Saturday, Aug 19, 2017

Dubai

Something big has been happening in many working individuals’ lives over the last decade — a phenomenon termed the ‘working vacation’. This is a syndrome wherein you are seemingly on a holiday but find yourself regularly checking on work emails, attending to office tasks and generally blurring the lines between work and vacation. There is also another term for this — ‘Leaveism’. What is Leaveism? It essentially about employees utilising their personal time to do office work. What’s more, it’s prevalent in the UAE.

A UAE study conducted by a Middlesex University Dubai MBA student Lakshmi Nair revealed that more than half the respondents said they have worked during their vacations either several times a day or between one and three times a week.

Titled Work Life Integration and Leaveism; a study of workplace practices in business excellence award-winning organisations in the UAE, Nair’s study surveyed 506 participants, and showed that more than 20 per cent of employees admitted to taking their work home.

“This can vary from working at home after office hours on weekdays or weekends, to working during annual leave or vacation,” said Nair.

She explained that while the concepts of ‘presenteeism’ (when employees come to work despite being unwell and so perform underpar) and ‘absenteeism’ (employee’s intentional or habitual absence from work) have previously been studied by researchers and HR professionals, the term ‘Leaveism’ provides the missing link in the studies.

“Leaveism is an under-researched phenomenon as the term was coined by Dr Ian Hesketh during his research on well-being in the UK police service in 2013 at the Lancaster University Management School,” said Nair.

The UK study, which showed that most employees admitted to working after office hours and during weekends, also highlighted that only 13 per cent conformed to never having responded to an office mail or call over the weekend.

However, the majority of employees (93 per cent) said they had responded to emails or phone calls after office hours during weekdays.

With technology keeping people tied to their devices and making them be “forever online,” Nair believes the proximity between employers and employees at all times — even outside business hours — has made urgent emails and last-minute work requests very common.

Nair also pointed out that during interviews, several managers highlighted how technology has enabled them to have their entire office within their “pockets”.

An interesting aspect however that emerged from the study was that while over half of respondents were reported to take work home mainly due to pressures, “compensation for personal life” was also listed as another reason for Leaveism. Close to one-fourth of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they indulged in work to make up for not having much to do in their personal lives.

Many employees who worked during their holidays or took work home may not have personal hobbies or do not have their families with them in the UAE, the study revealed.

Employees, the study suggested, seemed to be indulging almost voluntarily in Leaveism behaviours.

The study also indicated that a majority of employees consider their work as an integral part of their lives and give it high priority.

These findings were also in line with previous studies conducted in the UK. According to four academic studies in the UK, which focused on aspects of Leaveism, employees consider different ‘advantages’ to practising Leaveism behaviours.

“Some of the advantages perceived by employees [who indulge in Leaveism] may include having a clear personal record, better performance scores, financial gains and redundancy exemptions,” said Nair.

She explained that based on employees’ personalities, Leaveism may give enjoyment or satisfy their sense of duty toward their organisation when they practise it at their own discretion.

However, these ‘advantages’ do not last long, as with prolonged blurring of the lines between work and rest, the individuals eventually get affected, added Nair.

Cost of Leaveism

The Leaveism studies also point out that organisations seldom notice the costs associated with Leaveism behaviours, which not only impact employee productivity in the long run, but also organisational performance.

“It can also impact employee’s personal life and their resilience. The other disadvantages include a decrease in organisation’s bottom-line and operational effectiveness and increase in employee’s stress and anxiety,” said Nair.

Organisations need to realise that the current definition of an ideal worker — one who is connected 24/7 to work — comes at a significant cost to both employees and their firms, said Nair.

“By considering work output and not time clocked as a relevant measure of employee productivity and commitment, and by recognising the importance of employees’ lives outside the office, employers will be able to create a workplace culture that fosters creativity, well-being and above all, an engaged workforce,” explained Nair.

After investigating whether there would be any decrease in Leaveism behaviours in organisations which have Flexible Work Practices (FWP), Nair reported no direct correlation.

“However, FWP was seen to help reduce the main Leaveism trigger — work overload. It was also clearly seen to have increased employee commitment,” she said.

Other studies

Findings of many studies have shown that for people to be seen as ideal workers committed to their jobs, they seem to be choosing to prioritise their work ahead of other aspects of their lives, including their mental and physical health, family needs, personal hobbies and social relationships.

UK

A study of 1,000 working parents in UK published in the Modern Families Index last year found that employees often put in an additional 10 hours a week.

This reportedly led to nearly a third of them (29 per cent) feeling burned out, and close to half the participants (40 per cent) being unable to cope with familial obligations.

“Working non-stop while on leave or during one’s personal time on regular days/weekends leads to burnout,” highlighted Nair.

US

Even though US workers are reportedly using lesser vacation days (fallen from 20.3 in 2000 to 16 days a year in 2015), many continued to work via phones and laptops when they do go on leave, as reported by the Society of HR Management (SHRM).

MENA

A Bayt.com survey (2,773 respondents), which was reported by Gulfbusiness.com in 2014, found 86.5 per cent of employees in MENA region continued to work even during holidays with tasks ranging from checking and responding to mails, to staying contactable at all times.

By Jumana Khamis Staff Reporter

Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.