Family First — The Best Policy for You and Your Staff
If you think about an average eight-hour work day with an hour for lunch, you are spending about nine hours at work. Throw in a 30 minute commute to and from work, then that’s 10 hours of each day. Ten hours door to door that you are away from home. This, of course, is the ideal day when you do not have to arrive early or stay late.
A Gallup Survey notes that, on average, Americans get around 6.8 hours of sleep per night. Let’s round that to seven hours of sleep plus the ten hours at work, which leaves seven additional hours in the day for non-work, non-sleep activity. That’s about 30% of your day that you can spend with others, such as your family and friends. Is this enough?
Well, I guess it has to be if you are working a full time job.
But we all know that sometimes work creeps into this time, and sometimes that “sometimes” is often. The daily commute is probably variable as well, depending on road conditions or train schedules, or how many times others chat you up as you’re heading for the door. This loss of time often doesn’t affect your sleeping hours but, instead, the time that you have available to spend with your loved ones.
I’ve heard of companies and organizations where the employees don’t leave until the boss leaves. I think this is ridiculous, as it completely demolishes any ability to make after-work plans to have a few drinks with your buddies, or meet up for some pickup soccer. Apparently staying until after the boss left was a sign of being serious, professional, and dedicated at work. Complete hogwash.
Set the Tone
As a leader, I’ve learned to set the tone for my team. I need to demonstrate a healthy lifestyle, which means working as sane a schedule as I can muster. Personally, instead of staying late, which may make employees feel guilty about leaving before I do, I like to come in early. This allows me to have at least a few minutes of quiet time to catch up on tasks or to plan my day. Modeling this work/life balance says “it’s okay” to the rest of the team.
After Hours Emails
When I do have additional work that would normally keep me at the office late, I still like to leave at a decent time. This gives me a bit of mental clarity as I go through the motions of leaving the office, commuting home, and then getting something to eat and relaxing. Then I dig into my work again before going to sleep. Some of my work, er, most of my work, relates to reading and sending emails. However, in line with setting the tone, I do not want my employees to receive emails from me at odd hours outside the normal work day. Luckily there are tools where you can delay the sending of an email until the next day at a specific time. Generally, I set the emails to go out at 8:00 a.m. the next day, but sometimes I get creative and set them for 8:03, 8:06, and 8:11 — just to get some variety for those who are receiving multiple messages.
Tell Them it is Okay
Over the years I’ve developed a speech I like to give to my staff about “Family First.” I talk to them about the hours in the day that they have to be with family and friends. I also mention the moments that are hard to repeat, such as infant achievements, first-time baseball games, anniversaries, and special friend celebrations, or others that you do not want to repeat, such as sick parents or emergencies. I tell my team that I want them to be there for these events because no matter how much work there is, or how much you love your job, it cannot overwhelm to the point of missing these important moments.
I then warn them that if they find that they are missing these moments, then we need to talk. It may be that they have too much on their plate. In that case, I can review their responsibilities or re-allocate assignments to others. It could be that an employee is inefficient at their job and may need additional tools, training, or mentorship. It could also be that a team member is putting too much effort into a task that is not so important, or prioritizing inappropriately and getting behind. There are a number of issues that could be leading to an unbalanced work day, but the only way I can address it is if they mention it to me.
In line with setting the tone, when I have to leave the office early for an event I like to tell my team as I’m walking out the door. “My mother is going into surgery today and I want to be at the hospital when she gets out. I’ll see you all tomorrow!” Or, “My nephew is going to pitch his first game this afternoon and I don’t want to miss it.”
Finally, it may take some encouragement on your part. When you are speaking with an employee and she mentions that her brother is celebrating some event tomorrow afternoon, take that moment to encourage her to attend. Sharing comments such as, “This will only happen once,” or “This sounds like something you should really be present for,” sends a strong message not only of Family First, but that you are a reasonable, compassionate leader.
Results
I hesitate to write about the results this yields, because this should by no means be the reason to do this. You should support your team to consider family first because you are a human and have feelings. But in my experience I’ve found my team to be extremely appreciative of my aforementioned efforts. One team member commented to me, “I really appreciate what you said about family. Family is very important to me and it pleases me to work for someone who thinks the same way.” I’ve also found that when you actually need someone to stay longer to meet a deadline or complete a project, she is more willing to do so.
In the end I think it creates an overall healthier workplace, with clear limits on the amount of time that staff should spend at work. This allows them time to be social and to sleep a good night’s sleep which, in the long run, makes your team more productive and pleasant to work with.
