Category Archives: Work/Life Integration

Workhuman Live Action Plan: Building a DEI Strategy

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A few months ago I headed down to Atlanta, GA, to attend my first live conference since the COVID-19 pandemic started – Workhuman Live 2022. I didn’t socialize and network as much as I normally would have (which isn’t a WHOLE lot because – introvert – but still) because I was trying to stay COVID-free. However, there were plenty of great sessions and speakers that I was glad I had a chance to see, including a panel discussion on Elevating Diversity & Inclusion, a session on Embodying Authenticity in the Workplace and another fantastic panel discussion on Building Psychological Safety & The Future of Work. Some of my favorite topics.

Shortly after my return (COVID-free!), I wrote a blog post/action plan for the Workhuman Blog on Building a DEI Strategy based on some of what I heard and learned at the conference. Click the image below to check it out!

Your Remote Employees Might Be Wearing Pajamas. So What!

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I heard Malcolm Gladwell speak at the WorkHuman Live conference earlier this year and was pleasantly surprised. It’s not that I expected to not enjoy his keynote but I didn’t expect to enjoy it either. To be honest, I didn’t have any real expectation. I was busy trying to stay COVID-free! That said, I did enjoy his speech that day. Fast forward to today and I see this headline come across my timeline: Malcolm Gladwell slams working from home: ‘What have you reduced your life to?’ Really, Malcolm?

The article goes on to state that Gladwell believes that remote work is hurting society and that coming together in an office is necessary for employees to develop a sense of belonging.

“As we face the battle that all organizations are facing now in getting people back into the office, it’s really hard to explain this core psychological truth, which is we want you to have a feeling of belonging and to feel necessary.”

He even went as far as to classify remote workers as folks who are just sitting at home working in their pajamas and questioned their life’s purpose if they are just working for a paycheck as opposed to wanting to be part of something.

 “If it’s just a paycheck, then it’s like what have you reduced your life to?”

Um – to needing to earn money to live on, maybe. Bills, bills, bills don’t care where you sit or who you sit next to.

I am thoroughly disgusted by this mentality. First of all, there is NOTHING wrong with working for a paycheck only. Work =/= reason to live. Secondly, this type of ‘folks need to be in/go back to the office’ mindset completely ignores the myriad reasons why some folks prefer remote work. There’s the time and money saved by not having to commute. There’s more time to spend with family or friends or on self-care. There’s greater flexibility to get things done like errands and appointments. And lest not forget, for employees who are Black, Indigenous, people of color and/or members of other marginalized groups, there’s not having to code switch or deal with endless microaggressions (or worse) in toxic environments. It’s not about wanting to work in your pajamas, although folks shouldn’t be shamed for that either.

Over the course of the past two years, I have seen many accounts of individuals whose lives have significantly improved due to being given the opportunity to work remotely. I’m talking about improvements in mental health, physical health, and family relationships. Of course that hasn’t been the case for everyone and remote work doesn’t work for everyone, but to reduce wanting to work remotely, as many people do now, to just wanting to work in your pajamas is insulting. It’s also wholly inaccurate that a sense of belonging can only be developed by people being in the same physical location.

Remote work and distributed workforces are far from a new thing, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced several employers who had previously been opposed to allowing remote work to change their way of thinking in order to maintain business operations. In doing so, many of them learned that *surprise, surprise*, folks could still be productive not being in the office – even during a pandemic! Technology made this much easier to do. There are so many tools and methods for team members to communicate and collaborate. It’s a lazy leader that believes the only way for a team to feel connected is in person. As a leader, if you desire to create an inclusive culture where folks feel connected a have a sense of belonging, you do that, regardless of where they are located. It’s possible. Just like it’s possible to have everyone in the same location and not have any of this.

I know this isn’t the case for everyone, especially during the COVID pandemic, but my mental health improved from working remotely and I know I’m not the only one. If your employees want to work from home, or you are noticing that more candidates or new hires want to work from home, ask yourself why. Ask THEM why. Instead of downplaying the desire or demeaning people, figure out how to make it work for all parties involved. That’s your best bet. Don’t worry about what folks are wearing while working at home- as long as they are dressed during video meetings! Don’t force folks to have their camera on though. 🙂

Minding Your Business at Work WORKS

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Recently I co-presented a ‘Lunch & Learn’ session on ‘Work/Life Integration and Signs of Burnout.’ It was surprisingly well attended and the presentation I put together on short notice was pretty great, if I do say so myself. Which I do. Thankfully others concurred. I feared; however, that the folks most in danger of burning out probably weren’t in attendance. When you’re on the fast track to burnout you don’t give yourself much time for lunching or learning. Still it was a good sized group and a good conversation.

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We talked about work/life integration vs. work/life balance i.e. having a more holistic approach to the different facets of life, including work, instead of trying to figure out a way to “balance” life with work i.e. giving equal attention to each which rarely works. You CAN have it all, it just won’t be in equal proportions. We talked about the physical, mental and emotional signs of burnout, what you can do to avoid it and what you can do to get out of it. Then we had an open discussion portion. This is where things really got good.

Folks went around the table and shared their thoughts and experiences and I was glad for the openness. As we talked about how some people had been successful (or not) at work/life integration, the topic of flexibility came up – not being tethered to your desk and bound by the clock. #ProductivityOverEverything. At this point one of the attendees mentioned that they thought of flexibility as a generational desire. Tell me more. They indicated that based on their generation (Boomer) and work experiences, they actually had a negative view of people who they saw come into the office after 9am or leave before 5pm. I was grateful for this comment. Grateful because the person felt comfortable enough to share. Grateful because it gave me insight into a different POV which is most likely also held by others. Grateful because it actually related to both of the topics of discussion. Fear of the perceptions of others can be a big part of what leads to employee burnout. Employees often come in early, stay late, take extra work home, etc. because they want to (or don’t want to) be perceived a certain way by their colleagues. Even if it’s not in their own best interest.

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So maybe it’s a generational thing. Maybe it’s a personal thing. I honestly am not a fan of the whole “this generation is like this at work and that generation is like that at work” idea that’s the topic of so. many. articles. But back to the topic at hand — Someone may have had a doctor’s appointment. Or have to pick up their children. Or have worked extra late on a project the night before. Or not be feeling well. Or have arranged with their manager to have a more flexible schedule. Reasons abound. No one is obligated to share the details of their work schedule with their colleagues unless it directly impacts the other person’s work.

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I was also grateful for this comment because it gave me the opportunity to not only hear but to respectfully challenge this person’s thoughts on the issue and show them a different point of view. It gave me the opportunity to encourage everyone in the room to not make assumptions about the work ethic and/or productivity level of their colleagues based on partial facts. We all know what happens when folks make assumptions.

So if you hold outdated, unfounded and/or uninformed beliefs about a colleague based on random criteria and partial information such as the hours you happen to see them in the office, I encourage you to take a step back and ask yourself why. Why do you have this belief? Why does it even matter to you? Then think about how you may have allowed those thoughts to color your interactions with that individual. If the effect has been negative (ex. bias, gossip, mistrust, snooping,) it’s your responsibility to fix it. Fix it = stop it. Understand that everyone is different and has different needs and works differently. Your colleague may be working differently (different schedule, location, etc.) to achieve greater work/life integration and avoid burnout. Which is a good thing. Of course, if all else fails, minding your business works too.