Turning away from an “always-on” work culture

Are you working for a company that expects you to be “always-on”? Or might you be a leader that expects your employees to be “always-on”? If you do, can you explain why?

During the pandemic, many people reported that they work longer hours. The pandemic has taken both physical and psychological toll on people of prolonged stress, anxiety, lack of privacy, sleep deprivation, social isolation, and mostly emotionless and transactional virtual communication at work.

In Portugal, it's now illegal for bosses to call and text employees after work. Versions of this law about the "right to disconnect" have already been introduced in the UK, France, and Spain. In Asia, Japan had to legislate the “Work Style Reform” bill in 2018 in an attempt to combat "Karoshi" which means "overwork death". According to the bill, employers to cap overtime hours and force block leave. The problem in Japan is that it is very hard to enforce it.

But do we really need a law to get us there? Unless it is life or death, or if you are one of the founders of a startup, or there is an emergency, why do employers not respect that people need to have a life and proper rest??

Speaking of life and death, last month after years of struggle, the Ministry of Health in Israel agreed to reduce the shifts for new doctors in hospitals from 26 hours. It is more than just work/life balance. Would you want to be diagnosed in A&E by a doctor on his/ or her 26th hour of work??

"Always-On" Culture

An “Always-On” culture is a workplace that expects employees to be responsive outside of office hours. But is this always efficient? A study by Liuba Belkin from Lehigh University reported that instead of an increase in efficiency, after-hours emails can actually decrease job performance. An article by Business news daily reported that 76% of employees check their emails after work hours as a result of their workplace culture that has high expectations of them to respond and monitor emails during non-working hours.?

A survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas revealed that a large percentage of managers contact their employees after hours and 28.57% of them expect a response within a few hours. Given the large number of managers that expect their employees to be contactable, it is alarming that less than 10% of the surveyed companies have a policy regarding communication outside of work hours.?

The issues with not being able to switch off

This may be a major cause of concern as it is associated with major health issues caused by chronic stress and fatigue. Working in an “always-on” culture prevents people from disengaging from their work-life completely which results in not having any “lifetime”. The inability to detach from a “work-life” leads to emotional exhaustion and chronic stress. Ultimately, the issue here is the organisation's expectations. In companies where it is a norm to be available, the constant anticipation of work creates an unbreakable cycle of stress even when there might not be work to act on. Anticipation of the work alone creates an inability to detach from work-life.?

Red flags about your business offering?

‘Always-On’ culture should also sound your alarm bells. If you need your team to constantly fire-fight issues, perhaps your products, systems, and procedures need to be upgraded. Employees who are asked to sacrifice their personal time to resolve recurring problems that are not addressed will become frustrated and lose trust in your company’s commitment. They will feel a sense of unfairness and disrespect to your customers and employees.?

What are we doing about it?

Portugal has recently banned bosses from contacting their staff via text and email outside of working hours in an act to improve work-life balance. They are making a conscious effort to protect employees by stopping employers from interfering with their staff's life outside of working hours. This is in response to an expansion of working from home where it is easier to forget work-life boundaries.?

Not all legislation for workers turns well and the voice against it

But we also have to be careful when we over legislate. France lost years of competitiveness when it enforced very strict labour laws. Some leaders who responded to this article shared a balanced way. They felt that it is disruptive to their creative process, work hours preferences, and the needs of a global team. For example, some people are night owls who perform better at night. Also when working globally, there are unavoidable disruptions due to time zones. When one accepts work in a global company, they often need to align with a discussion in HQ where the bosses and most of the decision-makers are. Not responding fast might mean an unacceptable delay or missed opportunity.

With the great resignation, companies will need to update their culture and systems so they can retain and attract new talent so there will be no need for laws to enforce this.??

It's about respect and fairness

Whilst employees in certain industries do not have the luxury of turning off, such as people working in healthcare or other emergency services such as firefighters, it is important that employers are able to respect their employees during their off-hours. It is important to give them time off and compensate them for having such burdens.

Some bosses enjoy working around the clock. It is natural for them to feel that they have the right to send messages after hours. They set a norm and peer pressure of 'always on' team which makes it hard for individuals who need to disconnect for their own wellbeing and family time to switch off. They don't want to look not responsive and they want to please the boss who is responsible for their promotion and bonuses.

Therefore, leaders need to respect that employees need to stop their work, especially now when the physical location of the office and home is the same for many. In cases where this is not possible, it is crucial that employers and employees come to an agreement on communication outside of work hours in order to maintain respect for an individual's life outside of work.?

Wellbeing Notes in Email Signature:

They add a disclaimer in their signature so they have the freedom to work when it is convenient for them and at the same time respect the wellbeing of others:

"Getting this email out of normal working hours? We work at a digitally-enabled relentless pace, which can disrupt our ability to sleep enough, eat right, exercise, and spend time with the people that matter most. I am sending you this email at a time that works for me. I only expect you to respond to it when convenient to you." Thank you: @Eddy He

"I work odd hours because this schedule works for me and my personal life.?I do not expect you to reply outside of office hours." Thank you @Eric Tachibana

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59263300