We are Full Time Humans
Why is it that organizations are still turning a blind eye to the fact that people have lives outside of work?
Work and life have come crashing into one another like never before. Our lives are at a tipping point and, for so many, the result is burnout, exhaustion, lack of engagement, and living a life that is not how we intended. In the news, and in real life, we are seeing this play out on the daily as the great resignation, the great awakening, and the she-cession continues on into 2022.
Our lives pre-pandemic were complicated. Yet now, the complications of managing paid and unpaid work in the midst of an ongoing pandemic have sent people over the edge.
Why is it that organizations are still turning a blind eye to the fact that their employees have lives outside of their paid work? Why is it that employers continue to perpetuate old working norms, assuming that employees have an “other” at home taking care of the “rest of” their lives, and why do we still see employers hold onto the belief (consciously and unconsciously) that a “good worker” is available 24/7?
In this “always on” era where the need for speed is a driving institutional framework, employees are drowning. They are drowning in their paid work, they are drowning in their caregiving demands, they are drowning in their home lives, they are drowning in their sleep.
This kind of living is untenable.
And guess what employers? Your employees know it, and they won’t stay if they can help it.
So I ask you this.
What if we slowed down? What if employers looked at employee time differently and began to acknowledge the FULL lives of their employees. What if employers placed as much value in the unpaid part of their employees’ lives as in the paid part?
And most importantly, what if leaders were compensated and rewarded for how much they care for their employees? Yes, you heard me. How much they CARE.
Here is what would happen:
Leaders would prioritize inner work in order to connect deeply with their employees and build self-awareness and trusting relationships.
Leaders would be comfortable sharing the non-work pieces of themselves which make them fully human and they would be more accessible.
Leaders would take the time to really know their employees.
And when those employees know that others understand the shoes they are standing in?
That’s right, magic happens, engagement and productivity happens, and thriving cultures are born.
If this sounds a little too woo-woo for you, or overly utopic, then I suggest you begin to do the inner work yourself.
Because here is the deal.
We are FULL-TIME humans, we don’t only belong to our employers. We are not part-time to our families, to our homes, to our friendships, to our administrative tasks. We are full time family members, full time administrative assistants, full time mentors and counselors to our loved ones, full time health and wellness advisors to ourselves, we are full-time caregivers.
And, every single one of us needs more TIME for all of these FULL areas of our lives.
TIME for work, TIME for family, TIME for healthy endeavors, TIME for our children, TIME for creative pursuits, TIME for the details associated with home ownership or basic living, TIME to be present for our loved ones, TIME to be happy, TIME to deeply connect. TIME to replenish.
And it starts with caring leaders and a focus on work+life strategies which value the FULLNESS of our whole lives.
THIS is the cornerstone of a thriving culture and it starts with caring leaders.