Sticky Notes: Working 9 to…4:45?

For employees who regularly look to leave early, managers may need to talk through the need to stay until the end of their scheduled work obligations.

What do you do about employees who sneak out early? Some employees just help themselves to a little free time. Others might have obligations after work that leave them pressed for time.

Talk through with them the after-work schedule so they can push back any obligations to a time that does not require them to leave early. Talk through the need to stay until the end of their scheduled work obligations. Spell it out. Break it down. Follow up. One technique is to schedule some concrete to-do items for the employee during the last hour of work in order to help them stay focused up to the last minute.

Bruce Tulgan
Bruce Tulgan is a best-selling author and CEO of RainmakerThinking, the management research, consulting, and training firm he founded in 1993. All of his work is based on 27 years of intensive workplace interviews and has been featured in thousands of news stories around the world. His newest book, “The Art of Being Indispensable at Work: Win Influence, Beat Overcommitment, and Get the Right Things Done” ( Harvard Business Review Press) is available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all major booksellers. Follow Tulgan on Twitter @BruceTulgan or visit his Website at: rainmakerthinking.com.