Send people home at 5

The dream employee for a lot of companies is a twenty-something with as little

of a life as possible outside of work--someone who'll be fine working fourteenhour days and sleeping under his desk.

But packing a room full of these burn-the-midnight-oil types isn't as great as it

seems. It lets you get away with lousy execution. It perpetuates myths like "This

is the only way we can compete against the big guys." You don't need more

hours; you need better hours.

When people have something to do at home, they get down to business. They

get their work done at the office because they have somewhere else to be. They

find ways to be more efficient because they have to. They need to pick up the

kids or get to choir practice. So they use their time wisely.

As the saying goes, "If you want something done, ask the busiest person you

know." You want busy people. People who have a life outside of work. People

who care about more than one thing. You shouldn't expect the job to be

someone's entire life--at least not if you want to keep them around for a long

time.