Working smarter, not longer
By Ann-Maree Moodie | smh.com.au | 21 July
When Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that public servants should mirror his own practice of working long hours, earning him the nickname "Kevin 24/7", work-life balance experts were dismayed.
"I've got news for the public service - there'll be more," the Prime Minister said. "The work ethic of this Government will not decrease, it will increase."
In two short sentences, the Prime Minister sent a message to workers nationally: not only should people work longer, but doing so demonstrated a work ethic worthy of admiration.
Despite a decade of social change, with an increase in flexible work practices such as part-time work and job-sharing, seachanges and tree changes, it seems we're back to working long hours as a "badge of honour".
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show we spend an average of 50 hours a week at work, not counting out-of-office hours spent glued to our BlackBerry, texting, responding to emails and making work calls.
Barbara Holmes, from consultancy Managing Work/Life Balance International, says Rudd's comments are a tragedy because they send a message that focuses on the number of hours at a desk rather than productivity outcomes.
"It was the wrong thing to say," she says. "We should be focused on performance and not on valuing long hours."
According to Managing Work/Life Balance International's national benchmarking survey, now in its 10th year, many workplaces have embraced the idea that working long hours is good, and as a result, the time spent at work has increased by 25 per cent. The survey also found that working longer decreases productivity and increases stress-related absenteeism.
"About 25 per cent of respondents indicate there has been an increase in working hours as a result of the new 'long hours' culture," the survey found. "Yet there has similarly been an increase in stress-related absences."
In management theory, the concepts of leadership and culture work together to produce performance. If leadership is lacking, the type of culture the organisation is striving to achieve is harder to create. Equally, if the leadership is strong, but the organisational culture hasn't changed, performance will suffer.
It follows that a return to a culture of working long hours is driving loss of productivity, and increasing stress-related absences from work. This is reinforced by organisational leaders and managers.
As Stephen Johnston, a former Fox managing director who is now an executive search consultant, writes in his book What Do You Do For A Living? A Bold New Vision for Leaders: "As long as the boss regularly calls a 7.30am breakfast meeting, eats lunch alone at his desk, packs up around 8pm and makes a few calls to subordinates on the way home in the car, then work will continue its dominance over personal relationships, physical health and spiritual wellbeing for many in that organisation."
There are some professions for which working long hours is inherent in the culture. For example, partners of law firms and merchant banks, and their teams, can work 20-hour days during a major transaction, such as a merger of two companies.
"A worker who is in a process role in which they're working from 8am to 6pm or from 9am to 5pm isn't likely to be called upon outside office hours," Holmes says. "But others who are in client-contact roles are more likely to be in the office at 7.30am, and leaving long after 5pm. And even then, they'll be taking their laptop home to do work or to participate in an international conference call at 2am."
There is a limit to how long a manager or worker will be prepared to continue at this pace. Unless an individual acknowledges upfront that working long hours will be part of the job, the lack of control over work will eventually catch up with them.
Exhaustion, stress, lack of sleep and poor eating habits will lead to a loss in physical and mental well-being. Burn-out is a likely consequence; disillusionment may lead to decreased productivity or even encourage the manager to resign from the organisation.
"The globalisation of business coupled with the ease of use and access to mobile technology have together created a workplace culture of being constantly on call," Holmes says. "Adding to the problem is a lack of personal accountability - the discipline to say 'no'."
Managers, especially those who want to create the right impression to advance their careers, are especially susceptible to a fear that their career will be penalised if they are unavailable.
"However, in the long term, it will be the manager who is rested and refreshed who will do best because their productivity will continue to rise," Holmes says. "These are the type of managers who understand how to put boundaries between their work and personal lives to maintain a healthy balance."
In turn, if a manager is more empathic with his team's workload and how this affects individual personal commitments, he or she is likely to create a more productive team.
"Everyone wants more control of their lives," Holmes says. "If a manager understands this, and considers personal control being part of the way most workers can be motivated, this will lead to a better-managed organisation."
Work-life balance
* Set clear boundaries between your work and personal life. This means turning off your mobile phone when you leave the office. You might feel the pressure to be contactable at all times but ultimately, a manager who is rested and refreshed will do the best job.
* Realistically assess the importance of your role. It's easy to think everything would fall apart if you weren't there but no matter how important you are, you're not indispensable.
* Leave the office at a reasonable time - there is a limit to how long you can keep up long hours. Exhaustion, stress, insomnia and poor eating habits will catch up with you eventually, creating disillusionment, decreased productivity and a loss of physical and mental wellbeing.
* Set a good example for your team. If you have a healthy balance between your work and home life, they will feel more comfortable doing the same and productivity will increase accordingly.
Ann-Maree Moodie is a management educator and managing director of the Boardroom Consulting Group.
First published by Smh.com.au on July 21 2008
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