Like many people, I’ve grown used to the comfort of online shopping post-COVID. And, two recent experiences have made me more averse to going to a physical store. Both times, I landed up at the shops at 11 am, the time they are supposed to open. To my chagrin, the shutters were still down. In another instance, I had booked an appointment at a hair salon. When I arrived on time, I was told I had to wait for five minutes. However, the five minutes stretched to ten and then twenty minutes. When I asked the salon what was the point of making an appointment, they grinned sheepishly saying, “Just five more minutes, Ma’am!”
That Indians have a lax relationship with time is a cultural trope. Only in India do we tell people that we will come at 4ish or where 10 am can mean 10:30 am. However, when this laissez faire approach extends into the professional sphere, productivity and profits can plummet.
Timeliness & productivity
In a blog post of Harvard Business School, author Ben Rand describes a study conducted by Ananth Raman and Caleb Kwon that involved 100,000 workers. The researchers analyzed the timecards of retail workers over a period of four years at a mega retail chain in the United States. Importantly, they found that even if one employee is either late or absent, there is a cascading effect. Besides the day’s operations being impacted by the tardy or absent worker, coworkers also get impacted as they have to pick up the slack. Rand notes that the researchers found that a “1 percent increase in lateness and absenteeism is associated with a 2.3 percent decline in daily sales.
What punctuality signals
In a blog of Robert Half, a talent solutions firm, Robert Half outlines five reasons why punctuality is important. Foremost, it signals that you are organized. Stop blaming the traffic for your tardiness and leave well on time. Further, when you show up on time, be it for an interview, meeting or an office lunch, other people perceive you as being dependable. They know they can count on you to make that crucial presentation. You’re not the one to come huffing and puffing for a client meeting, embarrassing yourself, your boss and the organization. Being punctual enhances not only your own reputation but also impacts how the organization is viewed by others, especially customers.
According to Half, punctuality is a basic facet of professionalism. However much you excel at work and however many hours you clock in, chronic lateness suggests that you have a sloppy work ethic. Being punctual also shows that you are attentive to detail. Every aspect of a project matters to you, including your timeliness, in all senses of the term.
Most importantly, people who are punctual respect other people’s time. Just as you are often pressed for time, so are others. By making a habit of being punctual, you let others know that their time matters to you.
Don’t punish the punctual
I teach an online course and I make it a point to start on time even if only a handful of participants have logged in. I don’t think it’s fair to punish those who are punctual by waiting a few extra minutes for stragglers to join in. The late-comers are the ones who have to bear the brunt of catching up on what they’ve missed. By making a virtue of punctuality, we can bring in a cultural shift where 9 am Indian Standard Time means 9 am on the dot.
About the Author
(Aruna Sankaranarayanan is a psychologist & writer. She is the author of Zero Limits: Things Every 20-Something Should Know. She blogs at www.arunasankaranarayanan.com.)