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Opinions of Thursday, 19 May 2011

Columnist: Twumasi, Patrick

What Must I Do First, Upon Entry Into The Office Premises?

Courtesy requires that when a person enters any environs whether the fellows’ home or an unfamiliar location, it is prudent to first extend pleasantries with any one met respectfully.

Culturally it’s also relevant to greet others who might not be in sight. This will require that you check on them in their various office rooms. Most often, you open the office door to find yourself solid-firmly-rooted in a pool of friendly known and anxious unfamiliar faces of perhaps clients waiting to be served. You need to get your art right in doing the socially acceptable. Greeting them accordingly by gender. This radar is believed to have educationally been wired into all innately. A person cannot afford to leave this daily moral, self respectful act and discipline tenet with a location. It’s a must-come-along abstract all the time.

The above are all social acceptables. They are appreciated universally. Ask yourself, what is the time for the Civil Servant or my employers expects me to report at the office or be at post and start the day’s business? How then do you and the Management get to know you were at the office at say exactly 8:00am or 10:00am, earlier or late? This is made possible through the attendance books at the entrances to firms, companies and organisations, or in varied offices, which are clearly advertised on desks upon stepping into the office.

Seriously writing, in some organisations where attendance is checked electronically, logging in on arrival is the first. Indeed entering one’s name into the attendance is and should be the first. This duty should not come after anything else. In the quest to do away with sword crossing, hair splitting or arguments on the period you actually reported to your duty post, simply shelve the pleasantries and fraternisations for a second to give way to one of the many important aspects your employment demands of you.

Despite the above, how do you feel at the sight of 7:15am of reporting time by a fellow staff after 9:10am? It looks as if the 7:15am is a made time and not original. But in actual fact it’s the true reflection of reporting time. Why can’t we sanitise the attendance books and do away with any doubt? Beauty emanate from order. Lets’ keep our attendance books in order. Honestly the proper entries into the attendance books can be your trump card one day against a law suit. For the reason that, it would take the place of the prosecution witness stands on your behalf. It would indicate the time of reporting to duty and when you signed out at the close of working day. It may be required to do away with a strangulating accusation of being at a particular location at a moment.

Entry in to the attendance and signing out books should be the first in the morning upon reporting to duty, and at the close of working day, it must as well be the foremost.

It is said that keep a dairy and it will keep you one day. Documented evidences are hard to be done away with.

Why not consider doing it as the first both on entry and at close of work. Try it.

Patrick Twumasi

(0209045931)patricktwumasi@yahoo.com