There is an old joke about an employee calling in sick to work because he was having vision problems. Yeah, he couldn’t “see” coming to work. Rim-shot, please. Whether an employee is late arriving or misses work entirely, it has a negative impact on coworkers, the employer and possibly his or her career.
The fact is somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of all employees admit to arriving late to work at least once a week. The biggest reason is traffic, followed by oversleeping and getting the kids out the door.
It might seem like a small annoyance or inconsequential issue, but not only can chronic tardiness get someone fired, it can permanently stunt a career. So for all those workers out there who have a whole list of reasons for why they are late to work, it’s time to change this career-ending bad habit.
The Root Causes for Being Late to Work
Ask most experts and they will probably agree that tardiness usually has no single cause, but is a combination of issues in someone’s life.
Often times it comes from a lack of self-discipline or focus, an inability to organize and prioritize, a strong ability to rationalize, or from emotional issues such as depression and anxiety. Even adrenaline has been implicated as a reason for tardiness as some people have a desire to feel that rush of excitement to meet a deadline. For others tardiness may be a way to strike out at their supervisor or their employer due to their own unhappiness in their job.
What researchers have found is that people who are chronically tardy frequently underestimate the passage of time and often score lower on tests that measure self-esteem and self-discipline.
The worst part about tardiness is the impact it can permanently make on someone’s career by building a poor work reputation as coworkers and superiors begin to see this person as unreliable and flaky, and they stop taking her seriously. Ultimately, chronic lateness can lead to the loss of plum work assignments, lack of upward mobility and even termination.
How to Correct Chronic Work Tardiness
As with any intervention, the first part of the treatment is to recognize the problem. That means that people who are chronically late first need to accept that it has become an issue in their life.
Next it is important for employees to make a conscious choice to change. Making that commitment and seeking support and assistance are important to success. The last step is to identify actions they will adopt to assist them. Actions employees might take include:
- Setting the alarm and getting out of bed five to 15 minutes earlier
- Arriving early and being willing to wait
- Preparing must needed items for work (i.e. what to wear, things to take) the night before
- Seeking the counsel of others to help understand the problem and receive guidance
- Rewarding themselves each time they arrive early or on time
- Tracking their most frequent excuses for tardiness and eliminating these issues
- Considering the impact their actions has on others
- Adjusting arrival times to better fit with their schedule (i.e. employees who have an 8 a.m. arrival time, might ask to change it to 8:30 a.m.)
At the end of the day, correcting an attendance problem such as tardiness takes a conscious effort. And if the reason behind the problem is unhappiness with the job, the supervisor or company policy, then it just may mean it is time for the employee to move on, before being tardy ends her career.
Deborah S. Hildebrand - Deborah S. Hildebrand is a freelance writer & HR consultant with 20+ years in human resources & a Bachelor's degree in Business.
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