SELF-DETERMINED WORK

There is an increasing desire for a healthy work-life balance.

This topic is not only becoming more relevant in social networks, but major newspapers such as the FAZ and magazines such as Der Spiegel are also reporting on more flexible part-time models and family-friendly management.

A balance between work and leisure that is perceived as pleasant, as well as an attractive salary, are becoming increasingly important for those who are already in the middle of their careers, for Generation Z, who are currently taking off, but also for the future Generation Alpha.

But what is the current situation on the labour market? The year 2020 took us by surprise with the coronavirus pandemic, the consequences and effects of which are still being clearly felt in many areas.

What we did see, however, was that the labour market underwent a transformation due to the increased expansion of the home office situation.

The coronavirus pandemic has now impressively demonstrated for a year and a half that working from home works. Management can trust their employees. However, this trust was not necessarily given to the employees voluntarily. Rather, a solution had to be found quickly, as the federal and state governments imposed strict measures and restrictions that also affected the labour market. But it turned out that the trust placed in the employees by the company management was confirmed and in some cases even created greater job satisfaction and a willingness to work harder on the part of the employees.

You often read the following statements on LinkedIn or Xing:

It doesn't matter whether you work from home or not, whether you work from the garage because your car is being repaired. You don't have to apologise because you have a doctor's appointment - after all, your health comes first or you have to leave early because you have to pick up your child. We don't set rules because we're all adults. The important thing is that you have been hired for a task, with the trust of your superiors to fulfil it. How or from where you do this task is secondary.

Such messages are nice to read, but they are implemented far too rarely.

I myself worked on the agency side for a long time: The experiences and projects, as well as the colleagues and friendships, are still very important to me and I wouldn't want to miss them.

Since starting at Welect, however, my working hours have become much more flexible. I am Regional Lead in Munich and contact person for the DACH region. I have signed a remote working contract, which means that I work from home a lot or, as soon as the coronavirus situation allows, from a workspace in the centre of Munich.

I also have core working hours that correspond to the German standard of 8 hours a day.

The big difference is that working flexibly in this case means that I have to be available and my iPhone switched on during these set times. But it also means that I can decide for myself whether to start a few hours earlier in the morning, postpone my lunch break or add a few hours in the evening.

For me, this reflects the theme of trusting, self-determined work.

Of course, we also have tight timings and deadlines that have to be met (I don't think this job has been invented yet where this doesn't apply).

However, the most enriching thing for me is being able to organise my own working hours.

And I see this as one of the biggest advantages of Welect: what many companies communicate and sell as USPs is lived at Welect. There is no contradiction between aspiration and reality here.

I've seen for myself in my private life how many companies have struggled with the home office regulation due to coronavirus. Or how else can it be explained that many companies are still opposed to flexible home office regulations, even after the current situation seems to have calmed down somewhat? There is currently a trend for companies to once again dictate to their employees which days they have to be in the office. Even large companies such as Apple or Google wanted to introduce such a regulation, but did not expect such a wave of protests from employees before they (initially) backed down.

Please don't get me wrong: I am also happy to meet colleagues in the office, exchange ideas with them and work together on projects, but employees should be trusted to fulfil their work duties outside the office. A free choice, be it in terms of the workplace or the choice of advertising, is always better than one that is forced upon you.

In this sense: long live the ‘work-life balance’ ☺