Teleworking, Apathy in today’s workforce
It is not too late to fix it before it is out of control.
Teleworking has increased since the COVID pandemic was revealed. Teleworking is something that was recognized as something that was becoming a tool that was needed more often. Sometimes for a benefit to the company as those who were traveling could still gain access to their data and continue to be productive with the team. And other times where it was a benefit to the employee so that they could take care of family or take care of other issues.
When the shutdowns started and people were working from home now as a requirement, it was immediately recognized that this was going to be something that was going to be around for some time. If you were able to do your job from home, now it was suddenly available for you to do so. In the past two years though how has it affected how people feel towards their jobs or working in general?
One of the things I have noticed is that people tend to make excuses repeatedly. For example, if you are a late sleeper (Go ahead raise your hands) it is now ok for you to roll out of bed, sit in your pajamas and log into work. The problem is when someone constantly sends a message at 9 am saying sorry slight delay this morning. If it happens every now and then, it is a slight delay. If it happens every single day, it isn’t a slight delay, it is now a habit and one that can quickly get out of control.
People like this are apathetic to the job, the company, and any tasks at hand that involve working remotely or on-site. What you find with someone like this is that they start doing this when they are required to come into the office as well. They may have been ten minutes late to the office before, but now they are two hours late because that has become their new schedule at home, and they are keeping it while at the office too.
Another issue with this is that if someone is working the normal hours between seven and five when someone like this doesn’t start work until nine or ten in the morning, it can cause slowdowns if there is something that is needed from that individual. Also getting a text message at eight PM asking if you read an email, they sent at seven PM starts to happen more often. They have no concept of actual time or the understanding that someone else may not be working their same specific hours.
I think the worst issue though resides with the late-night person or the workaholic. Getting a text message at two AM is useless to the team. All it does is satisfy the requirement for the individual sending in their own mind to say to themselves, I completed that, or I asked the question. It isn’t going to be answered in a timely manner. When someone sees the message or email when they arrive at work or log in, it is really going to make them question why such a message was sent at that time.
One of the other issues is that if someone is a workaholic, and decides they want to work 12 hours a day so they can finish their week on Wednesday, this also affects the team. If something comes up or is needed Wednesday afternoon, Thursday or Friday, chances are they won’t be checking email until Monday. This causes a productivity issue for the rest of the team.
How do we fix it? For many years, I have worked where we had core hours. Monday through Friday it was a requirement to have coverage during a certain time. Now granted, people have doctor’s appointments, personal and family matters to take care of. Choosing to work at odd hours is not a benefit that we need to let get out of control. Doing so will hinder the mission of the team, the cohesiveness of the team, and ultimately the productivity of the team. It is time to ensure that whether your team is working at home or in the office, that there is a core set of hours that everyone is expected to be there and be available.
For the managers out there, It is time to put the working hours in writing, just requiring someone to work 40 hours is not going to work in today’s environment, it must be 40 hours spent working when the team can work together. This is not an individual race, but a team sport. Time to start working like it.
-Jason Friend
About the Creator
Jason Friend
I am a Believer in Jesus Christ who struggles with every day life but have found a way to live through it in Him. My writing is not always about life as a Christian and is typically fiction. Fiction sometimes mirrors truth.
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