An excerpt about the experiences of flexible working in the past 18 month from McKinsey’s this year’s study about Women in the Workplace 2021.
Source: https://lnkd.in/enuCr-3J
Over the past 18 months, companies have embraced flexibility.
Allowing employees to work flexible hours is one of the most effective things they’ve done to improve employee well-being, and there are clear signs it’s working.
Employees with more flexibility to take time off and step away from work are much less likely to be burned out.
However, many companies are missing a crucial piece: without clear boundaries, flexible work can quickly turn into “always on” work. More than a third of employees feel like they need to be available for work 24/7, and almost half believe they need to work long hours to get ahead. Employees who feel this way are much more likely to be burned out and to consider leaving their companies.
The fact that so many employees feel “always on”, signals that companies need to define expectations more explicitly.
Right now, many companies are leaving it to employees to establish their own boundaries when they work remotely or work flexible hours.
Leadership has a clear responsibility to put formal boundaries in place across the organization.
Currently, only one in five employees says that their company has told them that they don’t need to respond to nonurgent requests outside of traditional work hours.
As companies navigate the transition to increased remote and hybrid work—with more employees working different schedules across different time zones—the risk of feeling ‘always on’ will likely increase.
Managers have an important role to play in fighting burnout
Employees often look to their manager to understand unspoken company norms and expectations. This means that managers need to respect company-wide boundaries around flexible work.
For example, if employees aren’t expected to respond to emails during certain hours, managers need to abide by that norm. Managers can further reinforce the importance of these norms by celebrating employees who push back when boundaries are crossed and by encouraging candid conversations if boundaries start to erode.
Prompting employees to rate their level of stress and exhaustion on a one-to-ten scale, as opposed to generally asking them how they’re doing, creates more space for open, honest discussion.
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