The Right To Disconnect: Why Leaders Should Encourage Employees To Unplug
The European Union (EU) defines the right to disconnect as “a worker’s right to be able to disengage from work and refrain from engaging in work-related electronic communications, such as emails or other messages, during non-work hours” without fear of repercussion.
Encourage Healthy Work-Life Balance
Model your company’s commitment to boundaries around work-life balance with internal policies that promote flexible work schedules, vacation, and time to relax outside of working hours.
Make The Right To Disconnect Easy
Encourage a healthy work-life balance across your org
- Decrease burnout company-wide
- Make guilt-free unplugging a reality for everyone
- Protect your teams’ right to disconnect
- Set up your company for success
A Working Knowledge Base Is Efficient
With a knowledge base in place, your HR department can turn training materials into an accessible library of written or video content to save time
- Added bonus: New hires have a simpler, more engaging learning process
- Saves time, increases productivity, and helps employees to unplug
Hybrid and Remote Work Options
In equitable workplaces, there should be no barriers to working remotely.
Remind Employees To Use Their Benefits
Make certain employees understand all their benefits, including health and wellness perks such as mental health services or gym membership.
Make The Right To Disconnect From Communication A Priority
Employers who prioritize the wellbeing of their employees and their company create an environment where a healthy work-life balance isn’t just encouraged-it’s the norm.
- Build a culture in which considerate communication is the default.
Make Async Communication the Norm
Provide a maximum response time frame to keep projects moving forward
Embrace A “Schedule, Don’t Send” Policy
Coach teams to schedule Slack messages or emails for the following morning so that they don’t wait until recipients are “off the clock.”
- For communication that’s not time-sensitive, employees should preface requests with language such as “this isn’t urgent” or “later this week” so people know there’s no rush to respond.
List And Delegate Tasks Upfront
Ask employees to create coverage documents that clearly define who will take care of each task in their absence.
- This gives everyone ample time to connect, gather relevant details, and clarify coverage questions before the vacation begins to effectively prepare for the trip.
Track Team Updates In One Place
Set employees up for success by creating an enterprise-level work management system to catch all project info, files, and updates in one place
Respect Vacation Time-And The Right To Disconnect
A generous vacation policy is only beneficial if employees actually leave the office behind when they’re away.
Outline Tasks, Expectations, And Goals
Provide employees with written guidelines on how much work they’re expected to complete each week, each month, or each quarter.
- To embrace flexibility and avoid burnout, employees need guide rails and metrics to know when their work is done.
Create a Company-Wide Knowledge Base
60% of executives feel that time constraints and lack of understanding prevent employees from finding the information they need
- With a knowledge base in place, teams can get more done, and save time and effort with a single, organized repository where all knowledge is housed
A Knowledge Base Ensures Consistency
Knowledge bases eliminate variation within a company by standardizing how information is explained and/or learned company-wide.
Set and Share Working Hours
Make it clear when people are available and when they are not
Comments ()