Quantifying time
What’s worth more; time or money? An old man may have one perception, an employer another and a youth a third point. This afternoon, I attended a presentation dealing with overtime in the workplace. The whole concept of measuring work as value means that in the corporate setting, time is money.
Our tame programmer (not really tame, but housebroken) has been developing a web based data capture tool, where an employee can request permission to “do” overtime and then receive compensation (time, not money). With the various collective agreements in place, there are rules. Many rules. And in an attempt to create something that will satisfy all, the development has stretched into years. Literally. No overtime, though.
My own hope is to commit (think of it in terms of a venial sin) as little measurable extra time between now and retirement as possible. I say that, while fully cognizant that I now have an extra 45 minutes in my bank, due to that meeting. I would like to start and finish my work day at predictable moments, and I want my pay cheque to compensate me. Time as money. It may not work out that way.
When the head of human resources pointed out that one department had banked almost one “man year”, last year, the rationale ws clear. We can’t afford to hire more people. Nor can we afford to compensate the ones already in place, given the time demands placed upon them. The hope is that by quantifying the problem, it will go away.
