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Author: Nick Gendler Article source: http://www.kakoon.com/. Used with author's permission.
One of the most obvious implications of the end of the "job for life" society is that if we wish to hold on to our job we need to demonstrate our utility to the employer. For many, this is interpreted as working long hard hours, and the "stay at work" culture is often the result. But is this necessary? Did anyone actually lose his or her job by going home at a normal time? People lose their jobs either because they are no good at it (known as being fired) or because the company is not performing well or is restructuring in some way (known as being made redundant).
Indeed, for many employers, working late is not a sign of loyalty; it is a sign of
incompetence. If you can't get the work done within a normal working day you are
either badly organised or haven't learned to say "no" to an over-demanding
employer. And if you need to work long hours on a regular basis you are likely to
be less and less productive over time because you are going to burn out and your
morale is going to decline. If this is the case, why do we feel that the employers are
trying to deny us balance in our work and life arrangements?
First of all let's examine the term itself. I've never liked the phrase "work-life
balance". It suggests that work is one activity and life is a separate, conflicting
activity. The truth is that work is one part of our life and it competes for our time
against the other activities in our life that we wish to attend to. I prefer to use the
simpler term "life balance" or "life mix".
The key factor in life balance is "time" and, critically, work is perhaps the only use of
our time that we do not have control over. If we chose when, and for how long we
work, the number of hours we allocate to it would not present a conflict. The recent
dispute between BA employees and the airline at Heathrow was not some Luddite
reaction to new technology, it was born out of the fact that this particular
technology is a mechanism to allow BA to manage to a fine degree when it's
employees come in to work in accordance with passenger volumes. Of course BA
has the right to choose which particular hours it employ people for, but the fact
remains that the mechanism shifts time sovereignty from the employee to the
employer.
For executives the situation is slightly different. While there are always going to be
times when we just need to be in the office in order to complete a task like
preparing for a meeting ('though I'd wager that the majority of these case could
easily be extinguished with better organisation and planning), employees do have
more autonomy than manual workers in terms of the hours spent at work.
Contracts, written and verbal, tend to operate on the basis that we do the work
expected of us, but that how and when (within an agreed timeframe) is up to us. If
you're good and you can do it in a six-hour day I doubt you're going to be fired for
not being there the other one (although it is more likely that you'll be given more
work).
My contention therefore, is that, people who sign up to the "stay at work" culture
choose to do so. That's fine by me. It seems that in our enlightened society late
working is a "bad thing". As a rich nation we should be spending less time at work
and more time doing mind expanding, fulfilling things with our time, spending it
with our friends and family, or exercising. Yet for many people, work is the most
fulfilling and stimulating activity in their life. Why should it be the case that there is
anything wrong with workaholism? Is it wrong that these people should work 80
hours or more each week?
The problem is that the time sovereignty of employees is gradually being eroded,
largely through the introduction of family friendly policies. Far from giving workers
flexibility, these policies shackle the staff to the organisation, by creating such an
infrastructure of support that to leave would require not just the hard enough task
of adjusting to the new employer, but also the need to put back into place all the
other arrangements that were previously taken care of.
A recent initiative I heard about comes from Asda. IVF treatment allowance for
women (5 days per annum) and their partners (11/2 days) is their latest big idea.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for IVF for those that want it, and welcome the idea
that employers should allow their staff to take time off for it, just as with any other
medical matter. My point is that such initiatives do not constitute a meaningful step
towards improving the life balance of employees because improved life balance
requires a fundamental review of how we spend our lives, not whether we can get a
few hours off every few weeks for medical treatment. The truth is that initiatives
such as this and flexible working, crèches and duvet days are a response to the
difficulties in attracting and retaining staff.
Staff retention is much more a problem with larger companies, which is why they are
ahead of the game. By upping the ante these employers will achieve short to
medium term advantages which will be lost when the rest of industry finally works
out what they need to do to attract and retain staff. What's more, the advantage is
rarely, if ever, with the staff. Instead the expectations to perform and show
commitment is increased, usually with such strings attached as "golden handcuffs",
long notice periods, and the provision of equipment for home-working which at
once allows flexibility to the employee and ties them for even longer hours to the
company - they can never escape work.
When the playing field has been levelled it will simply be that employers will have
removed any argument or reason for us not to devote our lives to them. We are
moving away from, not towards, greater control of our working lives, and the reason
is that we are allowing employers to take away our time sovereignty. If I don't have
an issue about picking up the children from nursery because the nursery is down on
the first floor, then the company gets that time from me and I don't get to choose
how to organise my life, or that of my children.
So let's stop looking to our employers to provide us with life balance - they are only
concerned with our work lives. It's up to us to take control of our time and our job
satisfaction. We are not exhausted and de-motivated by running around trying to
balance our busy lives; we are exhausted and de-motivated because we do not
derive fulfilment from our lives. Work should excite, engage, stimulate and give
meaning. It's up to us to decide the extent to which we should pursue it in order to
achieve those objectives.
The specific balance between work, family, hobbies, health, relaxation and whatever
else might be on your own personal menu of time use is entirely up to you. Only
you know how much of each you need in any given time period. It's my belief that
over recent years the pressure to "succeed" (a term that has now taken an almost
exclusive reference to professional status or wealth) has encouraged us to spend
more time at work than our natural balance would recommend.
Yet these are simply excuses. We can change our lifestyles if we want to, it is within
our control as long as we are prepared to reduce our material desires and to take a
good long look at what we do for employment. I contend that the vast majority of
people have not chosen their current career but have fallen into it more or less by
serendipity. When asked if they really "love" their jobs and why they chose their
careers most will be stumped, while many professionals (lawyers, doctors,
accountants, etc) will refer to family pressure to secure their future in a sensible
occupation.
The employee who does not know how to balance his life in an optimally fulfilling
way, or else is scared to address the fact that the "balance" he wants does not
necessarily match the balance his wife wants for him (I have deliberately alluded to
men in this scenario as I believe we are the ones who would rather immerse
ourselves in work than attend to our emotions and relationships) is the one with a
real problem to address.
Moving on, sadly, is a scary alternative. "Better the devil you know" is the usual
response. "I may not be happy but I'm paid well" doesn't sound like a good trade off
to me. Of course we're all for more life, as long as it doesn't mean a salary trade-
off. It's a pity that so many people either feel they cannot afford to buy themselves
any time away from work, or else engage in the "stay at work" culture that keeps
them in the office until only a taxi can get them home because they feel that
somehow the pole becomes less slippery after 5.30 pm. With that attitude regret is
sure to follow at some time or other.
The argument I'm presenting is not that flexible working and similar initiatives are
wrong. I'm arguing that individuals, that's you and me, not our employers, need to
identify what we really want for our work and how to increase fulfilment from it and
the rest of our lives. By maximising our fulfilment we reduce stress and that's the
key to what we seek when we strive for better life balance. How we manage to get
the kids to the dentist or find time to mow the lawn at the weekend follow on as
easy decisions when our priorities are in place.
(c) Nick Gendler, 2003 Nick Gendler runs Workjoy Ltd. Workjoy helps people to get
the job they want at the salary they deserve. http://www.workjoy.co.uk
Feel free to use my articles, un-edited, for any on or off-line purpose as long as you
include the author's name in full, and a link or reference to my website at
http://www.workjoy.co.uk
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