Last week, we talked about the dark side of work-life integration — flexibility guilt — and the positive effects when employees have truly flexible schedules, like better sleep, less stress and feeling happier.
But for employees to reach this state of flexibility ownership, it has to connect to your company culture.
As our summer reading club author Tracy Brower said:
“Work-life integration isn’t just about flexibility of where and when we work. It’s about the broader culture.”
You need to weave your flexibility policies into your culture if you want to shift your employees’ perceptions. What they hear around the office drives their expectations and behaviors — so changing the conversation (and ultimately reducing guilt and stress) begins with management.
This means defining what flexibility looks like within your culture. Some places allow employees to work from home. Others let them choose their own schedules, ignoring the typical emphasis on 9 to 5.
3 ways to weave flexibility policies into your culture:
Whatever options make sense for your workplace, always create clear policies, monitor productivity and only intervene if there are performance issues. It’s about high performance and engaged employees, not hours spent at office desks. Empower your people to benefit from your flexibility policies — guilt-free.
If you’re looking for a place to start, be sure to check out Tracy Brower’s advice on how to talk to your manager about flexibility.