The Great Work Boundaries Debate. To Overtime or Not?

A debate has been fueled across family and friend circles all year and it's to do with overtime.

One side of this debate affirms that overtime is essential for career development and the other disagrees. I'm imagining a hypothetical Sunday lunch scenario and can hear a grandfather say, "In my time, you didn’t question whether to stay back an extra hour, you just did it".

His 50-year-old daughter agrees as she passes the bread, she says, "I studied hard to obtain by CPA qualification and I know that the only way up to that CFO gig I've been dreaming about is to work my butt off, show my boss that I'm a team player that goes above and beyond the call of duty. That way he'll consider me for a promotion when the opportunity arises."

Her 16-year-old son chimes in with "Mum, what does being a team player have to do with working long hours?? And by the way, how has working overtime worked out for you the last 20 years as Accounting Manager?" Immediately regretting saying the last bit as he knew he hit a nerve.

The grandmother quickly jumps in to save the day "you all have so much to say about work how about a few words about the lunch I made you!". She beamed a smile, and everyone cooled down a little.

The grand-daughter resumed the debate after being asked about her first position following graduation, "It's been good, everyone seems very nice, but sometimes, I get emails from my boss at like 2am in the morning, and she added me to a WhatsApp group that is on 24 hours a day, does that mean I'm expected to respond at odd hours of the day!?"

The mum develops a tense look on her face and says to her daughter, "You know what, you really shouldn’t be expected to, when I think back to the start of my career, that’s a boundary I should have set. Look, there's nothing wrong with working long hours during a big project or peak trading period. When you're passionate about what you do, it feels good to put in the extra time. You do it to deliver something you are proud of, and it feels good to collaborate with your team to meet these deadlines. But when the overtime becomes constant it’s a sign of a resourcing or capability issue and it's wise to let your boss know that you need help to get the work done within the bounds of your work hours."

And therein lies the lesson for all of us, we must always speak up when work hours begin to consistently impinge on personal and family time. Let's face it, devoting 9 hours to work each day is already a large commitment. If you subtract 8 hours of sleep and 9 hours of work from your day, you're left with 7 hours to devote to your health and fitness goals, your daily commute to work or school drop-off, breakfast and dinner, your relationships, your hobbies, personal development, downtime. I don’t know about you but 7 hours for all those endeavours seems like a stretch, and every additional minute and hour we spend working impinges on this precious non-work time even further.

Working in organisations and speaking to clients, I know that overtime is no longer an exception, it's become the norm. So how do we challenge this systemic overtime culture that’s leading to burnout, low productivity, low engagement and high employee turnover? How do we glorify working productively within the bounds of your work hours and set the right conditions for this to take place? And how do we encourage employees to speak up and have a courageous conversation with their manager without them becoming labelled as disengaged or a terrible team player?

I know we all have examples of how consistent overtime impinges on our lives, back in 2020 I was looking to devote my downtime to a passion project, writing an online Wellbeing Course, but kept finishing work late as a result of the additional work brought on by the Pandemic. I struggled to find time to devote to the course whilst balancing my other priorities outside of work. Particularly as my work hours were already impinging on my time with my son who required my presence and support as he was struggling at school due to ADHD and anxiety. I focused on areas within my control to deliver efficiencies at work but had resourcing and other challenges that meant the fruits of my labour would not be immediately felt.

Then one day, I came upon a moment of total epiphany, call it a "come to Jesus" moment, that made me question the modern lifestyle and gave me the impetus to drive more drastic change. I ran late for an ultrasound appointment at an imaging clinic, 10 minutes late to be exact, and was asked to reschedule. Had this not been an important appointment for me I would have shrugged it off and rescheduled without issue, however, there was some urgency with it, and I asked if the radiologist would stay back 10 minutes. I was told that given this was the last appointment of the day, the receptionist and the radiologist both had families they had to go home to, there was nothing they could do for me. This left me in absolute shock because at times I stayed back 2-4 hours overtime in service of my work commitments, impinging heavily on family time. I mentioned this to the receptionist, and she said, "I'm very sorry for you and your family". This of course tugged at the heartstrings but was the perfect example of an organisation setting clear boundaries for work and life. When leaders are seen to do this and to create the right conditions within their organisations for productive work to take place within the 9-hour workday, everyone benefits. This led to much change in the methods and practices I applied to enhancing productivity over the pandemic and helping my peers and team do the same.

For advice and coaching on creating healthy boundaries at work and managing up your concerns in a way that will strengthen your relationship with your manager, sign up for a coaching session with one of our coaches Executive Coaching | Realised Potential (realisedpotentialgroup.com).

For organisations looking to review their policies, job design and leadership practices that lead to incessant overtime, burnout and employee turnover, sign up for a Discovery Session to discuss your needs People Strategy Development | Realised Potential (realisedpotentialgroup.com).