The 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Office Time Myth Post-Covid-19!
Brief
History of 8:00 am – 5:00 working Time.
During
the Industrial Revolution, companies attempted to maximize the output of their
factories by keeping them running as many hours as possible, typically
implementing a “sun up to sun down” work day. Wages were also extremely
low, so workers themselves often needed to work these long shifts just to get
by, including often sending their children to work in the factories as well,
rather than getting them educated. With little representation, education,
or options, factory workers also tended to work in horrible working conditions
to go along with the bad hours. The typical work day at this time lasted
anywhere from 10-18 hours per day, six days a week. This all began to
change in the 19th century.
The
first to suggest an eight hour work day for everyone was a British man by the
name of Robert Owen, who was also one of the founders of socialism. Owen
felt that the work day should be divided into thirds, with workers getting
equal time to themselves and to sleep as they do for work. Thus, in 1817,
he began campaigning for an eight hour working day for all workers, coining the
phrase, “Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.”
Unfortunately, this did not catch on for some time, though throughout the 19th
century a series of Factories Acts were passed that steadily improved working
conditions and reduced work hours for factory workers. For instance, The Factories Act of 1847 stipulated
that women and children were to be granted a ten hour work day, thus only
having to work 60 hours per week.[1]
It
wasn’t until much later that Ford actually implemented the 8 hour work day and
changed the standards:
“One of the first businesses to implement this was
the Ford Motor Company, in 1914, which not only cut the standard work day to
eight hours, but also doubled their worker’s pay in the process. To the
shock of many industries, this resulted in Ford’s productivity off of these
same workers, but with fewer hours, actually increasing significantly and
Ford’s profit margins doubled within two years. This encouraged other
companies to adopt the shorter, eight hour work day as a standard for their
employees”.
Is
40 hours a week too much? -There
are a few studies that have shown employees are happier, healthier, and more
productive when they work less than 40 hours a week.
- During
the first two months of 1974, government officials in the United
Kingdom limited the workweek to three days in
an attempt to save energy. Though people were working two fewer days a
week, production only dropped 6%. People worked fewer hours, but they were
more productive and less likely to miss work.
- From
2000-2008, the French government limited the maximum working hours per
week to 35. In a survey of French employees, more than half said they were
happier working reduced hours and more able to achieve a balance between
work and life.
- From
2015-2017, a Swedish nursing home conducted a two-year experiment where
its nurses switched from working eight-hour days to working six-hour days
for the same pay. During this time, sick leave dropped by 10%. Nurses who
were part of the trial claimed they were healthier, more energetic, and
more alert.[2]
Kenyan
Context: When the first case of Covid-19 was reported in
Kenya, on the 12th, March, 2020, many life changing decisions had to
be made, and working times were just but part of it. Many companies were forced
to review staffs working hours due to the MoH guidelines, supposedly that were
meant to curb the spread of Corona Virus, which among others included, social
distancing and avoiding crowded places. Clearly, this was a new way of life for
all of us, as it was quite alien- just like being thrown in the deep end of a
swimming pool, without any prior knowledge in swimming. Due to the revised working times, many
companies had to downsize their workforce due to reduced sales and in turn drastic
reduction in profits, some companies had to send staff on unpaid leave, some
staff had to receive percentage of their salaries on a reducing trend as a
result, thus rendering more than 1M Kenyans jobless as at June, 2020[i]. Some
of the effects of loss of jobs are lawlessness, hunger, depression leading to
mental illness, domestic violence, house evictions and many others leading to “societal
malfunctioning”.
The government has
made noticeable efforts in reducing taxes to the employed translating to increased
disposal income in the pockets of Kenyans, reduced taxes in some of the basic
commodities, but ultimately, the consumer behaviors of Kenyans has changed from
the norm to “holding excess monies if any for future uncertainties” and thus having
a net effect on many businesses like beauty, tourism and the entire hospitality
industry leading to -ve profit margins leading to closure of majority of them.
Before the pandemic,
the conventional wisdom had been, most companies/organizations in Kenya still
believed in the physical presence of staff in the office for an assurance that
a particular staff is actually working- Management By Walking Around. But what Management lessons can companies/organizations
draw from the effects of Covid-19 and people being forced to work from home and
even hold virtual meetings?
Post
Covid - Companies/organizations competed intensely for
prime office space in major urban centers around the world, and many focused on
solutions that were seen to promote collaboration. Densification, open-office
designs, hoteling, and co-working were the battle cries.[3] Is
working from home the new normal? “According
to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) the value of Kenya’s
telecommunications gadget imports has skyrocketed in the past four months. The gadgets
including computers, laptops and smartphones make the price surge due to the
COVID-19 lockdown. Many people are currently working from home while students
pursue e-learning services. Currently, Kenyans have spent over KES 8 Billion
during the COVID-19 period. This is an increase from the KES 5.18 billion that
Kenyans spent on tech items in the four months to July last year”.[4]
Some of the reasons affecting this surge are:
- Staffs
in many firms are working from home to reduce the probability of spreading
the virus. Corporate meetings and seminars are also being conducted on
video-conferencing platforms.
- Private
schools are turning to online classes to generate income from fees. Thus
parents and students are inclined to buying more gadgets
- The
Covid-19 restrictions increased demand for items like laptops and
smartphones as people are in the need for entertainment. This is also
resulting in a surge in data traffic for telecoms firms such as Safaricom.
“People are
discovering they can work from home. Education and learning will change. Small
businesses are going to learn they can digitize their operations and operate
more smartly, the Safaricom CEO remarked”
“…The Britam CEO
Remarks: “We shall never go back to the old ways of working. That means we are
going to reconfigure our office space. We will perhaps require less working
space because people are going to work from home. Companies are serving their
customers and clients remotely and there is no going back.”
Well, as they say, it
is only fools who don’t change their minds, change is like rest and if
Organizations who have been for a long time been doing business in the old
traditional ways still insist on following the same path, it will be a funeral
come too soon for such organizations, because in the 21st,
digitization is the only way out to continue being competitive moving forward. On
matters supervision of staff- having digitized staff management systems will be
the new normal the old-skool physical supervision. If organizations in Kenya
and in the region will adhere/adapt to these changes, it will be a wait and see
situation as everyone is fighting for survival.
In my opinion,
8:00-5:00 pm working time, won’t make sense at all moving forward if majority
of organizational staff can work remotely and be able to achieve their set out
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This requires a total mind shift in
management.
Authored by;
Brian N. Kavuwa.
briventures@gmail.com.
Flexitime approach has always been resisted by most traditional companies but now we have no option but to change to adapt to the new normals.
ReplyDeleteMost companies' organizational culture has made it a challenge changing working time in the post-covid era. Only time will tell
ReplyDelete