Workplace of Choice

There seems to be a trend in employees not taking their lunch break.  According to Right Management’s recent poll, less than 50% of employees take a lunch break.  What does this mean about today’s workforce? Are we working harder?  Or, are there other drivers behind this?

As I thought about the results of the poll, I thought about why it seems that employees are not taking a lunch break anymore and what’s changed.  What I keep coming back to and think may be driving some of this change is the drive towards a Results Orientated Workforce (ROW).  A Results Oriented Workforce is one in which the objectives are outlined and the employees do the work and, although there may be a final deadline, the employee is not micromanaged throughout the process.  The employee is empowered to plan their work and their day in a way that will allow them to complete the outlined objectives.  As companies engage in more of a ROW style, it allows employees to have a better work life balance. Perhaps employees are skipping lunch so that they can finish their work and get home to their families or attend school?  A Results Oriented Workforce doesn’t value face-time and takes away some of the stigma of a more old-fashioned workforce where employees arrived at 9am, took a half-hour for lunch and left at 5pm.  A ROW values the work getting completed and completed well.  An employee may come in early, work through their lunch and leave at 3pm to catch their child’s soccer game. 

Although many companies are heading in this ROW direction, this type of workforce doesn’t work for all business and all functions.  For example, if you have a Customer Service department, it’s likely it needs to be staffed specific hours in the day.  On the other hand, engaging in a ROW may be one way to offer flexibility to a workforce craving a change to the status quo.

Do you see a Results Oriented Workforce as the future of the modern workforce? 

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