Some have been keen to embrace a shift forward with new and hybrid working structures, while others are still grappling to find their comfort zone somewhere between their old school regimes, TWT work weeks (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) and the changes imposed on them by governments or shrinking talent pools.
Yet, there is a key component to any work structure or system… the Human element.
I am referring to the workforce that we have neglected, abused and anonymised in the name of efficiency and bottom-lines and yet here we are again agonising over what to do with our Human Resources and wondering if we should hire $10k/day consultants to come up with yet another mash-up of what hasn’t worked before.
A friend advising a major insurance group recently asked if I knew a ‘Millennial HR Specialist’… I first laughed before quickly realising that hiring and retaining certain age groups has become a ‘thing’ and somehow age has created whole new species of humans… Gen X, Y, Z and then I guess Gen Z 2.5…? Not so sure.
Life is a struggle. Work needn’t be.
From our first steps on planet earth, humans have worked around life’s relentless challenges whether from a desk, a cave or up a tree. There’s nothing new about working to help meet our needs from finding safe shelter all the way up to finding nirvana.
Human genius is what got us down from the tree to work in groups to hunt and gather, it got the Mesopotamians to read and write all the way to walking on the moon. Our greed also led us to treat others as fair game and send millions to war, down mine shafts and into sweat shops.
I believe it is human ingenuity, and not greed, that can make us work better and struggle less. We can earn more and live more without the manic panic of spilt Latte Mylk on the way to work, or shouting at a white van that crossed into your cycle lane.
Two Built-in Fundamentals
I believe there are two built-in fundamentals that should underpin whatever new way we choose to work better for a happier and healthier life for us, our families and our communities:
# 1 Fundamental – We are Social Animals.
Let’s rewind; for the last 300,000 years, we homo sapiens (yes, that is us humans) have been and will be for some time, social animals who need to engage face to face, shake hands, rub noses, share food together and dance.
Everything else we do over social media and within the virtual bubble is nothing more than coping mechanisms we have adopted in the absence of physical proximity to achieve the same objective and meet our built-in need to establish social connections! Nothing more and nothing less.
# 2 Fundamental – Life is not Work.
The second fundamental exists in the tired adage of Work vs. Life Balance and the very blurred lines where the boundaries were supposed to be… Covid lockdowns couldn’t come any sooner for many to help re-establish those boundaries. While others found themselves slipping rapidly deeper into office hours that stretched more than their new Lycra home-office uniforms.
The balance within the Work vs. Personal Space can always be tweaked to suit the job in hand. It is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that such balance in inherently built into the work structure. Stunts such as Pyjama Fridays and annual charity cycle is not for everyone and hardly touches the sides of what really matters to people’s everyday lives; walking the dog or picking up kids from school.
In a nutshell.
People want to earn more and play more and with the least effort. Yet, life comes with struggle and work should help us to mitigate it; not compound it.
We have always had the brains to recognise our DNA-rooted need to explore, question, collaborate and progress. This is done by real communities through genuine social connections, organised hard work and lots of playtime.
Our point of discussion is not just how to work but how to live.
