"Whenever I need you, you're not there," says a colleague, looking at me more regretfully than reproachfully. "That can't be, I manage 50%, so statistically you must find me every second time you look for me," I state and give him a disarming wink. He has to grin and we move on to the (half) agenda.
Of around 90 employees at Netstream, 10 work part-time. We therefore decided not to just passively observe and ponder the issue, but to ask our own part-time colleagues individually about the topic. What we learned was astonishing. Their experiences and attitudes toward their own part-time workloads are just as varied as their motivations.
Sasha, our showcase example in terms of workload reduction and at the same time the youngest of all respondents, reduced his workload to 80% two years ago due to his continuing education. At first, he put himself under a lot of pressure. His expectations of himself ended in countless hours of overtime. He began asking his colleagues for help and experienced boundless consideration and support from his team. Today, he affectionately calls the circumstances that led to his transformation from lone wolf to team player "therapeutic effect." He never received business calls on his "off" day, unlike his classmates.
Our Aleksandra can't say the same. Her part-time story ended before it really began. As a project manager, she worked passionately for years at 100%. After the birth of her first daughter, she reduced her workload to 80%. She soon felt that she was not living up to her role and expectations of herself as a project manager with a presumed "day off". Customers who tried to contact her on her day off were redirected to her mobile number because she wanted them to. She therefore increased her workload again and to this day does not regret the decision for a moment; even with two small children at home in the meantime.
Our Cinzia has no children, but she does have a time-intensive hobby, namely traveling. A few months ago, she asked the question at her first job interview: "Would a 90% workload be conceivable for you? Our HR manager Leandra answered enthusiastically in the affirmative, because this brought up one (of many) of her visions again: to give all Netstreamers the opportunity to reduce to a 90% workload, because reducing the workload increases the work-life balance. In addition, employees on a part-time workload can use their time for extended weekends or hobbies with a reduced workload. Would Cinzia have accepted our offer if Netstream didn't allow a 90% workload? No. In principle, she would not turn down a dream job because of this. However, she could not imagine that a company whose values would not allow such a request from a motivated employee would suit her.
Florian would probably disagree with your assertion that any 100% job can also be done in an 80% workload. He reduced his workload to take care of his son one day a week. Building an intimate bond with his son and playing an important role in his still young life do not make Florian rule out even a 60% workload and tolerate many a disadvantage of the reduced workload. Florian sees it as a huge advantage that his supervisor allows him to choose his shift so that he can pick up his son from daycare. Nevertheless, he would like his number of shifts to be adjusted to his workload as well. Together we determine that a discussion about the reduction of the duty schedule with the supervisor is not only desirable, but absolutely necessary. I immediately add the item "Talk with the supervisor and employee about new job specifications" to our "Workload adjustment checklist".
Our conclusion: We are not yet where we want to be when it comes to workload reductions in our company. All the more reason for our message to our employees: work 80%: Do it by all means! We do not see resignation as an option. Now we want one thing above all: to make part-time work at Netstream more attractive!
Our own - not scientifically based - thesis on the topic of workload reduction is: Reducing the workload brings the employee one disadvantage: less pay. But there are many, many advantages: Work-life balance, the opportunity for further training, the gift of a mommy or daddy day, the opportunity to challenge the team to work as a team and to live important company values even more intensively: Consideration and humanity.
