The Collapse of the Traditional Weekend, part two.
It’s no longer a Monday-Friday, US-Focused World
Where Do We Go from Here?
Going forward, new boundaries and guidelines must be agreed to and set. The way we define a workday, workweek and weekend must be adjusted. A work week for one person may differ from the way another person is defining it. There needs to be discussion and collaboration with teams and organizations on what will provide the best outcomes for company and people working. Even if a leader or organization agrees to new ways of working, it is often time prevented by outdated systems and policies which prevent nonstandard Monday-Friday schedules or hours worked/week. Our systems, processes and policies need to be able to accommodate the various work schedules while keeping us in compliance with labor laws on how a workweek is defined. Within the existing construct there is a lot of room to define how work is getting done and what constitutes an agreed to boundary.
Beyond regulations, policies, process and systems to enable the new flexible working styles, the employee-employer relationship needs to become a working collaboration, where trust can be re-established in the technology sector. As Covid19 acted as an activation of the digital knowledge worker and the emergence and normalization of the digital workspace; post Covid19 has been a time of mistrust and confusion in the workplace as companies battle to keep in place legacy tax incentives and brick and mortar buildings while sending work to the lowest cost providers offshore. This conflict is creating fear and mistrust, at a time when hiring and maintaining talented digital knowledge workers is a primary competitive differentiator in the digital product space.
A company’s ability to hire, sustain and grow talented people becomes the critical success factor and competitive advantage for the future of work.
Supporting the Internal Company Cultural Shift
Digital knowledge workers have a different relationship then the legacy manufacturing model of work. They are looking for flexible schedules to enable them to make positive contributions while living the life they want to live. They don’t have the legacy employment promise of work for life and a pension.
How we manage these critical questions matters:
1. Once hired, do we follow through on schedule commitments at time of hire?
2. Do we help enable an environment of collaboration while respecting working styles and schedules?
3. Do we establish or allow digital workers to set working hour boundaries?
4. Do we respect differing cultures and ensure that we are treating all members of the team fairly, while avoiding worker burnout?
“The battle for talent in the global people driven transformation of ways of work will be won by a company’s ability to envision the future of work, enabling policies, procedures, process and systems to support the new ways of working.”
Nothing drives attrition up faster than the perception of false hiring practices. If hired to work a specific schedule or location, a sudden switch to another schedule or location immediately after hire is a red flag.
People understand that businesses routinely need to make choices based on business costs and requirements, it’s important that changes are communicated effectively and honestly.
How we engage as a team, to establish and enforce working boundaries is critical. There needs to be an intentional strategy for how companies, organizations and employees balance the needs of the individual against the needs to collaborate as a team to deliver value to customers.
To enable an environment where people can be empowered to set boundaries, communications and trust, open communication is required. If the individuals or teams agree to a working boundary and it is frequently overturned by leadership, trust will be broken, morale will decay, and people will look elsewhere for employment, driving up costs.
How we interpret regulations and labor laws will be important as we look to the impacts on contractors and exempt employees’ payroll and benefits. Traditional employee-direct hires are decreasing, while contractors (w2) and 1099 workers numbers continue to rise, as employment preferences. Who are we defining as the “customer” when we create HR systems (policies, procedures, process, systems)? The employee should be at the center of the design. They are ‘the customer”, of talent acquisition, employee benefits and system enablement. It is important to balance the demands of internal stakeholders, legal constraints and the needs of employees when establishing internal ecosystems.
The battle for talent in the global people driven transformation of ways of work will be won by a company’s ability to envision the future of work, enabling policies, procedures, process and systems to support the new ways of working. The shift in what people value in life and their relationship with an employer has changed: employees are looking for a positive work environment and collaboration with a company that shares their values and offers flexibility in work schedules. Today’s knowledge workers have a different relationship with work. They are starting families and home ownership later, making them more mobile and more focused on experiences than material things. They do not anticipate employment for life and a pension. They want to be able to pick the locations and schedules that they work best in that support their lifestyle. They are looking for a place to grow and have a positive impact.
About the Author:
Cat Collins has been a pioneer in business digital transformation for 30 years. Her focus is on organizational, service, functional and experience design, enabled by emerging digital technology. She has held executive positions in global companies and consulting firms. Her background in psychology/business and hands-on digital transformation experience, have guided her to an innovative human-centric approach to successfully develop solutions and products while helping people transition to new ways of working.