Hybrid Work is here and it’s about time! In this blog, we discuss making your time count in a hybrid work space.
We’re all familiar with the stats by now…the “Great Resignation” has 4+ million Americans quitting their jobs every month. Millions more have relocated while keeping their jobs. 64% of workers would quit if forced back to the office 5 days and week yet, 88% say they want some time in the office. 63% of high-growth companies are embracing a hybrid work model.
Clearly, all of us are having a moment together.
We’re all swimming amidst a massive sea-change moment. 9am-5pm in the office every day was a construct born from the industrial revolution and the pandemic has broken this model forever. Now new models rooted in flexibility + choice are emerging, and it’s about time!
Making Your Time Count in a Hybrid Work Environment
As physicist Albert-László Barabási once wrote, “Time is our most valuable non-renewable resource, and if we want to treat it with respect, we need to set priorities.” And, that’s exactly what’s at the heart of hybrid work and the inextricably linked shift in the power dynamics between employer and employee.
Over half (51%) of employees say job flexibility is more important to them than salary when making job choices. This is as loud and clear of a signal as it gets. The upside of hybrid/flexible is that we all have more ownership over where we apply our time. From a philosophical point of view, many of us are now actively questioning how, where, and with whom we are allocating our time.
Do I want to continue to invest my time in this profession? Why would I spend my time commuting and sitting in an office 5 days a week? Is time away from my family worth it? Do I need to take this business trip or can we just zoom? What’s my ideal balance of time working vs. time living?
World renown thinker Peter Drucker once wrote: “In a few hundred years, when the history of our time will be written from a long-term perspective, it is likely that the most important event historians will see is not technology, not the Internet, net e-commerce. It is an unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time--literally--substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. And society is totally unprepared for it.”
Maybe we are unprepared. But, the pandemic has accelerated this journey and essentially forced our readiness to embrace this opportunity for us to manage these choices for ourselves. This is our shared moment to commit to improving how, where, and with whom we prioritize investing our time.
As a startup that’s gone through a massive amount of change as a result of covid, the last few years have been challenging to say the least. As part of our “rebirth”, we’ve been going through a culture and purpose reset with our partners at Drumbeat as our sherpas. While this process is inspiring, even with the best coaches, it certainly isn’t easy work. You essentially have to work through a deep philosophical and personal exercise to align your organization's true purpose along with the supporting cast of cultural infrastructure (vision, keystone strategies, and values).
If you’ve been through this type of exercise you know it can be challenging to avoid eagle poster platitudes, while really identifying core themes that ring true for your business, vision, and culture that impacts all the shareholders (employees, customers, partners, investors).
But, after several months and having gone through a thoughtful journey of asking ourselves “why 5 times” we landed on a simple yet powerful purpose we believe fully fits our team, our product, and the moment we are sharing with everyone….
Make Our Time Together Count.
Jim Rohn, one of the pioneers of personal development once said: “Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it and spend it rather than invest it.”
Coming back to the lens of new work models and the inherent choices that come with them, we can reset our priorities and choose where we invest our time. Whether it’s more time together with your loved ones or more time together collaborating and building bonds with work friends + colleagues, we exist to help you make your time together count.