There is no doubt that post the pandemic, many workers have permanently made the transition to working from home. However, there are many others that have missed the hustle and bustle of office life and made their way back to their old desk. While the physical work environment may not have changed, employees have now seen that there is a different way to balance the pressures of work with life.
But it seems that some leaders have reverted back to a culture of presenteeism. Irrespective of the industry, there are employees who are still quietly grabbing their belongings and ‘sneaking out’ of the workplace despite a prior agreement with their leader. Sadly, this behaviour is common as many workers feel a sense of judgement for accessing a flexible work practice despite their employer's aaproval.
Unfortunately, many leaders feel that they are ‘embracing flexibility’ but in reality, they are only offering the golden ticket to a select few. In many organisations, this group tends to be women who have flexibility agreements with employers to enable important tasks like school pick-ups and ferrying children to appointments.
When leaders agreed to this, it was helpful and valued – but it was not liberating and empowering. The problem is that for some businesses, flexibility is simply a word and not a culture.
Unfortunately, whilst some organisations are leading the charge; others still have a long way to go with workers leaving jackets on chairs and even making a fresh cup of coffee to leave on their desk before making a mad dash down the fire escape.
Unless flexibility is engrained in the organisation’s culture and embraced by all levels of the business, the message to new and existing employees is clear – flexibility is a disruptor and not an enabler. Despite what the posters in the lunchroom say, employees learn that flexibility is the ‘exception’ rather than the ‘rule’.
This creates a culture where only the working mums feel like they have a right to request and when it is finally approved, they feel incredibly guilty about the perception of ‘not pulling their weight’, so they slip out unnoticed without a single goodbye. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
There was a time when only a working mother’s application for flexibility was likely to get the rubber stamp of approval. Granted, over time this has come at the cost of missing out on important meetings, an equal footing on the career ladder and pay equity; but nevertheless flexibility was approved.
There have been many working fathers and single dads that would have greatly benefitted from the same opportunity; but in some cases, there has been a stigma associated with this that has restricted the acceptance and desire to even have the conversation.
There is no doubt that working parents have a genuine reason to adopt flexible work practices, but what about the young single male that has a chance to join an elite golf squad on a Thursday afternoon? How would the team feel if this person ‘left loudly’? Or what about the person that wants to catch an earlier train to make their French cooking class on a Monday afternoon?
Somewhere along the line, workers have positioned themselves as ‘judge and jury’ as to when and how a work mate is allowed to leave the workplace. Either consciously or subconsciously, we are making decisions about what our peers should be ‘allowed’ to do. Furthermore, this mentality is working strongly against an organisation’s attempt to ‘bring workers back to the office’.
Changing this mindset is a large mountain to climb, however it is worth every step when you end up with a culture where everyone matters.
Not surprisingly, flexibility is also a key lever to diversity and inclusion strategies. If you are serious about inclusion you need to create work practices where team members can bring their whole selves to work and be proud enough to ask for working patterns that support their personal needs and values.
Perhaps the CEO of PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand, Robbert Rietbroek, is one of the best examples of leading from the top as every day he asks his executive team to ‘leave loudly’. He is committed to ensuring that all employees feel comfortable about flexibility and declaring their exit to the team.
He is blazing the way by announcing to his team when he is about to leave to pick up his own daughters from school. Rietbroek understands that if employees and new hires see their leaders and executives ‘leaving loudly’, then it is safe for them to do so as well. If flexibility is only provided to lower levels then employees soon conclude that if they want to progress their career they better be prepared to sacrifice in their personal lives.
Employers are encouraged to dust off the flexibility policy in the bottom drawer and ask themselves “who could this policy be excluding?”.
Adopting work practices that support and acknowledge the needs of working parents should be a given (along with meeting the flexibility requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009 and any applicable award or agreement) for any organisation serious about a healthy and productive culture – but it should not come at the expense of the unique needs of all employees.
Rietbroek sums it up perfectly when he says to his leadership team, “I’d like you to be a hero at work, but I want you to be a hero at home. If you’re only a hero at work, you’re only doing half the job”. When leaders have the courage to ‘leave loudly’ they set the tone for the sort of workplace culture that all employees can get excited about.
Ai Group has experienced HR consultants who can partner with your business to devise a flexibility system that optimises both performance and engagement. For assistance with your workplace matters, Members of Ai Group can contact us or call our Workplace Advice Line on 1300 55 66 77 for further information.
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Georgina is Senior HR Content Editor – Publications at Ai Group. She is an accomplished Human Resource professional with over 25 years of generalist and leadership experience in a broad range of industries including financial services, tourism, travel, government and agriculture. She has successfully advised and partnered with senior leaders to implement people and performance initiatives that align to business strategy. Georgina is committed to utilising her experience to create resources that educate and engage and is passionate about supporting members to optimise an inclusive workforce culture that drives performance.
