“It’s important to try to understand what’s going on,” says UMKC professor Lee G. Bolman. “Are there factors in the person’s life that are making a difference? … Is there something about the job or me, if I’m the boss?” There could be.

Chronic lateness can be one indicator of the tardy individual’s dissatisfaction with his or her job, according to Bolman. Although a less common reason, this behavior can also be a method of playing tit for tat with a supervisor. “In some cases, if I’m mad at the boss, showing up late can also be a subtle way of communicating ‘up yours!’ in effect and letting the boss know ‘you’re not totally in control of my life.’”

The first step in alleviating the situation is to ask the employee what’s causing his or her being late. Then deal with his or her dissatisfaction or the life situation causing the delay. Doing so may reveal a situation that the company might be able to help solve, such as providing childcare ideas for a single parent.

An individual’s background can affect punctuality as well. “Some families, if you’re supposed to be there at 5, you’re expected to be there at 5,” says Bolman. “Other families, 5 means 5-ish, plus or minus 10 minutes or plus or minus 30 minutes.

“For some people, I think they do have a different sense about how critical it really is that [they] get to an event exactly on the dot,” he says.

Differences in personality such as being disorganized or even overly optimistic make running behind more likely. “People who are very successful tend to be overly optimistic about the time it takes to accomplish things or how many things they can actually fit into a day,” says Marilyn O’Hearne, master certified coach and owner of MOh!, an executive coaching service. This optimism leads to a lack of cushion time between appointments and an overscheduled calendar.

As an executive coach, O’Hearne encourages these latecomers to find focus through prioritizing—evaluating values, goals, vision and purpose to discover what is most important and scheduling around that. “It’s getting realistic and padding some time in the calendar—under-scheduling instead of over-scheduling,” she says. Add to that another motivator: O’Hearne challenges them to arrive 15 minutes early.

Unclear corporate disciplinary policies also may be an agent to tardiness. White-collar positions usually aren’t subject to set-in-stone rules with consequences for a morning delay, according to Bolman, especially for salaried employees who stay late to make up the time. Bolman suggests that flextime may be a better response than insisting on a specific start time for the entire company.

For most chronic latecomers, O’Hearne attributes a general lack of awareness. “A lot of people don’t realize how much they are doing it and what the effect is on other people,” she says. “I don’t think it’s malintentioned—that they’re doing it to flaunt they are more powerful or everyone needs to wait on them. I just don’t think they have the awareness.”