One Size Fits All?

How often have you seen that work out well? It’s either going to fit you perfectly (if you are the super lucky person) or it will be too small or too big. Very rarely does it actually meet your needs unless there is some way to easily adjust it.

?? Balancing work and life are no different…there isn’t one perfect way to do it. And…I hate the phrase work-life balance because work is part of life. You can try to balance personal and professional priorities, but that only works for a few minutes at a time because one area will need a greater focus, and then it will be back out of balance. This whole focus on balance made many of us go crazy because we never felt like we had the right balance because our focus was on juggling all the balls in the air and making sure that the glass ones didn’t break.?It's all about flexibility to meet the needs of evolving priorities.

?? Flexible. Adjustable. Tailored For the Need.?Hybrid.?These words should become more common in the work vernacular.

As organizations evaluate how and where and when people should work in a post-Covid world, we’re seeing some organizations land on a one size fits all mentality. The CEO, the regional leader, the HR department, whoever…has decided that there is only one way to make it work – it’s either work in the office or work at home (during the Covid world). They missed the experiences that everyone had over the past 2+ years. They are choosing to ignore the insight that multiple ways of working are possible, desirable, practical, and productive.?They are missing out on the opportunity to reevaluate what their customers need and want, what their employees need and want, and what would be most beneficial to the organization now.

In my opinion, leaders who still believe these things are missing an opportunity:

?? One set schedule for everyone.?

• Customers and clients value flexibility on when they can be served.
• Individuals have times when they’re more productive than others.
• No one (or no one I’ve ever met) enjoys being stuck in rush hour traffic with the rest of the world.
• The standard workday of 8 am - 5 pm doesn't need to still be the right answer for everyone.

?? One location where everyone needs to be. Different types of work assignments are done optimally in a variety of environments.

• Ideal for a client meeting or interview – in person UNLESS that significantly delays the event, or the costs or time required would be prohibitive for the value
• Ideal for individual planning, strategy work – the place you can best be in flow – quiet of your home office, the white noise of a café, or in a private office at your work location
• Ideal for team building or cross-team collaboration events – ideally together – at an office or offsite location
• Ideal for large townhalls – wherever people are available to join from

?? One way of solving a problem.

• We get comfortable solving situations in the ways we’ve seen work before. We miss that circumstances change, the tools evolve, and the ways of looking at the problem may shift.
• Our experiences are different from someone else’s so they will likely bring a different perspective on how they think the situation can best be solved.

One size fits all doesn’t make sense anymore in the workplace. The flexibility I might value will be different from that of a co-worker who has different priorities and needs. With technology innovations, there shouldn’t need to be one answer for how, where, and when people work. Yes, some roles will have specific shifts and may require a specific work location, but that doesn’t mean every position should require the same. Yes, maybe it’s easier to say that you do it only one way. Unfortunately, doing things one way with people as your core asset will likely not be appreciated by a significant percentage of your employees.?You will miss out on the opportunity to harness the full potential of your employees.

?? If you want the most productive employees who want to work with and for you, it starts with creating a great employee experience.?A great employee experience is NOT A ONE-SIZE FITS ALL model.?It requires adaptation and flexibility.

?? If you provide a great employee experience, the odds increase that your employees will provide a great customer/client experience and will give their discretionary effort towards creating a great organization.?

?? If you create great customer/client experiences, you are likely to do well against your competitors and create positive revenue streams for your business.

The days of one size fits all in the workplace need to be?over. It needs to be the time for flexible models of working – when, where, and how.