> From Andrei Link, re the Vaso Bovan/Phil Holliday debate in the Press:
> - The 9 to 5 mentality mentioned by Vaso is not as prevalent as it may seem > from his article. I know many people here who work long hours. What I think > is characteristic is that working long hours is not seen here as a > requirement for being an effective engineer/manager, while in the Silicon > Valley you will frequently find companies with cultures summarised in "if > you don't turn up at work on Saturday, don't bother coming in on Sunday". > Interestingly enough, I have not seen any studies proving that long term > success rate in such companies is higher than in more "people-friendly" > companies. Here's my two yen-worth, based on the time spent working in the massively time-fixated culture of Japan, where you spent tediously long hours at work as a matter of course, let alone when a major project was coming to fruition. The culture there certainly supported the idea that you had to be the last to leave, and I think suffered as a result. I think that we can get a lot more done here, even in a 9-5 timeslot than often occurs overseas, for all the much-vaunted workaholic cultures espoused. And, when we have needed the additional time out of our staff (not to mention ourselves), they come through. One of the ways in which our company competes to gain and keep staff is being flexible about work hours and having a relaxed work environment. You don't get good commitment if your people are resentful about the demands made on them, if they are watching the clock or competing with each other to earn time-related brownie points. I think that's where New Zealand business culture as a whole has it right, and why so many of us came home to bring back (we hope!) the foreign earnings and business contacts but to have that New Zealand lifestyle that means we get a chance to enjoy life as well. Cheers, Vicki Hyde ====================================================== SPIS Ltd, Box 19-760, Christchurch, NZ http://spis.co.nz * FREE TurboNote+ sticky note trial: http://TurboNote.com --> via Canterbury Software email forum: Success through Connections Email your messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Searchable list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] Leave or rejoin the list: http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm
