Which is better - to have employees who work smart or hard?

IS it better to have employees who work smart or hard? In the early days of my career, the generally accepted practice was to stay in the office later than your boss. Although there are still companies who practise this, many organisations are taking the work-life-balance approach. It used to be a status-symbol to be extremely busy because it meant that you were doing something really important.

However, things have changed. Taking too long to replay an email these days is usually frowned upon and could even lead to loss of a business opportunity. Hence, being busy is not necessarily fashionable anymore. In fact, being able to waltz into the office well after 10am and being able to leave before 6pm is now seen as an enviable position to be in.