- Every professional, either employed or running a business, would vouch in unison that if one must earn extra, something extra must be contributed in return before earning. It’s simple. Let’s take the allegory of withdrawing money from the bank. Unless we deposit any amount into the bank, how can we even expect to withdraw the money in the first place? A similar process underlines our professional conduct in the corporate world. Promotion, recognition, acknowledgement, and acceptance will befall us only if we perform extraordinarily and consistently at that. Mind you, there is no free lunch in the universe’s scheme of things. We are expected to go through the grind without any exception. Remember, no pain, no gain.
PC: LinkedIn
- As you are aware, the corporate world is always abuzz with striking a work-life balance, with talks veering towards how seniors should desist from work-calling juniors after working hours. This very notion is subjective in the present-day world where information flow and communication channels are available 24/7 in real time. Thus, staying connected with the work – corporate and/or business – even after calling it a day is imperative. Certain responsible positions and people in leadership roles simply cannot shut shop after working hours. Should there be a law to regulate work-calling after working hours? No. In 1914, Henry Ford doubled assembly line pay for working less. He also shortened the workday from nine hours to eight and raised the daily wage. Why?
PC: The Quint
- Such a miracle won’t happen now, but something modest, yet essential, has been afoot for over 20 years, ever since France’s highest court held that a worker can’t be fired for not taking calls after clocking out. When the campaign for a ‘right to disconnect’ was at its peak globally in 2017-18, buoyed by successes in France, Germany, etc., NCP MP Supriya Sule introduced her Right to Disconnect Bill, 2018, in Lok Sabha. Seven years later, she’s back with Right to Disconnect Bill, 2025 – just two months after Kerala became the first state to float a namesake bill of its own. As private member bills go, Sule’s is unlikely to become law, but it’s a great idea regardless. The daily tyranny of phone and mail, also known as the second shift, does nothing for productivity.
PC: Ling
- Corporate uncles sternly prescribing 72-hour workweeks should look up the results of a 2014 Stanford research, employee output plummeted after putting in 50 hours per week, and work martyrs with 70 hours on the clock were no more useful than those with 55 hours. That was Ford’s point, too. He figured that less could be more, and a well-rested worker cost him less in factory accidents. Modern research also shows that work is the most important sleep thief. So, when a boss makes a habit of intruding into workers’ me-time, they are grumpy and less productive the next day. That’s why sensitive employers evolved safeguards years ago. Yes, striking a work-life balance is necessary. But ushering in a fiat is not.
