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Going Home at 5:00 p.m.: A Sign of Disloyalty?

Blog / Produced by The High Calling
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"And now," my boss said, "we come to the part about improvements you can make."

She was giving me my first job performance evaluation since I'd become a writer-editor in a government public affairs office. After a series of short-term assignments through a temporary employment agency, they'd hired me on because they liked my work. My boss's comments so far had reflected this satisfaction: she'd said I was learning the job well, that I had the skills they were looking for, and that I followed through effectively on projects. But I suspected there might be a question about my commitment.

The people in this office had developed a culture of staying late. I recognized that the particular demands of our work required this from time to time, and I'd been willing to do my part. We wrote speeches and news releases for government officials, and many of these were time-sensitive. When necessary, I'd even gone over to the legislature after hours and worked directly with members in their own offices to meet deadlines.

But I had been concerned that a tendency to work overtime could feed on itself. I'd actually heard colleagues say aloud that since they were going to be staying late anyway, they didn't need to get to some things immediately. I honestly wondered whether it wouldn't be possible to go home at 5:00 most days if I did try to get to things right away.

Going home was important to me because of a commitment I'd made to my wife when we were first married. I'd promised to make every effort to be home with her in the evening and on weekends, rather than at work. We both knew that we had to invest time in our relationship if we wanted it to grow strong and healthy. Naturally there were some times when I'd had to make exceptions. But I wanted them to remain exceptions, not to become the rule.

And so on several occasions, I'd appealed requests from my boss to work late. I'd promised to be in the office first thing the next morning so I could get projects done before their mid-day deadlines. My boss had been willing to let me try, and so far I'd been successful.

But there were many times when I had to run a gauntlet of raised eyebrows and disappointed head shakes as I walked towards the door at 5:00. Staying late actually seemed to be an unspoken measure of a person's dedication to this team, and I was creating a conspicuous exception to the office culture.

So when my boss reached the part of my performance evaluation that dealt with improvements that could be made, I was sure that this issue would come up.

It did. But not quite the way I expected.

To this point my boss had been reading from the evaluation, using it for talking points in our conversation. But now she turned it around so I could see it. The space provided for "improvements" was blank!

"What was I supposed to write there?" she asked, with a conspiratorial expression on her face. " 'He goes home'? We should all go home!" And then she handed me the paper, nodding at the box she'd checked on the bottom. It indicated a very positive overall appraisal.

I thanked her warmly for the evaluation, we exchanged knowing smiles, and I went back to work. As I headed to my desk, I thanked God for giving me a boss who had proven so supportive and understanding. I knew it had been a professional risk to challenge the corporate culture. I could imagine that in another workplace, things might not have turned out so well. But in this case, my boss had respected and affirmed the commitment I'd made to be diligent in my work but not to let it encroach on family life.

I worked in that office for another couple of years. People heard about how I'd "gone home" but hadn't been marked down because of it. As word spread, I had more and more company going down the elevator at 5:00 o'clock.