Recently, I stumbled upon a very curious article that he translated the daily tasks into the time it takes us to perform them taking the reference of a lifetime. We spent 531 days dressing, 140 shopping, six years cooking. We spent 23 years sleeping, God forbid. On average, new working. Nine years of our lives with their days and nights or, what is the same, 3,285 full days and therefore 78,840 hours.
Seeing the numbers is impressive and can even make you rethink vital habits or purposes. In my case, in addition to questioning doing without an hour of sleep so as not to have the feeling that I will spend about a third of my life sleeping (well very necessary, on the other hand), reading served me to reinforce the importance of the one and only most valuable thing: being happy. When? always, where? anywhere.
As responsible for the employee experience, I can’t deny the evidence: 78,840 is a lot, a barbarity. So, the physical and mental well-being of people in their work environment is just as important as that in the private sphere. Unfortunately, the last year has spread a lot of desolation but also countless samples of humanity and the absolute change in our order of priorities. Family and friends are joined by health and time.
How to plan our lives and integrate the time we spend at work so that there is a real and healthy balance it is a primary issue in the new reality.
People management leaders (and with them, situations, needs, dreams, goals, concerns) must promote and ensure that these 78,840 hours spent at work are in return for offering a complete value proposition that takes into account all the elements needed to achieve a balance between physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Our employees are the ones who drive the wheel of our organizations and, in return for their time, dedication, knowledge, attitudes and skills; deserve a total reward plan made up not only of wage factors but of something more intangible, but just as important, as learning, development, flexibility and conciliation that make up for everything we receive from them every day. This will also make us better, more attractive and able to capture and retain talent that seeks other models of collaboration and competitive advantage. In return, we will achieve a greater commitment and a very valuable pride of belonging that will encourage collaboration within an environment in which, in addition, it is essential to feel recognized and valued.
A very good way to recognize and value is to create a system that provides the opportunity to model time in such a way that it adapts as best as possible to your needs. Since the alarm clock rang, we are fully immersed in a routine with which many do not feel identified but which, on the other hand, is necessary in a world full of schedules and obligations. You want a quiet breakfast to start the day with energy, you need a shower to wake up, you have to take the kids to school or you want to get rid of rush hour to avoid traffic jams or congestion on public transport.
For me, it’s fair that we can have the freedom to choose how we want our day to be and have the confidence to plan our work regardless of time or place. I am one of those convinced that you believe one of the must have in well-being and health in the workplace lies in having more flexibility and freedom so that people have the option of accessing a series of measures that make their work more effective. In this way,
the debate is often lost on the same paths: what measures are best, how to implement them to ensure the smooth running of the business. But, sorry, I think we’re skipping a prime point if we don’t want to start the house on the roof: it’s not just about flexible work but about a cultural change at the corporate / business level.
And I go further in terms of flexibility, this time, from the perspective of the company itself. I am convinced that the aspects that will prevail when selecting or managing talent will be people’s skills, experience and flexibility. The pandemic has thrown it on the table but it is an upward trend that has come to stay. Workloads can vary between areas, increasing in some and decreasing in others, and companies need to promote a flexible culture based on skills and mindset change by asserting the versatile condition of people and teams without being tied to a particular role or place.
In short, we try to be happy and do everything in our power to make those around us so too. Being a happy person and employee brings happiness to the whole and, of course, also to the company by making it noticeable. Bad vibes are very contagious but good ones are even more so and they also help to have a better quality of life. A life to spend on dressing, eating, cooking, queuing waiting to be attended to (500 days, the article said) but, above all, on doing everything possible to achieve physical, mental and emotional balance.
*** Marije Scholma she is Deputy General Manager and Employee Experience Manager (CHRO) at Nationale-Nederlanden. Member of the Spanish Association of HR Directors