Heard a while back in an escalation to the desk of the HR Capitalist...

HR Capitalist - "Allen (named changed to protect the identity of the attendance-challenged), your manager mentioned you were upset that you had been counseled about getting to work on time.  She mentioned you requested that I give you a call."

Allen - "Yeah, I wanted to complain to you about this.  I do my job, what's it matter if I am a little late?"

HR Capitalist - "Allen, we try and be as flexible as we can on the attendance front.  It seems like your manager has been very flexible.  She's tried to coach you on at least 5 occasions, and the formal counseling you received reflects 15 instances of you reporting to work late, from 10 minutes to 3 hours depending on the episode."

Allen - "But I do my job!  We're just talking about when I get there.  I'm one of the best when I am there."

HR Capitalist - "Based on our conversations, I think your manager agrees you are very good when you are there.  Since your role with our company is based on serving our customers, and we schedule your position based on call volume, it's important you are there as scheduled, so our customers aren't impacted."

Allen - "Would you rather have good reps on the phone or worry about when they are there?"

HR Capitalist - "I'd like both, since we schedule according to call volume.  Additionally, when you aren't there, it also impacts your teammates as well".

Allen - "How does it impact my teammates?  When I get there is about me, not them."

HR Capitalist - "That's not true.  When you aren't there as scheduled, abandoned rates and hold times go up, meaning your teammates are rushed to get to the next customer.   That impacts quality.  Additionally, they feel the stress of customers who have had to wait longer than they normally would, etc."

Allen - "I disagree with that.  Whether I am there on time is about me, not them...."

And so the dance goes...  While I am a proponent of the Best Buy/IBM/Netflix flexibility when it comes to when and where you work, some jobs are based on availability, like this one.

While the conversation was going on, I was reminded of a classic clip of perennial NBA All-Star Allen Iverson talking about the necessity of practice as long as he showed up and played well in games.  Take a look and see if you can identify any employee you know in this one....