She sounds like a piece of work!

A lot of people think that a «good employee» will be good no matter what environment you put them in, but that’s simply not true. Many internally motivated people in the workforce lose that motivation when they realize that those around them are unwilling to give them the freedom to use their ambition, stifling it instead. Nobody can be completely internally motivated. Everyone wants their boss to recognize when they’ve done a good job, and if a great employee never gets a pat on the back, promotion, or raise, they are not going to stay at that company for very long.

It’s really hard to work for someone who expects the world of you when you’re not willing or able to give them the world. Employers and employees alike should figure out in the interview process whether 12+ hour workdays are feasible. If an employer needs employees willing to put in 12, 14, or 16 hours of work, they shouldn’t try to force that kind of lifestyle on employees who are only willing to work 8 hours a day. If they try to force a 9-5er to work 24/7, they’re just going to make them resent the job and quit, and that’s not good for anyone involved. 

One of the worst things a boss can do is have different standards for different employees. If you expect the same person to work overtime every time you need someone to cover a shift, eventually that person is going to get fed up and look for better opportunities elsewhere, where their coworkers can pick up the slack every once in a while. The boss in this story is not a good communicator and makes excuses for why some of her employees need to constantly step it up, and why others can slack off to no end.