Of course, defiantly bucking the global trend is South Korea which steadfastly refuses to relinquish the top slot on the working hours league table, despite having achieved a fully developed economy more than a quarter of a century ago.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/09/working-hours
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| With Korean employees currently working 1.6 times more hours than German employees, you would have to seriously question the sanity of anyone who left a German firm to join a Korean company. Yet strange things happen ;) |
Explanations for Korea's singular determination to maintain its #1 position are many and varied. Some suggest that despite a deeply engrained loathing of their former colonial masters, the Koreans have willingly embraced the Japanese concept of 'myeolsabonggong' or 'sacrifice your personal life to serve your community' - in this case your employer. Others claim that 'presenteeism' - a cynic's antithesis of absenteeism - has virtually become a national sport as workers strive strive to outstay each other in the office, to maintain the illusion of being essential to the organisation. Whichever theory one leans towards, one certainly shouldn't underestimate the dark influence of the omnipresent Human Resources. After all, HR is the modern era's mandarin class, a secret service hiding in plain sight, operating its own agenda, evaluating every priority, setting every task, allocating every resource, costing every option, authorising every decision and ensuring with ruthless efficiency that everyone is assimilated.
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| HR: 7 of 9 warned us; resistance is futile. |
Amongst many other things, electronic ID cards allow HR computers to record when staff enter the building and when they leave. Statistics are compiled in real time to report who has arrived late, how late and the frequency of their tardiness. The average arrival time of each departmental team is computed. If the average is later than 'targets', then the team leader is told to correct it. Similarly if the average departure time of a team is earlier than 'targets' then the team leader is also held accountable.
In the largest companies, the unspoken target is to arrive by 7:30 for 8:00 am. It speaks volumes that most staff usually roll in soon after 7am so that their ID cards record a 'respectable' clock-in time. However, that done, the rank and file waste no time looking for a convenient place to nap until they need to be at their desks at 8:00. This is after all, their contractual starting time; the moment from which they get paid to work.
A quiet stroll around the head offices of the larger conglomerates at 7:15 will find a steady stream of people quietly tip-toeing into darkened interview rooms, conference rooms and even executive board-rooms. Inside will be dozens, sometimes scores of snoozing staff flumped over desks, hunched over chairs, resting in each other's laps, blissfully purring away. Given that most of these staff arrived by subway, this is already their second cat-nap of the day. In the Korean Hive Collective, assimilation by a conglomerate is the ultimate goal, presenteeism is the modus operandi and sleep is the most treasured commodity. You have to get it while you can ...... which means you have to be creative how you do it.
Lunch time begins when, and only when, all the office lights automatically switch off for an hour. That might be 11:30, 12:00 or 12:30, as determined by HR to regulate the flow of people floor by floor to avoid undue crushes at the elevators and into the canteens. Then, like everything else in Korea, how and when you take your nap depends on your status in the company.
It is a given that most regular staff will need only 10 minutes to wolf down some scorching hot noodles, followed by 50 minutes back at their desks snoozing on their keyboards with a favourite hug pillow. Hug pillows typically feature favorite K-pop bands, risque Anime pin-ups, significant others or perhaps even the entire family. Recent fads include the very versatile Ostritch Pillow which combines great comfort with effective sensory deprivation and can be worn in a variety of modes; head upright, leaning against something or flumped over the desk.
Of course, higher paid rank and file can pay for business class power naps in relaxation parlours. These are booming business, especially in Gangnam, Myeongdong and Hongik where people go to show off their cash. Subdued lighting, soft music, complex aromas and subtle mechanised massages combine to regenerate body and soul.
In public places people have evolved the knack of sleeping on benches directly under the noonday sun, on walls, chains, flower beds, stairs, cycles, subways.
Either laying, sitting or standing, power napping is competitive business and just like every other, the Koreans are fiendishly good at it.
And as you’d expect, commuters have programmable Apps to bring them out of their reverie as they approach their destination so that they don’t miss their stop. It’s all terribly civilized.
The lunch hour ends abruptly when the office lights come back on. By this time everyone has to be back at their desk to work, even if a phone call, meeting or some urgently required piece of work prevented them from starting their lunch break at the allotted time. It is the task of the team gofer to run around checking that everyone comes out of their reverie and anyone who hasn't come to will receive a respectful nudge in the ribs.
This applies to everyone except managers, directors, vice presidents and above, who once again enjoy highly visible deferential treatment. Managers are allowed to keep napping in their cubicle in full view of their subordinates. Likewise directors can close their office door signalling that they are not to be disturbed.
For these management levels, sleeping at work is ironically perceived as a good thing; not because napping improves performance, but because clearly, the employee’s state of exhaustion is a clear testament to the long hours of personal sacrifice that he has given in commitment to the company. Thus a manger can nap with impunity in full view of his minions and be revered for the unstinting effort that this implies about his service to the company.
It's all about perception.
Any questions ?
In the largest companies, the unspoken target is to arrive by 7:30 for 8:00 am. It speaks volumes that most staff usually roll in soon after 7am so that their ID cards record a 'respectable' clock-in time. However, that done, the rank and file waste no time looking for a convenient place to nap until they need to be at their desks at 8:00. This is after all, their contractual starting time; the moment from which they get paid to work.
A quiet stroll around the head offices of the larger conglomerates at 7:15 will find a steady stream of people quietly tip-toeing into darkened interview rooms, conference rooms and even executive board-rooms. Inside will be dozens, sometimes scores of snoozing staff flumped over desks, hunched over chairs, resting in each other's laps, blissfully purring away. Given that most of these staff arrived by subway, this is already their second cat-nap of the day. In the Korean Hive Collective, assimilation by a conglomerate is the ultimate goal, presenteeism is the modus operandi and sleep is the most treasured commodity. You have to get it while you can ...... which means you have to be creative how you do it.
Lunch time begins when, and only when, all the office lights automatically switch off for an hour. That might be 11:30, 12:00 or 12:30, as determined by HR to regulate the flow of people floor by floor to avoid undue crushes at the elevators and into the canteens. Then, like everything else in Korea, how and when you take your nap depends on your status in the company.
It is a given that most regular staff will need only 10 minutes to wolf down some scorching hot noodles, followed by 50 minutes back at their desks snoozing on their keyboards with a favourite hug pillow. Hug pillows typically feature favorite K-pop bands, risque Anime pin-ups, significant others or perhaps even the entire family. Recent fads include the very versatile Ostritch Pillow which combines great comfort with effective sensory deprivation and can be worn in a variety of modes; head upright, leaning against something or flumped over the desk.
 |
| Sweet dreams are made of this: the Ostritch Pillow |
Of course, higher paid rank and file can pay for business class power naps in relaxation parlours. These are booming business, especially in Gangnam, Myeongdong and Hongik where people go to show off their cash. Subdued lighting, soft music, complex aromas and subtle mechanised massages combine to regenerate body and soul.
 |
| Today: regeneration in relaxation parlours |
 |
| Tomorrow: regeneration in Borg alcoves |
In public places people have evolved the knack of sleeping on benches directly under the noonday sun, on walls, chains, flower beds, stairs, cycles, subways.
 |
| The Noonday Nap: not for beginners |
 |
| The Improvised Nap: a well-honed art form |
And as you’d expect, commuters have programmable Apps to bring them out of their reverie as they approach their destination so that they don’t miss their stop. It’s all terribly civilized.
The lunch hour ends abruptly when the office lights come back on. By this time everyone has to be back at their desk to work, even if a phone call, meeting or some urgently required piece of work prevented them from starting their lunch break at the allotted time. It is the task of the team gofer to run around checking that everyone comes out of their reverie and anyone who hasn't come to will receive a respectful nudge in the ribs.
This applies to everyone except managers, directors, vice presidents and above, who once again enjoy highly visible deferential treatment. Managers are allowed to keep napping in their cubicle in full view of their subordinates. Likewise directors can close their office door signalling that they are not to be disturbed.
 |
| Napping - the ultimate testament to hard work |
For these management levels, sleeping at work is ironically perceived as a good thing; not because napping improves performance, but because clearly, the employee’s state of exhaustion is a clear testament to the long hours of personal sacrifice that he has given in commitment to the company. Thus a manger can nap with impunity in full view of his minions and be revered for the unstinting effort that this implies about his service to the company.
It's all about perception.
Any questions ?
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