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.