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by dougmwne 2666 days ago
I am very pro work life balance and think anything over 35-40 hours per week will just lead to eventual burnout and reduced performance.

Having said that, I can't bring myself to be too bothered about this tweet. At least the expectation is clear: hit your KPI goal or else.

If you were to find yourself behind, you could either work harder, lobby to change the goal, lobby for more resources, pivot your strategy, or start looking for a new job. This guy is being a dick by threatening weekend work or the dole to push people to hit their numbers, but there are worse management sins.
4 comments
maaaats 2666 days ago
But what if the KPIs are unreasonable? I would say they are, given that it seems multiple teams are failing to meet them.
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lewiscollard 2666 days ago
> But what if the KPIs are unreasonable? I would say they are, given that it seems multiple teams are failing to meet them.

Yep. Unless the employees are slacking off in their work week (I have no reason to think this is the case) this seems true by definition.

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apercu 2666 days ago
Working on an assembly line, sure 40 hours a week is fine. Trying to do creative problem solving with complex issues? I have met very few people who can maintain peak performance at even 40 hours a week, week after week. In my experience most people burn 8-10 hours a week on water cooler chats and personal issues that need to be dealt with during the business day.

Reasonable KPI's are good, and people should be able to work as much or as little (within reason) to meet those targets. The problem is ownership always wants more.

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koonsolo 2666 days ago
"The beatings will continue until morale improves"
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pas 2666 days ago
Plans rarely survive contact with reality. Target KPIs are just that. They are a planning-estimating-organizing tool.

And KPIs are actually benchmark indicators [hence the name], not explicit targets. Sure, you can try to make goals, even have certain contractual rights or obligations pegged to them, and CEOs can even communicate these to employees, but demanding to meet those goals, to place these goals above personal well-being is a very short sighted strategy.

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