7 reasons why flexitime and duvet days are WRONG

At the last job I worked at before I set off on my own I used to work pretty long hours. I didn't mind because I enjoyed the work and believed the company was going places.

One morning, following a fairly late finish the evening before, I was munching on a bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes at 9:30AM before starting work. One of the directors wandered into the kitchen and said, 'Tom, it's nine thirty, you really should be at your desk now'. I didn't work at the company for much longer after that (my choice!)
The director used to be a manager at McDonalds so I don't blame him, he was probably indoctrinated.

Since then I've had a pet hate for control of people's working hours. Unless you're running a sweatshop making designer trainers, employees are adults. Nobody tells an adult when to go to bed. So why should an adult be told when to get up and go to work? Do companies really have that little trust in their employees?

Flexitime is not much better. If you want to leave a bit early then you work through your lunch break. wow-wee. If you want to get into work a bit later one day then you damn well better work late another day to make up for it. And don't forget we're keeping track. How very adult.

And duvet days. Is there a more patronising concept? "We realise that now and again you really won't want to come in to work. But no need to pull a sickie - take a duvet day and eat Ben and Jerry's in bed." Oh please! We're adults for fook's sake!

OK, so here's how I think it should be (and this is directed at bosses who have the power to change things)

• People shouldn't go in to work unless they're ready for work (and not feel guilty about it)
• If someone is having a really crap day and just can't get into a flow then they should head back home and chill out (and not feel guilty)
• People should be free to come and go to fit the job around their kids, the rest of their life, and their natural work and sleep patterns (we're not all morning people!)
• If someone works a few hours less than normal one day they don't have to explicitly make it up another day (or feel guilty about it)
• And when they need to work a few extra hours to get the job done, they don't automatically claw it back (and the company doesn't feel guilty about it)
• If anyone is really not pulling their weight, pressure from their colleagues is more effective than pressure from a boss.
• And if people are stressed or over-worked, it's the responsibility of the whole team to help them out, and encourage them to take some time out as soon as they can.

There, that's a little more adult isn't it?

Comments

[Matthew Hill]

I love this philosophy, but as you know I struggled with it while working for you guys: I'd simply been so indoctrinated to the idea of a set working week that I always found it hard to rationalise this flexible approach. It clearly comes from the notion that someone 'higher up' is monitoring you and bad things will happen if you are a few minutes short of your quota.

I think your 7 points are theoretically great, but the reality is not everyone is disciplined enough to manage their time effectively and they actually NEED a structured working day to know what's expected of them.

Reading between the lines, perhaps what you're really saying is you don't want undisciplined people working for you? :-)

[Tom Nixon]

It's a pretty depressing view of work to think that an employee - an adult - might not be capable of structuring their day without being forced by a manager.

Of course the key is to get people doing work that they really enjoy, then it's easy to get motivated.

[Will McInnes]

It might be a depressing point of view, but it's actually true that people with work experience elsewhere are conditioned to expect these things.

Like many of the different elements we're playing with at Nixon McInnes, it is easy to say and hard to do when you're a new employee. 'Ooh, I'll be able to work whenever I want' yet most of the time I'd say the guys all run according to their own habitual timetable. Fortunately, it's now a timetable that they set themselves, but only a few of the team (perhaps only Phil) have shown the willingness to break up days into less usual chunks - like when Phil heads out when the sun is shining (e.g rarely!).

The hardest one to actually do is the 'I'm not going to be productive today, therefore I'm off home'. Even I REALLY struggle with this one due to guilt. In fact, I don't recall doing it ever.

But still, we continue to work towards these principles. They are the right way to do things. It's just hard to be 'deviant' from the norms of (bad) work.

[Tom Nixon]

That's definitely true Will. I think the conditioning starts at school. Ironically, schools probably try to instill this sort of 'discipline' to prepare kids for the world of work, but as more and more organisations wake up to deomcratic principles, it's going to be self-starters, not obedient servants who are in the highest demand.

[Matthew Hill]

Tom said "It's a pretty depressing view of work to think that an employee - an adult - might not be capable of structuring their day without being forced by a manager."

I think this view is an idealistic one. The problem with idealism is that it rarely takes into account the behaviour, needs, idiosyncracies and habits of real people.

It takes a huge amount of work and willpower to break or change old habits than to develop new ones. Employees coming to a flexible workplace like NM from a more rigid workplace might relish the new freedom but they need to be guided as to how best to work within the new lack of constraints. It's such a shift in thinking that it really is harder to handle than it might at first appear. It was for me. I'm sure there will be other future NM employees who will struggle the same way.

And also: "Of course the key is to get people doing work that they really enjoy, then it's easy to get motivated."

Totally. Which ties rather nicely into the other discussion we were having the other day. People need to find what makes them happy. It's what life is about after all: find your purpose and live it.

[Ash]

Yeah. But I didn't get where I am today without telling my minions off for being 2 seconds late for work.

I don't care how good their work is.

;)

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