resources and manpower… plus most of them have an unhealthy concept of working across time zones and from home.
@satish..
yups.. but easier said then done.
@saket..
i can understand 🙁
Awwwww, that’s bad… i think grass is always green on the other side of the fence! 🙂
we think MNC is better, and they think we are better! 😀
:)) ya life is real strange… but in a way its good that we are not contend with what we get.. its keeps up our drive to improve things