For the modern worker, flexible work places have been promoted as the holy grail for work life balance. For many this is correct. Flexible work places have assisted employees arrange their lives in a way that is mutually beneficial for themselves, their families and their employer.
For a growing number of others, this is not correct. People are starting to realise that the consequences and expectations of flexible work arrangements is darkening their lives. The long shadow is primarily accessibility.
We give you flexibility, you give us access to your life.
A type of ill-considered Faustian bargain
Flexible workplaces, for some, means 24/7 access to their life. Or at the very least, working longer unpaid hours to get the job done.
For others there is a growing realisation that if they can work from anywhere, anytime, their job can be outsourced overseas or to the Human Cloud. The jobs that are affected are no longer limited to call centres operators but to almost all white collar professions.
Like most popular initiatives, flexible workplaces providing work life balance is all the buzz. This was reinforced to me recently when I listened to two business presenters at a conference espousing the virtues of flexible work places, to a relatively young audience.
The key messages were that:
- The advantages of flexible work hours were you could work whatever hours, whenever you liked, just as long as you got the job done.
You could work from home in your pyjamas, put the washing on between video links and be available to attend important school functions.
- Being accessible 24/7 was the modern workplace expectation, for anyone who wanted to succeed.
The key to success, for the modern day worker was setting clear boundaries about when and how they worked.
The presenters were correct. Work is driven by outcomes. Expectations are high and more than ever the ability to set boundaries is critical to maintain any form of a balanced lifestyle.
The problem is, for many getting the job done requires a lot more time than once was required. In many areas of business, there are less people doing more work. To manage the increased demand, many are working evening, weekends and holidays to meet stated or unstated work requirements. This is supported by data from The Centre for Future of work at The Australian Institute:
The average full-time Australian worker did 5.1 hours in unpaid overtime each week while part time workers are doing almost four hours’ unpaid work per week.
Unpaid work is not restricted to managers. According again to the research, and my own observations, it is a universal phenomenon across all sectors including internships. One in four Australians are reporting they are expected to return emails and work related calls outside of work hours.
Although boundary setting is critical, it is easier said than done, particularly when people are increasingly fearful of losing their job and work pressures continue to mount.
An acquaintance, who was a middle level employee in a legal firm, once told me that she may be able to pick her kids up from school, however she had so much work to do she only saw them in the car and at dinner. Asked why she did not discuss this with her boss she said she had to have an income.
I work in the corporate world. I observe the results of people being constantly connected, with downtime fractured by mounting work requests or expectations. For many it is creating exhaustion, sleeplessness, relationship difficulties to name a few. It is only reasonable to assume that employee’s cognitive ability, decision making and creativity may be compromised. The very outcomes that businesses don’t want.
The good news is sanity is starting to prevail in some countries They are creating systems that enforce boundaries.
In France new laws have just been passed giving employees the right to disconnect outside work hours. Sweden is trialling the 6-hour work day with the premise of focusing on work when at work. An almost back to the future concept.
In Finland employees work on average 500 hours a year less than Australian’s with similar levels of productivity and a healthier lifestyle.
In some progressive companies like Volkswagen and Axa insurance they are reducing employees access to emails out of hours. Others are educating managers and employees on the most effective boundary setting techniques.
For many who have accepted the Faustian bargain, that having workplace flexibility means work has access to their life, have come to realise this bargain is counterproductive and has to change. Many just don’t know how or they are fearful of the consequences of saying no.
The actions of those progressive thinkers has opened up a window of opportunity for businesses to reflect on their own flexible work place policies and identify what adjustments may be required to provide productive and healthy workplaces. A perfect opportunity too good to lose.
