Why We Believe There’s No Work-life Balance, Only Life!
The term ‘work-life balance’ tends to insinuate that ‘work’ and ‘life’ are at odds with each other. This notion, we feel, makes work and life exclusive of each other or that work is the opposite of life. It is not.
We believe that work and life are on the same coin. An individual must navigate a complex course skilfully to lead a complete and holistic life. Work is a part of life as much as families, hobbies, or other things that give us joy and make us feel fulfilled. Just like life outside of work has its uplifting moments and moments that drag us down, the same happens to be true of work. Talking about work-life balance suggests that work is something that needs a counterweight. We do not believe that should be the case. At least, we try to create a workplace where this need not be true.
Work does not need to be balanced with life. Instead, it has to be integrated into life seamlessly and organically so that individuals can lead a life that encourages them to be their best selves every day.
The responsibility of creating this seamless structure does not rest with the employee alone. It is crucial to create a human-centric workplace now and focus on driving meaningful employee experiences. Most business leaders now consider this to be an important metric that influences organizational outcomes and drives innovation and effective problem-solving. Our leaders surely do!
Organizations have to work hard to create a work environment that allows people to be more. It has to be an environment that builds excitement by providing a space where people thrive and grow by doing what they love. It cannot be only about KPIs, metrics, and numbers.
As a technology organization, we believe one of the components of this framework is to make the technology and process infrastructure such that work happens easily and seamlessly. That apart, organizations have to build an environment where people have fun, work, collaborate, engage and celebrate together.
But enough preamble. By now you know that we do not believe in work-life balance. We believe that there is only life. So, with only one life to live, how do we ensure that our employees get the best experiences and opportunities to grow in their everyday environment?
Fun is a part of work
All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. We think the days of the serious, and straitjacketed office culture are behind us. If we want to innovate and come up with creative solutions, fun has to be an integral part of the workplace.
While we have regular work meetings, our monthly meetups double up to provide the mandatory dose of fun. We also have a multitude of other activities that are held regularly and see enthusiastic participation. From IPL super 11 tournaments that appeal to the sporty side to weekly quizzes, and regular office outings we make sure our employees get their fill of fun to drive the cognitive blues away.
We encourage our employees to participate enthusiastically in the activities of their choice. This builds camaraderie and bonds of familiarity and fondness.
Work, then, no longer remains a serious, clinical, and number-driven space, but one that has human aspects of ‘life’.
Rewards and recognition programs
Appreciation goes a long way as motivation. It can make someone’s day and even change a life. We believe that those in positions of influence must have the willingness to put appreciation into words.
Appreciation in the workplace and being recognized for good work are tremendous pick-me-ups. This not only encourages individuals to strive for greater glory but also keeps them excited. Appreciation, recognition and rewards elevate the mind space. This also contributes to holistic wellbeing.
We believe in this philosophy and hence take our regular rewards, and recognition programs very seriously. We have seen how validation and appreciation delivered regularly have helped our workforce remain excited about their work. It has helped them create goals they want to slay to keep them motivated and charged up about winning the next big battle.
An open and supportive culture
One truth of modern workplaces is that work and life come to loggerheads when the leadership and management become unapproachable. It’s when work becomes an unmanageable chore that it drags life down. But where does the employee go to solve a problem? How do they navigate their challenges, personal or professional if their leaders are not available to them? These employees spend an inordinate amount of time seeking answers and solving problems while burning both ends of the candle as they reach the end of their tether.
Our endeavor has always been to create a workplace that sees the employee as a whole. They are not only workers. They are individuals first, employees second. We recognize their agency and the aspects of their life apart from work. And while work is a part of life, we believe that it is our responsibility to help them navigate their whole life with whatever support we can provide.
Our policies and work approaches, as such, are drawn from a place of empathy and understanding. Our leadership is always available to help, guide, and mentor the employees. Managers are coaches whose primary job is to deliver enablement at work. Employees are free to bring their problems to work. We help them solve these.
Be it regular wellness sessions to drive holistic health or providing flexible working hours to manage the demands of everyday life, our open and supportive culture makes sure that our employees do not have to choose one at the expense of the other.
Empathy, equity, and opportunity
We know that people want to do good work. They want the opportunity to excel and get empathy and understanding while doing it. Along with that, they want equity to grow successfully and fulfill their dreams and desires.
We are laser-focused on driving diversity and inclusion across our organization as we believe that talent must be respected and it does not matter where it comes from. You will find people of all demographics, ethnicities, religions, and beliefs working in our organization. We pay close attention to the needs of our women workforce and take intentional efforts to build equity and opportunities for them.
We also make sure that we deliver the right, contextual, and relevant learning opportunities to our employees. Our employees have the flexibility to choose from a plethora of courses and development opportunities to fuel their growth. We are more than happy to be the enablers of their success.
Along with all this, we make sure that our teams are balanced and have work to sustain them without overwhelming them. We also make sure that our employees have to face negligible bench time and make sure that they are productively occupied.
In Conclusion
The idea of an office where people act in a formal and restrictive manner is not in alignment with our values. We want our workplace to be one where people can be their authentic selves; a space where they are accepted wholly and completely; a place where they live and work with integrity and joy.
A5E is not your everyday workplace. It is a place where work and life integrate organically…where people get a chance to bring in and express their best selves every day. That’s why we want them to enjoy work as much as the other aspects of life!