Why do people still bend over backward to do things for XOM in their own time? Why gift the company that never did anything for you and will get rid of you as soon as an opportunity presents itself your own time for no compensation? I could never understand people like this. Why do you do it?
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@1hrq - yep, that was me. Worked 12-14 hours/day and usually 4-8 hours at weekends.
Suspecting what was going to happen in July 2020, I sent over a year taking on everything that was thrown at me and getting it done in record time. I even started doing other people's work for them - at the request of management - because I did such a good job of clearing my own work flow. Got the required "attaboy" from each of the end customers (not management) and 100% excellent feedback from 8 Knowledgeable Others. Got a verbal pat on the back from my supervisor at my EADS interview.
3 months later, received my performance feedback ..... NSI. My options: PIP, Resign or Retire. Realizing that I was targeted simply because I was Retirement Eligible, it didn't take me long to decide to retire with the PIL. The company (and my mangers) can go and scr3w themselves.
Workaholic here, put in 9-12 hour days all the time. Calls and texts from my colleagues in the evenings and weekends. But I see less hours worked by my peers. It's time for me to step back and work regular hours like the rest.
On the flip side, I am assigned to an engineering group at EMHC. I spend my days chatting with colleagues, drinking coffee, setting up dates at the various food stations and local restaurants and generally pulling my p-d (I have also literally done that a few times on campus). The local execs are eager to provide some easy conversation and perfunctory atta boys, mainly to be cordial. No one cares where I am or when. On a per hour basis, not a bad gig. As long as the sweet talk keeps up, I can ride this train for a while. My ranking always middling, ok w me.
Our whole project team worked 7 days per week for several months near the end of a project. Senior PM said she would get us 1 month paid leave at end of project before we started our next assignments.
Never happened.
No time off, no comp time, no appreciation, no bump in rankings.
Senior PM awarded $300k bonus for our efforts.
Same story. Put on a project with a very inconvenient location requirement. My home refinery told me that this was how I improve my ranking. I put my 100% into it. The project executive put me at the top quintile.
My home refinery decided to ‘freeze’ my ranking at where I was when I left…despite their promises that this was my break-out opportunity. No good reason, except they had to make the numbers for other employees work. More work, less family time, weekends of catching planes….and I ended up in the same spot. I got the truth from my Project boss, as he was upset over the situation.
A lot of folks caution you not to change rank groups. I would advise the opposite. Only accept a position if you are ranked with the people among who you are working.
I’d like to say this doesn’t happen frequently….but it happens all the time.
“Unpaid overtime”
I’ve never done this and I never will. The company pays for one scoop, they get one scoop.
Everybody knows somebody who worked weekends, holidays, and during vacation and ended up being laid-off, PIP’d, or just quit due to burnout. For what we’re paid, it simply isn’t worthwhile to do more that what’s required.
And don’t give me that corporate guff about “taking ownership.” The company will throw me under the bus at the first opportunity. The only thing I take ownership of is searching for my next job.
I was on a Project. For a year a worked 6 to 7 days per week. Project leadership placed me at the very top of the ranking list. Functional Manager in Houston called the Project Executive and instructed him to resubmit the list with my name no higher than half way up the list.
I did not move up in ranking due to that instruction.
I never tried hard again. I do not even log on during weekends.
Wait, there's an 8 o'clock in the morning too???????
My policy has been to be as flexible as the company is to me.
They want flexible. It works both ways.
They want ridged, I can do that too.
I asked myself this same question a few back and a buddy of mine told me this: “Do it for one year. Work nights and weekends, make sure management knows you are doing it, and if you see good results in your ranking after a year, then keep doing it. If not, then stop and only work 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.”
Did better in my career after I started implementing company boundaries.
The company will always give you more work than you can do, and 25% of it isn’t worth doing. Setting limits on my work time helped me cut the needless junk.
Granted, exercise with caution if early in your career. I’ve seen this used as a military-style dressing down of newer employees….not because they prioritized wrong, but because they didn’t ask their boss.
@OP, you have zero ownership
Stop, no loyalty for the last 10 years. Let the brain trust in Annandale figure it out.
Great question. For three decades I put the Company first for nights, weekends, holidays, vacations, weddings, funerals, important family events, etc I thought I was doing it out of dedication since our livelihood from the Company was good. After the way I've been spoken to over the past two years my response is, "F you, figure it yourselves.."
Nobody on his deathbed ever said, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."