WORKING THE BALANCE

BEING IN THE OFFICE DOESN’T EQUAL BEING PRODUCTIVE!

People in the UK work some of the longest hours in Europe. We are also some of the most stressed and anxious; according to the OECD in their 2019 study. Ranking the 13 best and worst countries for work-life balance they found that the UK is the 13th worst in the world. Quite a statement, I’ll give you a minute to reflect on that. So, what does that mean to our workforce? With people in the UK working some of the longest hours in Europe, it’s unsurprising why there are more people than ever seeking the elusive work-life balance.

Technology was supposed to make it easier, however mobile devices are the biggest contributor to that feeling that you are never out of the office. In our culture of associating good workers with long hours, it can be very difficult to buck the system and leave on time let alone early. We need to start working smarter, not longer.

Growing evidence, including a recent report from Microsoft, contradicts this wisdom. The above OECD study ranks Japan as 5th worst in the world, and they experience a phenomenon called ‘Karoshi’ which translates as death by overwork; they strongly associate good employees with exhausted ones. In a bid to counter this culture, Microsoft in Japan recently switched to a four-day week and saw productivity increase by 40%.

Big businesses making changes like this, are still so few and far between that they make headlines. But there are a growing number of smaller businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups that are stepping in to counter this culture of overwork.

One of the biggest driving factors is more women in the workplace. Women are more likely to be caregivers, which requires more flexible working, and they often struggle to get ahead in male dominated industries as people value different traits in men and women i . Women in the workplace have increased from 57% in 1975 to 78% in 2017; this means that there is very nearly parity between men and women who work (80% men in 2018 were in employment). The increase of working women has led to a shakeup of the workforce, with leaders Sheryl Sandberg, Susan Wojcicki, Mary Barra and many others as the new poster-women of success.

Ariana Huffington has said that she “used to live under the delusion that I had to burn out to succeed” and it was only after she collapsed from exhaustion in 2007, she realised that something had to change. She and other female business leaders (we featured Mary Portas’ book ‘Work like a Woman’, her manifesto for change in the workplace, in NetWorks Issue 3) are now shaping a new type of working environment lead by productivity, a healthy work-life balance, and employee satisfaction. It appears to be working.

BITA Members; The Soulutionists are a block management company founded in 2018 by sisters Tunde and Anita, and good friend Amy. A cancer diagnosis made them reassess their priorities and create a business where work-life balance, inspiring other women and maximising customer satisfaction is key.

Anita Racz Founder and Senior Property Manager of the Soulutionists, has proven that in their business the team are more productive when they have the flexibility to give their home-life the priority it deserves. She also believes that flexible working promotes a happier and more positive outlook which benefits her customers too. “I always believed that the universe works in favour of people who are genuine and that’s what The Soulutionists are all about. At the point when you appreciate what you do, it’s not work anymore, it becomes a passion, a lifestyle.” Says sister Tunde.

The biggest change they made was prioritising their time. “We implemented ways that achieve maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense. By providing an on-the-go service, we make sure that we have a real flexibility on location.” says Amy. “For us it’s quality over quantity. We truly believe that a company’s success is not measured by its annual revenue or how many blocks/units they manage, but by its approach to people and their homes/investments, customer satisfaction rate and annual savings we achieve for our clients.” adds Anita.

There are people that will associate this kind of flexible working with a lack of dedication, however this isn’t the case. They see flexible working as a way of giving their all, rather than trying to be in three places at once and suffering from stress and exhaustion as a result. Values have never really changed; people have always wanted to spend more time with family or at home, have more flexible working and jobs they enjoy, it just wasn’t something they expected, or felt able to influence. It’s only recently that people have felt able to do anything about it. There is a culture shift at play wherein the easier it is to talk about mental health, burnout and exhaustion, the easier it is to acknowledge that these things are happening, and to address them.

The need to stick to ridged structures and ways of operating have led to soaring levels of depression, burnout and exhaustion. This isn’t about men vs women, but about working together to find solutions in the workplace that work for everyone, accepting differences and making adjustments so that people can be as happy and productive as possible.

It’s very easy to keep repeating that happy employees are productive, and that 3-day weekends increase productivity, but unless businesses are willing to make changes en masse, they will not benefit; rhetoric doesn’t equal revolution.

Most changes will be led from the top; CEOs, we’re looking at you.