Beyond the Pay cheque: How Work Needs to Evolve to Serve People's Lives
Let's be honest: most of us don't wake up in the morning bursting with excitement to create another powerpoint deck or sit through another two-hour meeting that could have been an email. We work because we need money to live. It's a simple transaction—we trade our time and skills for a bank deposit at the end of the month.
But somewhere along the way, work has gone from being a part of our lives to consuming our lives. The average full-time employee spends more waking hours with colleagues than with their own family. We've normalised checking emails at midnight, working through weekends, and cancelling personal plans when work "needs" us.
And now, after a global pandemic showed us there's another way, companies are scrambling to pull people back into offices. But is this really about productivity or is it about control?
The Great Revelation
When offices closed during the pandemic, something unexpected happened. Work... continued. Projects were completed. Goals were met. Businesses functioned. And many people discovered they could do their jobs perfectly well from home, often better than they did in the office.
Without the commute, the office politics, and the constant interruptions, many found they were more productive. Plus, they could throw in a load of laundry during their lunch break, be present when their kids got home from school, and eat a proper meal instead of a sad desk sandwich.
For the first time, millions of people experienced work that fitted around their lives rather than lives that were squeezed into the margins around work.
It was a revelation. And it raised an uncomfortable question: if we can be productive, creative, and effective while working from home, why were we spending 10+ hours a day (including commutes) away from our homes, families, and communities?
The Control Conundrum
Now, companies are pushing for a return to the office under the banner of "collaboration," "culture," and "connection." And yes, there's value in face-to-face interaction. But if collaboration were the only goal, we'd be looking at flexible approaches that bring people together when it matters, not rigid 9-5, Monday- Friday policies.
The uncomfortable truth is that many workplace policies aren't about productivity at all, they're about control and visibility. They're rooted in an outdated belief that if managers can't see employees, they must not be working.
It's management by presence rather than results. And it's not just ineffective - it's insulting. It assumes adults can't be trusted to do the jobs they're paid to do without constant supervision.
This mindset leads to policies that prioritise appearance over outcome:
Requiring people to be at desks during specific hours, even if they work better at different times
Measuring hours worked rather than results achieved
Rewarding those who are seen staying late, even if they're just stretching work to fill time
Treating flexibility as a privilege rather than a standard operating procedure
When we design work around control rather than outcomes, we waste human potential and create unnecessary stress and resentment.
The Hours Myth
One of the most persistent myths in modern work culture is that hours worked equals productivity. We've all heard (or lived) the stories of investment bankers pulling all-nighters or startup founders working 100-hour weeks.
However research consistently shows that productivity drops sharply after about 40 hours per week. Knowledge workers can typically manage about 4-6 hours of deep, focused work per day before quality deteriorates.
Beyond that, we're not producing more, we're just looking busy. And there's a substantial cost to this pretence:
Burnout and stress-related health issues
Higher turnover as people seek saner work environments
Mistakes and poor decisions from exhausted brains
Reduced creativity and innovation
Strained personal relationships and community ties
The irony is that by focusing on hours rather than output, we're getting less value from people's time, not more.
What People Really Want
If we step back and think about what would make work truly serve people's lives, the answer isn't more money (though fair compensation matters). According to surveys and studies, what people consistently value most is:
Flexibility: The freedom to work when and where makes sense for their lives and the task at hand.
Autonomy: Trust to manage their own work and make decisions within their area of expertise.
Purpose: Connection to something meaningful beyond just a salary.
Growth: Opportunities to develop new skills and advance their careers.
Community: Positive relationships with colleagues and managers.
Sustainability: Work that doesn't consume all their energy, leaving nothing for their personal lives.
Notice that none of these requires everyone to be in the same physical space from 9-5, Monday to Friday. They're about how work is structured and valued, not where or when it happens.
The New Models Emerging
Fortunately, some organisations are starting to reimagine work in ways that better serve human needs. Here are a few models worth watching:
The 4-Day Work Week: Companies from Spain to New Zealand are experimenting with compressed work weeks, and many are finding that productivity remains stable or even improves when people have more time to rest and recharge.
Results-Only Work Environments (ROWE): This approach focuses entirely on output rather than when or where work happens. Employees are evaluated on whether they deliver results, not how many hours they log.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Beyond just working from home, these include flexible hours, compressed work weeks, job sharing, and seasonal scheduling to accommodate personal needs.
Hybrid Models: These combine in-person and remote work, ideally taking advantage of the best aspects of each approach.
The common thread in all these models is a shift from controlling how people work to empowering them to work in ways that maximise their effectiveness and well-being.
The Individual Revolution
While systemic change is important, many individuals aren't waiting for their organisations to catch up. They're reshaping their own relationship with work:
Setting Boundaries: Defining clear limits on work hours, email checking, and availability.
Negotiating Flexibility: Requesting, or sometimes simply implementing, flexible arrangements that better serve their needs.
Changing Employers: Moving to organisations that offer more humane work cultures.
Going Independent: Freelancing, consulting, or starting businesses that allow them to control their own work structure.
Downshifting: Choosing to earn less in exchange for more time and lower stress.
These individual choices add up to market pressure that's forcing organisations to adapt or lose talent.
The Path Forward
Creating work that truly serves people's lives isn't about grand gestures or complete reinvention. It starts with small shifts in how we think about and structure work:
Question Assumptions: Challenge the belief that presence equals productivity or that traditional schedules are the only way to get things done.
Experiment: Try different approaches to see what works for your team or organisation.
Listen: Ask people what would help them do their best work while living their best lives.
Measure What Matters: Focus on outcomes rather than inputs like hours worked.
Be Flexible About Flexibility: Recognise that different roles, tasks, and individuals may need different arrangements.
Lead by Example: Demonstrate healthy boundaries and work habits, especially if you're in a leadership position.
The future of work isn't about unlimited ping-pong tables or free snacks. It's about creating systems that acknowledge employees as whole human beings with lives, relationships, and needs beyond their jobs.
The Bigger Picture
This isn't just about making work more pleasant - though that's important. It's about creating a society where people can contribute their talents while still having time and energy for the other things that make life worthwhile: family, community, creativity, rest, and joy.
When work consumes everything, we all lose. We lose the volunteer coaches who can't make it to weekday practices. We lose the community organisers who are too exhausted to plan neighbourhood events. We lose the artists, writers, and musicians who never create because they're too drained from their day jobs.
By reimagining work to better serve people's lives, we're not just creating better workplaces; we're creating a better world.
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