GORDON LIGHTFOOT | Local
IT IS WHAT IT IS
Whakataki accounting firm, Get It Sorted, have taken a step towards providing real clarity and transparency to its staff when it comes to taking leave.
Head of HR at the firm, Sarah Golding has said that while the “mental health day” is important for managing stress, it has other purposes as well. “We all need to be given the option of taking a mental health day for a wide variety of reasons, and one of the big reasons for taking a mental health day is that you just can’t be f***ed coming into work.
“And you know what? We’ve all been there, so why pretend it’s not a thing? We trust our staff members to be honest, so with this change it means that they no longer have to lie about being stressed or overworked. They can literally just say ‘Look, I’m not coming into work today because I can’t be f***ed,’” explained Ms Golding.
While many thought leaders in the field of management theory will automatically say that this change opens up opportunities for people to take advantage, Golding believes it actually promotes a more open and honest work culture.
“If someone began using a CBF day every Monday or every Friday then yes you would say there’s a problem. Might be a problem with the person, or a problem with the culture, or a problem with management. It opens up a conversation where we say to ourselves, ‘okay, why can’t this person be f***ed coming to work?’
“You don’t want to just sweep this stuff under the rug,” she said while checking a message from one of her direct reports saying that she won’t be in the office today because she just can’t be f***ed.
“But let’s think about all the benefits of this change of process. For us at least, 95% of staff are really open about how they like the work culture and how they’re feeling. And sometimes they just feel like they can’t be f***ed. So what’s wrong with that?”, questioned the HR pioneer.
“You could be the most engaged and productive employee of all time and still have a day or two in the financial year where you could not give a single f*** about the company. So why don’t we just accept and embrace that?”
More to come.
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