issue no. 32

not so happy hour

redefining balance

Last night I attended a panel discussion about occupancy, strategy, and essentially creating a thriving workplace.

The panelists, Shaq Lawson (Sr.Director of Operations at Business Insider) and Jennifer Catapano (Sr. Manager, Workplace at Circle), answered a series of questions around what it’s like to manage people’s needs + wants while maintaining + cultivating company culture.

When asked about what they consider to be over-hyped, Shaq Lawson replied with “happy hours”. We all laughed because here we were, in fact, at a happy hour.

I wont get into policy but you can read a little about the origins + evolution of work/life balance here.

Shaq explained that the happy hour has become the manager’s lazy go to for cultivating their team and that having employees spend their free time with the same people they’ve spent the entire day with is a big ask.

As someone who lived in the corporate world for 20+ years attending so many of these events, I have to agree. Some of these things felt downright arduous. Not to mention, they took time away from my family, friends, hobbies, and all the other beautiful, messy things that make up a life.

The idea that there should be a balance between our lives + work tends to get misunderstood. Typically, the solution becomes a merging of the two until you can barely decipher between them. While this may work for some, this is in no way a universally successful approach.

Big tech companies create vast campuses where everything a human could dream to do in a day can be done. But where is the balance in spending the majority of your time at your place of work? Balance inherently means separation. If I am trying to balance red jellybeans with black jellybeans (highly controversial but my favorite flavor), I place the red on one side + black on the other. I then add or remove as needed until they weigh the same. So, blending our work + life into one sphere seems to, if nothing else, dilute both individual experiences.

It’s almost as though corporate America has tricked us into blurring the lines to get more labor out of us (side eye).

I have worked with many clients to help them implement the appropriate day + evening programming into their workplace. The combination of the right activities and an inspiring space to support them is critical. For companies struggling to get people back into the office, it can provide motivation as well as offer a true + respectful balance between work + life.

My advice (not that you asked), if you’re going to plan after-hours events, make them intentional. Make them worthwhile. Provide something people may not have access to otherwise. Or better yet, plan them during normal working hours.

We’re expected not only to perform at our jobs but also as representatives - to become so entrenched in an imposed vision that we are no longer viewed as individuals. Employees nicknamed Amazonians, Metamates, or Softies (ew) under the guise of unity, but I can’t help but react to the culty, cringeworthy insinuation.

I’m not saying there aren’t companies who operate in high moral standing. I’m simply saying we should admit the reality - corporations are designed to make money off of labor, and that’s ok. But it’s also ok not to give too much of yourself to a vision that might never have been yours to begin with.

You can build the most beautiful office in the world but unless you plan the infrastructure well, it won’t matter much.

Want to discuss how to improve employee engagement?