Oh my god, I?m late! You must have uttered these words innumerable times before going to your office. And what do you do when you are really late for office? Conjure up the most absurd sounding excuses? Or try to make yourselves invisible and slither in unseen and pray that nobody has seen you sneaking in least of all your boss.

Hardly the most prudent thing to do is it? The more invisible you try to be, the more conspicuous your delay becomes.

A serious problem

Being late to work is a serious problem, especially if it happens far too often with you. Tardiness is not a trait tolerated for too long by any employer, and it will certainly make an appearance at the time of your performance review. The first and the most obvious sign of an upright professional is punctuality. And if punctuality is not one of your qualities you should better develop it, and quickly.

Consider this situation. Two equally talented candidates are called for a job interview. Unfortunately, both of them were caught in a traffic jam. One of them stopped midway to inform the prospective employer why she will be late. The other person made no such efforts to inform the prospective employer about the delay. Naturally, the former, who had the good sense to inform the prospective employers, got the appointment order.

What to do when you are really late?

Communicate immediately to the person who is likely to be affected by your temporary absence. Depending on the situation, it can be your boss, somebody you have an appointment with, a team member or even a subordinate.

Also it is always good to be accessible on a mobile phone, pager or a telephone. If you know in advance that you will be late on a certain day, communicate as early as possible. Most importantly make up for the delay by working extended hours.

Saumen Bhattacharya, a HR professional with experience both in the manufacturing as well as in the IT sector, gives an interesting insight on how differently delay is perceived in both these sectors.

In the manufacturing sector there is grave disapproval towards delays. So much so that if an employee is late for more than two or three days in a month the fine is automatically deducted from the erring employee?s salary. But in the IT sector lack of punctuality is viewed with more lenience than some other sectors. Some IT companies don?t seem to mind if a person comes late as long as he delivers on the job.

Giving excuses! Think again.

Also, think twice before making up excuses for being late. Everybody would have at some point or the other made excuses like ?I was not feeling well?, ?Had a flat tyre?, ?Ran out of fuel?, ?Bus was late?, ?Bike had a starting problem?, ?Somebody in family is not well?.

Saumen laughs away the ?I was not feeling well? line. He feels that any delay on part of the employees will be assessed based on the employee?s attitude towards his work. For instance, a habitual shirker?s excuses will certainly be viewed suspiciously. The best piece of advice though he gives is the most obvious one, ?Don?t be late.?

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