![]() While prescriptive measures might not always work and will require adjustments and flexibility-there may well be perfectly valid reasons to hold a video call with colleagues on a Friday, for example-Fraser is at least putting down a marker on the need for some kind of life-work balance. Pandemic working surely contributed to that. ![]() Just last weekend, the boss of Goldman Sachs Group Inc was forced to promise that Saturday would be sacrosanct for his staff after a small group of deeply unhappy junior bankers complained about inhumane hours. But its investment bank rivals should take heed of its plan all the same. This kind of initiative can feel a little gimmicky sometimes, but if it’s tied to genuine improvements to the work week, then what’s the harm?Īs a diversified lender, with a huge consumer business, Citigroup isn’t the same as all of the Wall Street herd: It will be thinking of its retail operations, too. The firm will also create a company-wide day of rest-28 May-called the ‘Citi Reset Day’. In a long memo to Citigroup’s workers, Fraser laid out three measures to immediately relieve the pressure: limiting video calls on Fridays to clients only (or Thursdays where applicable) scheduling business calls during what we once considered normal working hours (weekends are for rest) and encouraging people to take holidays. The sudden introduction of lockdown measures a year ago allowed certain behaviours to go unnoticed, such as a manager sending WhatsApp messages or emails to employees at all hours, often expecting a response. Burnt out employees who feel they want to escape their managers won’t perform well, or stick around. That’s why it’s essential that companies root out quickly the WFH practices that have worsened their workers’ burden, with extended days and the intrusion of the office into the home causing stress and resentment in equal measure. About four out of 10 workers are thinking of leaving their employer. Business leaders say they’re thriving, according to a Microsoft Corp survey of workers published this week, but most of their employees are either struggling or just about surviving in the current environment. The pandemic and joys of WFH have had an unequal effect on different levels of the corporate hierarchy. Even if employees begged to come back to the office, it’s unlikely that city-centre headquarters will be allowed to fill up this year as governments manage the lingering threat of covid.
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