Page 52 - BizVoice May/June 2013

52 BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – May/June 2013
After her second child was born, Dawn Reynolds Pettit
was in her hospital bed responding to emails and work
messages.
“My husband said to me: ‘You don’t work in an
industry where it’s like life and death. You need to find
your right balance.’ That was a wake-up call for me,”
recollects the regional vice president of human resources for Horseshoe
Casino Hammond.
“I began saying that to other people. Everybody is more accessible
now because everyone is available – Instagram, instant responses,
Facebook, Twitter – and I think it’s part of the accepted culture in
business. I think we are constantly trying to find the right give and
take of that.”
Technological advances have made it easier to stay connected. In
some industries, it opens the door for employees to work from home
or the local coffee shop. It provides more flexibility in their work
schedules.
But many times it becomes a burden. People can’t disconnect.
They’re not only returning emails from a hospital bed but also
checking voicemail on the beach. And they’re ultimately returning to
work frazzled and unhappy.
Companies around the globe are beginning to realize the toll this
takes on employees and long-term productivity.
The Washington Post reported in late 2011 that Volkswagen had
reached a deal with a portion of its BlackBerry users to stop routing
company emails 30 minutes after the workday ended and not resume
until 30 minutes before it began again.
A July 2012 article in the New York Times tells the story of
Harvard Business School leadership professor Leslie A. Perlow and her
study, “Sleeping With Your Smartphone.” The article notes Perlow’s
experiment with a Boston consulting company that gave each team
member one night off per week (clients were covered by another team
member). The article explains that the results were more positive than
Perlow could have imagined and that team members were more
satisfied with their work-life balance. She’s now replicated the program
in 14 countries.
So, how do some of the Best Places to Work companies deal with this
culture of 24/7 connectivity and encourage a healthy work-life balance?
One issue brought up by a few of the respondents without
being asked is the challenge of communicating face-to-face in a
digital world (see sidebar on the next page).
‘Choose to manage it’
Striking the correct balance of work and technology versus
personal time is something everyone has to control for themselves.
“For me to say technology has allowed us to build a building
faster or cheaper, at the end of the day it’s hard to put a tangible on
that. What it has done is lent itself to more connectivity; it’s harder for
people to check out,” declares Brad Skillman, president of
construction management company The Skillman Corporation.
“Just like anything else, you choose to manage it or you let a
small electronic device manage you. A lot of it is setting expectations
and scheduling your time. It’s no different than anything else.”
For some, complete disconnection is just as stressful as constant
connection.
“If I get up in the morning and spend a quick hour reviewing some
By Charlee Beasor
Breaking
the Habit
Best Places Companies
Encourage Moderation