I read a lot of articles on lifestyle design, escaping the rat race, unconventional living or whatever term you want to use for what amounts to the same message re-iterated across countless blogs: traditional, corporate jobs suck.
Why does it have to be this way?
I think more than anything it’s the way the traditional corporate environment is set up. By this, I mean the cubicle environment and the mentality that face time in the office = a good, productive worker.
Here’s a message to corporate executives and HR departments across the world: The paradigm is shifting and you need to change….like now. So, what should you do?
- Stop treating employees like kindergartners. Employees are not toddlers that need watching over and they shouldn’t be treated that way. There’s this perceived notion that by being in the office for eight hours a day, you are a productive worker. Working a 10-12 hour a day means you’re a super productive worker! In my experience, the opposite is often the case. If you have to be in the office that long every single day, then you must not be effectively managing your time.
The 9-5 environment itself perpetuates childlike behavior. If you’ve ever had an office job, you probably know what I’m talking about. People making snide comments if someone gets in late or leaves too early. It still amazes me that people are so concerned with what other people are doing. Maybe this is why so many of the young, bright minds entering the workforce today become disillusioned in a short period of time. They enter the workforce as adults only to be monitored and treated like children.
- Start Giving Your Employees More Freedom. There may be some exceptions, but most companies don’t allow their employees to put up any personal items in their workspace. It’s as if showing some personality and individualism will somehow wreak havoc on the system. Get over it because this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Letting employees express themselves will only benefit you. They’ll be happier, more creative and much more productive if they are in an environment that is comfortable and personal to them.
- Get with the program….the technology program. You give your employees a laptop and smartphone, right? Then why is it so important that they have to be in the office every day?
With the technology we have today, your employees can work from anywhere. Need to get status updates on a project? Start utilizing Twitter or some other instant messaging function to get updates.
Want to see the latest draft of the business proposal? Use a hosted document sharing program, such as Google Docs.
What if you have a team to manage and you want to know what everyone is up to? Set up a facebook page for your team so that everyone can keep each other up to date on projects they’re working on. Social networking is here to stay and you need to find a way to incorporate it into your business.
- Work with your employees to set personal goals. Want to know why so many employees are getting burned out? They’re working their asses off, but they feel there is no value in what they’re doing or that nobody cares about the work that’s being done. Fix this.
Each and every one of your employees have strengths that are unique to him or her. Start working with them to identify what these strengths are.You need to go beyond the job descriptions and artificial metrics set in place for measuring people’s performance. That’s just bs.
Figure out what makes them tick. Establish clear, written goals for what it means to be successful in a given position. Strive to give and receive constant feedback on how things can be improved.
- Let your employees work when and where they want. Sure it seems scary, but by giving up control you are going to get back so much in return. If you’ve followed the steps above you’ll already have systems in place to communicate with your employees and evaluate them on specific, measurable results.
Face time doesn’t matter.Maybe somebody is a night owl and is super productive between the hours of 8pm-2am. Well, great, then they should be able to work at that time. The 9-5 work environment is archaic. Let your employees choose when they work.
Will some people take advantage of the system? It’s possible, but these people will be quickly weeded out. If you’re not producing actionable results and adding value, you’re out. Easy as that.
Heed the above advice. The lure of a steady job with a fat benefits package is not going to cut it anymore. Employees want to feel valued and trusted. They want a sense of purpose in what they’re doing. Above all, they want freedom.
I’m Nate, a writer, mindfulness practitioner and student of the inner workings of the mind.
Great post, man. I’m willing to bet that a big reason why corporate big wigs aren’t willing to entertain the things you’ve outlined in your article is because it would mean that they, themselves, would no longer serve a purpose (at least not a very valuable one), and that would translate into a threat to their job security. Oh, bureaucracy!
.-= Ash´s last blog ..Why Lifestyle Design Is Like Working at McDonald’s – And Why It’s a Good Thing =-.
@Ash – Thanks for stopping by Ash. You may very well be right on that. The problem that employers face is that they have to change if they want to stay competitive and keep talented people. Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson started a very successful results only work environment at Best Buy. Change came from the bottom though, not the top. Sadly, it’s not catching on with other companies as quick as I thought it would and I think it’s for the reason you state above – bureaucracy. And fear too. Fear of change.
This should be required reading for all executives…
While the proposed steps may be hard to implement in bigger corporations, I personally hope that we will see a real change coming through smaller companies that might then influence the bigger players.
As for me, I’ll stay unemployed as long as I can, but if there ever comes a boss around with similar ideas you propose, I’d give it a try for sure!
.-= Fabian´s last blog ..The Magic of Getting Started =-.
@Fabian – Soon enough, employers will not have a choice. It’s really my opinion that employees are going to start demanding more from their employers. Steady work and a guaranteed job at one company is far from the norm anymore. More and more employees are becoming freelancers of sorts. In order for employers to retain top talent they will have to give them more freedom. Part of this is ditching the cubicle environment.
Hi Nate. Good article! I think a lot of employers are moving in this direction…. another thing that needs to happen is more vacation time. The more vacation people have, the happier they are, and the more productive they are at work.
@Dorota. I couldn’t agree more. I think this is why you’re seeing such a trend, especially with the younger generation, of ‘lifestyle design.’ Side note: Crazy that a term that Tim Ferriss created has created such a cult following…but the concept isn’t anything new.
People work their asses off in corporate jobs. Also, there’s this underlying culture that taking vacation is somehow bad. That you’re not productive if you take vacation. I mean c’mon, people feel BAD for taking vacation?? That’s ridiculous. I forget what the statistic is, but there is a huge number of vacation hours that are never used by employees. This kind of culture definitely has to change.
Another really insightful post. I have mainly worked in the public sector rather than the corporate world, but often have seen so much of what you are talking about. I think sometimes, just being in an office seems to turn people into a raving loony!
Giving people freedom is so important, I really think what you give out, is what you get back. People don’t want to give any more if they are treated like 5 year olds. Awesome!
Jen
.-= Jen´s last blog ..Make Fast Decisions =-.
Yeah..I’m in a corporate environment myself right now, so I really relate to this, which is why I wrote it. I honestly feel that the traditional job is not inherently bad as long as you like what you are doing and as long as you are given freedom. I don’t think the goal here is necessarily to get out of a job. The goal it so find what you love to do. A really, really important aspect of that is the environment you work in and unfortunately many businesses are stuck in such an archaic way of doing business.
fantastic blog. great work.
Amanda – thanks so much for the comment, I very much appreciate it. I haven’t posted in awhile as I have been working on some side projects. I should hopefully have some new content soon. Peace.