Taking a "sicky"

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One of my favourite sayings - "a willing horse is always flogged."

Another - "they say hard work never hurt anyone. But I figured why take the risk?" (Dean Martin)
I've seen a few articles over the past year or so re a growing movement (predominantly among younger workers I think) that have the ethos of doing as little as possible in terms of work tasks. Just enough work carried out to avoid managers pulling them up for underperforming. I think it's maybe even been given a name.

I suppose it's a tricky one. I'll use the widget example again. Let's say the company as a whole needs to produce 1000 widgets per week and it has 10 staff tasked with doing so. Mathematically 100 widgets each. 8 staff get stuck in and produce 105 each on a regular basis, 1 staff member produces the 100. That leaves 1 staff member only needing to produce 60 widgets per week. However although they've worked out they can take it easy, no one seems to pick up on it month in month out. So who's in the wrong?

It comes down to the business type, number of employees, effectiveness of managers etc, however if you can get away with doing less and still pick up your pay with no questions asked, maybe you're the smart one? Obviously this doesn't hold true if the number of less productive workers put the company at risk of going bust! However, especially in public sector, that risk isn't always that high.
 
I've seen a few articles over the past year or so re a growing movement (predominantly among younger workers I think) that have the ethos of doing as little as possible in terms of work tasks. Just enough work carried out to avoid managers pulling them up for underperforming. I think it's maybe even been given a name.


IMHO, it is a lot more nuanced than this.

There's working to your job description and KPIs; if that's what is being done and a manager has an issue with it, the problem lies with the manager (who, presumably, has some responsibility for the job description and KPIs).

The idea that someone should be outperforming their job description and KPIs as a matter of course is, again IMHO, one of the fundamental problems with UK.
It is paying someone below what they're worth.
And, as with most things, it comes down to shoite management.
Again IMHO, this one of the fundamental reasons (along with lack of investment, and the culture of presenteeism), for the UK's habitual tag of "one of the least productive of the developed economies".
 
IMHO, it is a lot more nuanced than this.

There's working to your job description and KPIs; if that's what is being done and a manager has an issue with it, the problem lies with the manager (who, presumably, has some responsibility for the job description and KPIs).

The idea that someone should be outperforming their job description and KPIs as a matter of course is, again IMHO, one of the fundamental problems with UK.
It is paying someone below what they're worth.
And, as with most things, it comes down to shoite management.
Again IMHO, this one of the fundamental reasons (along with lack of investment, and the culture of presenteeism), for the UK's habitual tag of "one of the least productive of the developed economies".
I think it can be more nuanced as you say, but not always. If a company/organisation is large enough, there will almost certainly be some employees that simply fly below the radar intentionally doing next to nothing on a regular basis and not getting picked up for it. I agree, regardless of the circumstance, it requires effective management to keep on top of these things. Also, rightly or wrongly, I'd rather the UK is the way it is with regard to work as opposed to some countries that yes, are more productive, however often to the detriment of the workforce.
 
Also, rightly or wrongly, I'd rather the UK is the way it is with regard to work as opposed to some countries that yes, are more productive, however often to the detriment of the workforce.


And I'd rather the UK was closer to the way some other countries are in terms of productivity, than the way we are, to the benefit of the workforce (and, by extension, the company and country as a whole).
 
Went to New York and came home on the Monday instead of the sunday as the flights were cheaper. Don't think they believed my flight got cancelled. Got an unauthorised absence warning. Was worth it for the holiday and saving money.
Basically dont take the pi55. Once every so often we all need it.
 
I've seen a few articles over the past year or so re a growing movement (predominantly among younger workers I think) that have the ethos of doing as little as possible in terms of work tasks. Just enough work carried out to avoid managers pulling them up for underperforming. I think it's maybe even been given a name.
quite quitting
 
It's not so easy in the UK. Companies can easily dismiss someone with less than 2 years service and even beyond that it's pretty easy if you follow a process.

Most PIP processes are designed to cause sufficient stress on an individual such that they cannot improve or simply walk.
 
Amazing how many people think they cant be sacked while being on the sick including when its been an accident at work
 
It's not so easy in the UK. Companies can easily dismiss someone with less than 2 years service and even beyond that it's pretty easy if you follow a process.

Most PIP processes are designed to cause sufficient stress on an individual such that they cannot improve or simply walk.

Seen this many times. HR finds a way to drive them out and they'd rather walk than have to deal with a losing battle.
 
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