AS far as work hours are concerned, 10 is the new eight. And if you really want to distinguish yourself, better aim for a good 12 hours in the office every day.
The new high road to the corner office doesn't run through progressive ladder-climbing and years of company loyalty. It runs through being available to your customers 24X7 (which, incidentally, are sprinkled across an increasing number of time zones), and a willingness to 'marry the job'.
So what is lengthening our days in office? The list of answers no doubt includes the usual suspects, evil corporations and global competition, but the issue also forces us to ask: have our lives fundamentally shifted towards an office-centric lifestyle?
A study published in the Harvard Business Review by authors Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Carolyn Buck Luce, The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek , came to the startling conclusion that a large part of this shift is coming from blue-collar professionals themselves.
Individuals who have discovered their niche and are highly invested in their career, or those who are aiming for a quick route to the rich and famous lifestyle, embrace the idea of work days which never come to an end. The sheer love of the profession translates into a willingness to spend upward of 70 hours a week at work. And the prestige, money and power that come with it don't hurt, I guess.
But Hewlett and Luce are talking about what can be called the Delta Force of the corporate world, the highly paid, highly ambitious jetsetters. But Gallup's last survey estimated that only about 30 per cent of the workforce is actively engaged in their jobs.
So what is keeping the rest of us sitting at our desks so late? There is also some buzz around the fact that lengthening work hours are far more evident in India, compared to some Western nations.
Thomas Friedman has been frequently quoted for his observations on the Indian penchant for hard work. According to the The New York Times, he said, "It is interesting because French voters are trying to preserve a 35-hour work week in a world where Indian engineers are ready to work a 35-hour day. Good luck."
To dig in a little more, I asked Indians working abroad (mostly in the United States and the United Kingdom), and those working in India, how many hours on average they spent at work. Their answers didn't vary that much. Most spent an average of eight to 10 hours at work.
But the few in my sample who did spend more than 10 hours a day came squarely from the Indian quadrant.
What did vary were their reasons for the longer hours and their perceptions around how necessary they were to their career growth. The Indian workers in the US and the UK felt that as long as they came through on their work commitments, whether it took five hours or 10, it didn't matter.
Their counterparts in India, on the other hand, gave a lot more weightage to face-time. For instance, a young organisation development specialist working in an Indian MNC observed, "Office begins at 8.30 am sharp and the last shuttle leaves at 7.30 pm. Given the workload, I barely manage to make it to the last shuttle."
When asked if working fewer hours would impact her career negatively, she added, "Yes, it adds to impression management."
Another senior manager in his late 20s, high up in the organisational hierarchy, adds, "It would impact my career negatively because my peer group does not complain (about the long work hours). Plus it is an opportunity for me to take the lead. Not healthy, I know. Apart from that, you are just asked to make it happen."
A young HR consultant chips in, "If you don't work long hours, it negatively impacts how your bosses perceive your dedication/effort."
Fierce competition for the roles higher up in the ladder definitely plays its role. But what is most disturbing is the answer to what makes these youngsters stay at work longer, despite the negative impact it has on their lives, day after day. Those working in India almost unanimously agreed, "Not working long hours isn't an option. There is just too much work to get done!"
And, predictably, we are back to pointing fingers at evil corporations. Organisations seem to be quite blasé about getting the work of two done from one. The shorter hierarchies and leaner organisations mean that young people can now rise through the ladder way faster than their parents ever did. But these opportunities come at a heavy price and work hours are only the beginning of that.
Relationships between spouses and between parents and their children are the first to suffer. Health is not too far behind either. Hewlett and Luce observe in their article, "More than two-thirds of professionals we surveyed don't get enough sleep; half don't get enough exercise; and a significant number overeat, consume too much alcohol, or rely on medication to relieve insomnia or anxiety."
If it were just a choice made by the few who wanted to prioritise their work over wholistic living, it wouldn't be so disturbing. But longer work hours are becoming an unavoidable part of just staying in the game. And a heady cocktail of changing work norms, the constantly connected technology, and employers willing to take advantage of these trends is fundamentally shifting the fulcrum of our lives.
One hopes organisations will realise that given the limited talent pool, driving their best towards exhaustion is not a smart strategy.
As a young management student succinctly observes on his blog, "What about diminishing returns when one works 100 hours a week? There is no magic formula to boost productivity -- it's pretty obvious that after a (sic) 20 hours of work in a single day, your productivity will be pretty low."
Point well made, my friend!
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