Boss told dedicated employee to stop 'taking advantage' of flexible hours—had no idea it would backfire immediately
At many workspaces, mutual respect and freedom to grow are sadly rare. Often, those in the senior positions are more focused on proving themselves right than amending changes. However, in a few exceptional cases, we encounter managers who showcase humility by admitting their errors and adapting an approach suitable for their employees. An exceptional example of this was shared by a Redditor. Their manager at their former workplace was initially rigid about flexible work hours, but faced unexpected consequences when an employee maliciously complied with the rule set by him.
The employee, who goes by the username u/my-reddit-saga, penned an interesting story that happened 15 years ago. The author, who was working at a government agency, was responsible for the maintenance of cars. His duties included driving the car to repair shops, tire companies, glass repair shops, and inspection centers. Oftentimes, he performed simple repairs, and additionally, he also handwashed every car, both inside and outside, making sure everything was in place for the clients. The author explained that since his work offered flexible timings, he used to take about 45 minutes to wash the cars and make sure the necessary equipment was present.
However, this arrangement did not sit right with his manager, who instructed him to stop working precisely at 4 PM, alleging that the employee was 'taking advantage' of the flexible schedule. The employee, who was confused at first, decided to rigorously follow the rule set by the boss. And because of this, he started working on tasks that consumed less time toward the end of his shifts. "As the days went on, and if it was after 3:15 PM, I didn't think I had enough time to start washing and fixing another car. So instead, I did other small tasks like sweeping the floor or restocking the supply room," he wrote. Soon, when the manager noticed that fewer cars were being washed and fixed, he confronted the employee. "That's when I brought up his policy that I had to leave at exactly 4:00 PM and that I shouldn't be 'taking advantage' of my flexible hours," the employee told him.
According to the author, on some days, he completed their work early, allowing him to leave a bit sooner after finishing his task. However, on other occasions, he required an additional 5 to 20 minutes to complete their work. While it wasn't a daily occurrence, this shift happened frequently enough to cause issues when the manager implemented the new inflexible policy. After reflecting on his mistake, the manager acknowledged the policy's shortcomings and apologized for the inconvenience caused to his employee. Surprisingly, unlike other managers, this incident fostered a positive working relationship between the Redditor and his boss throughout his tenure at the agency.
The cons of good leadership were reflected in a study titled "Humble leadership and its outcomes: A meta-analysis," authored by Yifei Luo, Zeyu Zhang, Qishu Chen, Kairui Zhang, Yijiang Wang and Jianfeng Peng in 2022. It explored that humble leadership, which is defined by the leaders’ willingness to acknowledge mistakes, give credit to others, and seek feedback, was strongly linked to positive workplace outcomes. These included higher levels of trust in leaders, affective commitment, psychological safety, knowledge sharing, creativity, job satisfaction, and task performance.
Soon after the post went viral, fellow Redditors shared their thoughts on the story. u/TravellingBeard commented, "A rare win...a boss who realized they goofed and didn't take it out on you."
u/CanAhJustSay wrote, "A boss who actually listened, reflected, 'fessed up that he was wrong, and went with the best option all round? What a gem." u/Overall-Tailor899 commented, "That boss was a real unicorn!"
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