It is very rare that you are farther than an arm’s length away from your smartphone. You get anxious when there is no Wi-Fi in a hotel room, and if your battery is running low, the stress skyrockets through the roof just imagining what you could miss out on. All of these stresses, combined with an increasing demand for being reachable for your work, can relate to high stress and other negative health effects. Many workplaces, such as medical professionals, have a high importance to the response rate they employ. Others, such sales teams, may require certain response times to e-mails, calls, or texts, with explanation of why they were not achieved. According to the recent study by the Academy of Management, “employees tally an average of 8 hours a week answering work-related emails after leaving the office.” This also could include regularly taking work home or working while on scheduled time off and vacation, and all can cause stress and lack of sleep and greatly reduce focus and engagement during office hours.

In the UK, surveys have uncovered the impact of technology, with 72.4 percent of respondents admitting that they were performing work tasks outside of regular work hours (https://businessadvice.co.uk/hr/employment-law/always-on-culture-affecting-employees/). Increasing the stress and potential negative affects is when the smartphones are being accessed: mainly before bed and right when they wake up. Feeling groggy in the morning and not getting a good night’s sleep could be due to the exposure to cell phones, computers, and TVs during the two hours before bed. Further studies have also shown that the blue light from devices can disrupt circadian rhythms and the internal clock the helps determine when to sleep and when to wake. (https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/evening-screen-time-cansabotage-sleep). Other countries outside of the U.S. have changed their ways and implemented policies to counteract the “always on” cultural norm that pervades the modern workplace. As of January 1, 2017, French employees now have a new law with the “right to disconnect.” This law allows employees to walk away from their smartphone technology and does not allow employers to fire individuals that do not respond to work related inquiries while out of office.

Questions:

1. What are some ways as a new manager that you can help positively impact your new team to counteract the “always on” mentality?

2. What are some negative workplace behaviors that could arise from promoting an “always on” work culture?