Comic Strips

During my time as a middle manager, I saw how much actual work is needed by management to make this happen. You can't just passively say "take care of yourself :)" and leave it at that. There will always be people who push themselves stupidly like coming in sick or answering work phone calls at funerals. Either due to some imagined pressure to visibly perform, or caring too much about their work.

A manager who truly believes that people need to take care of themselves need to actively prevent people from doing stupid shit.

At one point one of my team members came in clearly half unconscious from cold. I had to urge him to go home and only half jokingly threaten to take his laptop away if I saw him in the office tomorrow.

For some people I had to straight out tell them that if I saw them stepping in to answer support questions while on vacation, there would be stern words. We handle support, and if it is urgent and we need you, we'll reach out.

I think too many managers know this is a real problem, but just passively exploit it.

"Make sure you take a day off when sick"

"Does that mean we get sick days?"

"No, that's what vacation days are for."

I legit had to close a deal in the delivery room while my wife was squeezing out my spawn. It was pretty great and I wasn't bitter about it at all.

Award to be handed out by that middle manager who proudly and loudly never "needs" a sick day. cough Don't worry sneeze I tested and it's cough-cough-cough not COVID. I feel fine. I go crazy if I just stay home and don't work, you know?

"Here at X Corp, we're a family!

The kind of family that will throw you away like garbage and forget your name in a week if any life event makes your productivity decline.

Also we have Little Caesars Pizza every last Thursday of the month!"

True story

I'm probably in line for a promotion to management, and this is something on my radar. The GM genuinely doesn't believe in people coming in sick and will herself be the extra work or hands needed to replace them. I'm the same way. But the example she sets is having Lupus and being some kind of unwell too often to never be sick at work. The other manager, recently promoted, is frustrated by the fact that we legitimately have people who don't take care of themselves and take advantage of our relatively lax on time and attendance policy. But she's a good friend of mine who I think can be inspired to grow and move past that, especially if we could manage to filter out a few problem employees. The advent of rec market realities has shaken out several people already, including three out of four members of the management team. It's just not the job it was a year ago.