I worked at a job where I typically came in around 10 AM, and all the developers rolled in around 11 onward (or worked from home, or worked odd hours, etc.). That was the way the company had been since I started there, and the only reason I came in so early (despite working late) was because, as the sysadmin, I had to be there for office problems and desktop support.
Shortly after my supervisor left to move on to other projects, the guy promoted to take his place decided (or it was decided for him) that everyone should come in 'business hours' - i.e. show up at 9 AM. Suddenly, instead of being earlier than everyone else, getting work done, staying late, and then doing some work from home, I was getting lectured for being late every day.
My reaction was simple. I started showing up between 9-10 as requested, and started leaving between 5-6, as was fair. Stuff stopped getting done, my mornings were completely unproductive and in my rush I often forgot to take my medications, resulting in nearly no work getting done at all. I was stressed in the morning from rushing to work (or from getting phone calls at 10:15 demanding to know where I was). Eventually, I was so drained that nothing that wasn't urgent got done at all. Projects dragged on, things stopped getting done.
Since I hadn't taken a vacation in the year and a half I'd been there, I asked for my vacation pay to get paid out, so I could make some purchases - a new mattress to help me sleep better, a sun lamp to help me wake up, etc. Instead, I ended up in a passive-agressive back-and-forth with the CEO, who had retroactively decided that I'd taken too many (management-approved) sick days. At that point, I had no interest whatsoever in being productive.
Eventually they let me go, citing 'insufficient work'. I took a month off, revitalized myself, and started a new job elsewhere. The company, meanwhile, continued to go downhill. The development team (including my supervisor) left to start a new company, contracting their services out. Their stock price was already in the toilet, so that hasn't changed, and they're selling off any assets they can to keep afloat.
The moral of the story: if you try to force your techs to be 'professional' for no other reason than you believe that's how everyone should act, you'll ruin any goodwill you had with them, alienate them from yourself and the project, and doom your business to an early death.
I worked at a job where I typically came in around 10 AM, and all the developers rolled in around 11 onward (or worked from home, or worked odd hours, etc.). That was the way the company had been since I started there, and the only reason I came in so early (despite working late) was because, as the sysadmin, I had to be there for office problems and desktop support.
Shortly after my supervisor left to move on to other projects, the guy promoted to take his place decided (or it was decided for him) that everyone should come in 'business hours' - i.e. show up at 9 AM. Suddenly, instead of being earlier than everyone else, getting work done, staying late, and then doing some work from home, I was getting lectured for being late every day.
My reaction was simple. I started showing up between 9-10 as requested, and started leaving between 5-6, as was fair. Stuff stopped getting done, my mornings were completely unproductive and in my rush I often forgot to take my medications, resulting in nearly no work getting done at all. I was stressed in the morning from rushing to work (or from getting phone calls at 10:15 demanding to know where I was). Eventually, I was so drained that nothing that wasn't urgent got done at all. Projects dragged on, things stopped getting done.
Since I hadn't taken a vacation in the year and a half I'd been there, I asked for my vacation pay to get paid out, so I could make some purchases - a new mattress to help me sleep better, a sun lamp to help me wake up, etc. Instead, I ended up in a passive-agressive back-and-forth with the CEO, who had retroactively decided that I'd taken too many (management-approved) sick days. At that point, I had no interest whatsoever in being productive.
Eventually they let me go, citing 'insufficient work'. I took a month off, revitalized myself, and started a new job elsewhere. The company, meanwhile, continued to go downhill. The development team (including my supervisor) left to start a new company, contracting their services out. Their stock price was already in the toilet, so that hasn't changed, and they're selling off any assets they can to keep afloat.
The moral of the story: if you try to force your techs to be 'professional' for no other reason than you believe that's how everyone should act, you'll ruin any goodwill you had with them, alienate them from yourself and the project, and doom your business to an early death.