Culture and the Currency of Time

Take a few minutes to think about your typical daily routine. How do you spend most of your time? If you have a full-time job, then for five days a week, you spend at least one-third of your 24 hour span at work, which does not include the commute to or from your office. Not only that, but according to the Harvard Business Review, the average person will spend about one third of their entire life at work. Why does that statistic matter? Because we dedicate so much of our time to our jobs, and yet many employers don’t bother to focus their attention on creating a positive culture for their employees.

Unfortunately, many people with authority take on the approach of “it’s my way or the highway,” thinking that it’s a threat to the employee that will get them in line. What they do not realize is that after a while, the highway is a much better option than working for a boss who does not truly care about their employees. Time is a currency, and it’s the most valuable currency we have because we can never get it back. More and more people are starting to realize this, and they’re not putting up with a company culture that is not beneficial to them.

You may need a job in order to live comfortably, but that doesn’t mean you should remain in a place that makes you unhappy. No matter what people may say about the separation between your work and your home life, it is impossible to completely separate them mentally and emotionally. Especially with the ease and access to technology that we now have. It used to be that you could leave your work behind when you clocked out, but the boundaries between work and home have blurred. It is easy to send off an email as soon as you think of something, even if it is outside of working hours. However, you should never expect a response from your employees in return unless they are on call, it is explicitly written in their job contract, they are choosing to work on their own accord, or they are being paid for their additional time working. Also, just because you would do something does not mean that they have to. You can encourage it, but you cannot enforce it unless it is written into their contract.

That being said, if you have developed a positive working culture, then you likely won’t run into that problem in the first place. People are hesitant to give any additional effort to a boss that will not appreciate them for it or who demands it, but they will gladly put forth the effort for someone who has earned their time and respect. If your approach as a leader is to make people do what you want them to do rather than inspire them into action, or if your first thought is to punish them for doing something wrong rather than helping them learn and grow from their mistakes, then you are not truly a leader; you’re an autocrat.

Real leaders don’t need to use threats on their team; instead, they use their influence to bring out the best in others. They focus their energy on creating an inviting, positive environment that is conducive to learning and growth. Create a culture that is worth people investing their time in. Everyone’s time is valuable, and it should be treated as such. Make the most of it each day, and become the kind of leader you would want to follow.

-Meghan Slaughter