More Than Just Doing Time - A New Dynamic for Work-Life Balance
Trending Toward a More Effective Remote Work Model
Early on in my five-plus decades in the workforce, much of the work I did required a physical presence for 8-10 hours a day due to the nature of the work (more hands-on).
Toward the end of my active work life, the eight-hour “time in the seat” requirement still applied, even though I could do most of the actual tasks in half that time. My main presence was to provide “subject matter expertise” when called upon.
Because of this, both before and after I retired, I have often thought about how the current model of work came to be. And is it really the most efficient model for productivity?
More recently, I thought about how work models can be tailored to fit employees’ varied work-life balances and still benefit employer goals.
Sophia Lee, in an article for Culture Amp, entitled 40-hour work week: The history and evolution touches on this -
A 40-hour workweek is the accepted standard in today’s workplace. But where did this concept originate? And is it the most effective model for productivity and employee engagement? Fortunately, there’s a growing amount of information being made available on this topic.
She then goes on to outline the evolution of a workweek in terms of time on the job. The current model, a 40-hour workweek, was codified into law in 1940, thereby producing a national standard.
Alternative Work Models
As we have become more aware of how different work models affect productivity many variations have been experimented with in the quest for the ideal work-life balance.
Four tens + 3 day weekend - High fatigue and burnout rate
32 hour weeks (4x8 + 3 day weekend) - less burnout but sometimes not enough time to get work done
Flextime - 40 hour week around employees’ personal needs/activities - still required 40 hours a week, but much better than traditional model
Hybrid the (some combination of in-office/remote) - A much better model overall
100% Remote - Many claim this is the best option if possible with Hybrid being the backup plan.
The COVID-19 response fast-tracked a major shift in work perspective in the U.S. and around the world. Remote work became the norm for many businesses that could facilitate it.
Wasted Time
Morgan Smith is a work-related topic writer for CNBC. In an article entitled People are over the 40-hour workweek: ‘We don’t want to waste our time’ she says:
The Covid-19 pandemic didn’t just disrupt where and how we show up to our jobs: It has led people to question when and why they should be working in the first place.
While resignation rates have been slowly ticking up over the last decade, other factors related to the lingering pandemic ─ burnout, the rise of remote work, a national existential panic ─ have pushed workers to re-consider what they’re giving and getting out of their jobs.
As a result, more people are breaking out of the 40-hour workweek.
“There’s a growing annoyance with work tasks that add no value to our lives,” Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at London’s UCL School of Management, says. “People have a much lower tolerance for this, and are less afraid to say, ‘We don’t want to waste our time.’”
As the “pandemic” continued, more and more employees began working remotely.
Many realized that pre-pandemic, they wasted a lot of time, missed important family events, or simply burnt out because of work schedules that were based on traditional work models, not productivity.
Frustration was high.
So, whatever else you may think about the response to the “Pandemic”, one of the good things that came out of it was a reevaluation of the structure of meaningful work.
Working from home was actually more efficient, allowing for more flexible schedules, and resulting in a more satisfying work-life balance.
My sense is that while there are a number of political, legal, and ethical issues to work through, remote work will continue to play a growing role in the future of work-life balance.
Trends
Work that can be done remotely, should be done remotely.
Employers are increasingly becoming aware that productivity is not 100% based on time alone.
One of the issues that employers are grappling with is how to measure work productivity.
The sense is that employees will spend much more time on personal things while “on the job”.
Studies have shown that to be a non-issue.
Experience shows that even in an on-site office environment, employees already spend a significant amount of time on personal things, yet their work still gets done.
While there does need to be accountability, tying a job to time on a clock is not an efficient measure of productivity.
Project or work task completion, regardless of time, within a given set of parameters is much more efficient.
Of course, there will be some abuse of a more remote work environment, but that is the case with almost anything.
Eventually, slackers are weeded out.
Most remote employees and independent contractors (freelancers) inherently understand that, while the freedom to do their work in any time/manner they choose should be totally left up to them, they also have a responsibility to complete their work.
If not, their employment would be subject to termination.
Benefits of Remote Work
While the remote model may not work for many types of work environments, the benefits to both employer and employee are significant where it does.
Employee Benefits
Career Coach Jennifer Herrity in an article on Indeed.com lists the benefits of Remote work for employees:
Work from virtually anywhere
Enjoy a flexible work schedule
Enhances productivity
Saves time and money
Increases motivation
Prioritizes well-being
Gains distance from office politics
Workspace customization
Better work-life balance
Promotes eco-friendly lifestyles
Employer Benefits
So, what does an employer gain from a remote workforce?
Rob de Luca, Editor-at-Large at BambooHR in an article 10 Surprising Work From Home Benefits for Companies and Employees lists five major benefits for companies:
For the Employer
Fewer sick days
Larger talent pool
Opportunities to Invest in Meaningful Benefits
A Smaller Carbon Footprint
Major Cost Savings
Wrapping Up
Significant changes in work demographics will continue to take place over the next decade.
Expect a continued increase in the remote work model as both employers and employees work through the issues and embrace this trend.
Thank you for reading and supporting Life UnCorked. While you’re here, check out my creative writing ‘Stack: The Talking Pen, where you’ll find fiction & non-fiction short stories, serials, poetry, art, and a short memoir.
Like many, I have worked remotely since the onset of COVID. What started out as "work from home for two weeks" became "who needs an office?" It took some time to adjust, but, like most, I figured it out. And commuting 30 seconds from the bedroom to my home office beats my prior 35 minute commute.
Excellent article!