How The Pandemic Should Reform Our Work Culture

It’s time for a culture shift. We live in an always-on work environment. We talk about our workaholism with a sense of pride. We start early and stay late. We work weekends.

COVID-19 has only compounded this way of life. There are no boundaries when your new office is your home. We’re burning out. 

Mandated stay at home policies have caused Americans to work an additional three hours more per day. While technology has allowed many of us to seamlessly shift to remote work, it now consumes us. We’re on video calls all day and our screen time is through the roof.

This isn’t sustainable. Over time, this chronic stress can turn into serious health problems and we’re losing good employees to unsustainable workloads.

As we adjust to a new normal and slowly return to the office, we must use this time to shift our work culture. A shift from burnout to a new definition of productivity where our well-being is at the center.

A shift to performance over number of hours worked. Remove stigma and support our employees. Establish new policies and procedures to reflect this shift. Lead by example to create a truly empathetic company culture.

Let COVID-19 be a forcing mechanism for good.