Why the "Always On" employee is a crock
Phil Fersht
CEO at HFS Research. Coined "Services-as-Software". Analyst, AI Futurist, Blogger, Cynic and Podcast Host.
Oh my god - if I have to read yet another article on how to handle those "special" new employees who work in such an unconventional, modern way, where the traditional nine-to-five has now been replaced by this amazing "always on" person, who is just so selfless with their incredible devotion to 24x7 social media and possesses this incredible work ethic to be so connected all day and night, I'll volunteer to sit on a fancy bus with Donald for an afternoon without ear plugs...
Getting to the point, if we can get somewhere back to the "old way" of working, where people were proud to over achieve and "just doing the basics" was the least you'd expect do to, then people might just start to salvage themselves... because a lot of folks are in for a very rude awakening, and it may not be too long in the offing, with dwindling employment growth, a rapidly softening housing market and global economies looking decidedly shaky.
My patience was tested after reading this well written piece entitled "I'll Be Online Later" by Sara Holoubek. While I agree with this is concept, in reality, people might be "always on", but their hours being productive and actually working are slipping as they get increasingly distracted by non-work stuff. I talk to many other CEOs and diminishing productivity and a sense of entitlement are plaguing their firms.
Many staff, today, expect to be adulated for "just doing their job" and checking the "bare minimum" boxes. Motivating some staff is now practically impossible - they just don't want to work very hard!
Just a few short years ago, people would actually put in a hour or two late at night, or the occasional shift on a weekend to get ahead of their jobs. But this ethic, for so many, seems to have dissipated. Now, people have reverted back to their nine-to-five, despite spending a good chunk of the day on Facebook, doing their groceries, attending to their pets, going to the gym, long lunches with old friends, taking afternoon naps... But that doesn't matter because they are "always on". We should be grateful they are available to receive tweets and texts and emails at slightly odd hours, so for that, we should be happy that they just barely performed the basics of their job.
Bottom Line: We must forget about "Always On" and focus on "When Productive"
We need a painful pivot back to long-forgotten working values and an appreciation for actually "having a job". This current "work" culture is unsustainable, and when the next recession hits, there'll be millions of lazy, entitled workers (and not only millennials) who will have no idea what hit them.
So can we please find out way back to the old days, when a hard day's work meant people actually focused on their actual job for their day, they got their basics done and made sure they went a bit over and above? Otherwise "Always On" is not always going to mean "Always Employed"...
Business Head Advisory services| CXO Advisor | Insights to Implementation - AVP @ Feedback Insights
8 年Outstanding article Phil, response to emails is not "Real" Work ; even more painfully apparent in Knowledge economy
Ah, trends. We went from talking about the generational differences, to getting burned out by the talk and reverting to everyone being the same. For me this article highlights the fact that there are real aspects of generational differences, and sometimes they clash. It's a different flavor of the digital native concept. As a digital immigrant, you know what it was like to work before e-mail, etc. Similarly, if you've been in the world of work long enough, you remember a time when expectations were higher, when you were judged for things like leaving early, and even labeled. Usually that which is controversial is also thought provoking, and this hit both marks for me.
Manager, Sr. Solutions Architect, Enterprise Business Applications, BDO USA
8 年"Those who criticize this generation are quick to forget who raised them." When you start throwing around "entitled" "lazy" "old days" and "actual this, actual that", you've become quite out of touch. This is the same, age old rhetoric that each generation says about the next.
Executive Director | CFO | Finance Strategy | Commercial Leader | Business Partner | Lifelong Learner
8 年Whilst I agree that there is an increased sense of entitlement amongst some employees, working beyond work hours as a 'norm' is not the right solution. Focusing on productive work hours is a better long term solution. In fact, the linkage of work hours to productivity is a redundant concept in the age of technology and communication. I also think that focussing on 'number of hours worked' increases gender imbalances in the work force and if THIS is what working flexibility (from home) fixes, then it is certainly needed!
I go with the bottomline here, Phil Fersht..Productivity should count and nothing else... should really not matter if one is on 24/7 or less or more (incase anyone has a time machine to do that :)