Any sense that going above and beyond for your job just for the sake of "doing a good job" is noble/admirable is the result of decades of us as a society aggrandizing employers.
wat?
Animals are programmed to eat, reproduce, and maybe have some sort of social structure to them. Humans got to where they are, in part, because we rose above the minimum requirements for survival and built civilizations.
I understand that sending an extra couple emails a day might not do much to drive the species for, but if you aren't trying to do your best for its own sake, then how are you different from any other animal that farts around then dies?
Because employers take advantage of this for their own gain. My work ethic has been abused and used by managers to get ahead and take credit at their own will.
Going above and beyond your call of duty sometimes doesn't always lead to positive outcomes. Hasnt mattered in the past how many free hours I've done, I've been shat on.
Going into a company fresh with the attitude of doing bare minimum doesn't wash with me I agree with that, but sometimes toning it down and doing just what you're expected and no more is sometimes forced upon you in situations you are in.
I agree with you. but to go back to what I said before, doing more than the bare minimum is far more likely to result in a positive outcome (better pay, promotion, recognition, etc.) than doing just enough, wouldn't you agree?
The "work smarter. not harder" guy to whom I referred who left our company a while back was a 7-4 guy who openly joked off how he'd often get to work around 6:50-6:55 and sit in his car and play on his phone until 6:59 and then come inside and start work at 7 because he wasn't about to give anyone any extra minutes. That is such a terrible attitude. I am sorry, but if you are taking the "I am not giving the company 5 extra minutes" attitude, which trickles down into other areas, you pretty much have no one but yourself to blame when you don't get the raise or promotion you feel you "deserve," and I use deserve loosely since far too many nowadays seems to think they deserve the moon for doing jack squat. I am a salaried worker whose hours are technically 8-5, but I almost always get to work 10-20 minutes early and just get to it. Part of that is because I hate being late for anything, so I always leave early to ensure I am not late, but if I know I have a lot of work at the start of the day, I'd rather get to it and get rolling.
And back to Bill's point about there being more benefits than pay to working, there was a day a while back where I had to do a quick doctor's appointment at lunch. It was 10 minutes away, so with an hour, I figured I had time to get there and back, but I also gave my boss a heads up that I could run a little late back if there are any delays and he said that was fine. Naturally, there ended up being a delay and I got back after like an hour and 25 minutes, so I asked my boss if I should email HR about taking 25 minutes of personal time and he said, "nah, don't worry about it, I know you're always here early, so you are good." I know that same courtesy would not be extended to those who do as little as possible or who are never early (I know they can see what time we swipe our cards to get into the building). And, no, not all bosses are as good about that kind of stuff as mine, but this goes back to doing your best.