Work constitutes a significant part of our lives, and the employment relationships through which we carry it out are regulated by numerous laws and regulations. All of them aim to establish a framework for the behavior of all participants in the employment relationship, so that each individual’s work has a positive impact on them as individuals and on society as a whole.
The Law of Humanity
Laws exist to protect our individual rights, but not at the expense of the rights of others.
However, there is one law that is not formally defined. It’s the law of humanity, created by us humans ourselves. By this law, every human community can rise or fall on the scale of humanity, depending on how important humanity is to its members.
Each of us is one of the responsible parties in every contractual relationship, including employment. Our actions determine or redefine its boundaries. It’s important to remember that with each mode of work, we are inscribing important articles, clauses, and points of our behavior, making each of us individually the first and extremely important legislator, responsible for our own actions.
The impact we have in the workplace can be measured in two currencies: the time and dignity we invest in our daily work. The importance of these two currencies is confirmed by the fact that invested time cannot be recovered, and if human dignity is compromised and disrespected, it can harm the employment relationship and the overall business growth in the long term.
Additional Invested Working Time
One example of respecting humanity is the category of overtime work. The approach to this type of work is lawful and humane to the extent that both the worker and the employer behave in ways that mutually respect time and dignity. This means that the employer should carefully plan and organize overtime work to justify its necessity and pay adequately. On the other hand, the worker should engage in overtime work while considering their physical and mental resources, efficiency, and health, because sustainable long-term effective work is crucial for business success and personal motivation. Thus, it makes no sense to enforce overtime work during a certain period and then end up on sick leave.
Overtime work is legally restricted and regulated, and it represents a category of the employment relationship in which both the employer and the worker can demonstrate how much they respect each other.
As the most expensive form of work, approaching overtime work with justification and purpose is important. It needs to strike a balance between the employer’s material benefit and the worker’s satisfaction and health.
The Value of Employment Expressed Through Time and Dignity
We can envision the employment relationship as an exchange rate list on which we can daily track the value of the currencies of time and dignity.
Time and human dignity are inseparable from individuals. They are fundamental in every interpersonal relationship, and in employment, they are based on respecting rights and obligations. With a humane approach to time and dignity, both the worker and the employer have the opportunity to achieve equality in the employment relationship. The worker respects the employer by using work and rest time for which they are compensated, and the employer maximizes respect for the worker while they work and when they take breaks.
The employment relationship offers a daily opportunity to trade or invest in one’s own and others’ time and dignity. The choice of whether to trade short-term or invest long-term through work significantly speaks about the quality of ourselves as lawmakers and the goals of our law of humanity.
The Long-Term Value of the Employment Relationship
If we trade our own and others’ time and dignity for the short term and with the aim of achieving results at any cost, we inevitably expose ourselves to the risk of testing the law of humanity and turning the employment relationship into a short-term competition between workers and employers to satisfy their short-term needs at the expense of the “opposite” side. On the other hand, if we see our own and others’ working time as a long-term investment, we can count on sustainable business results and mutual satisfaction.
The secret ingredient needed for a long-term investment in the currencies of time and dignity to pay off is called engagement. For both the worker and the employer to invest maximum engagement in the employment relationship, they need mutual cooperation. This cooperation should be based on clear, open, and two-way communication. Only when both sides have the right to voice their expectations can an agreement be reached on how both sides can align their mutual expectations for mutual satisfaction.
The Significance of Time and Dignity in a Hybrid Future
While we witness the traditional model of on-site work transitioning to remote work right before our eyes, we can also observe the value of humanity developing in new working conditions.
In the last two and a half years, traditional forms of work have increasingly given way to the hybrid mode of work. Humanity in employment relationships based on respect is becoming a prerequisite without which business operations are inconceivable. Time becomes a broad concept and a category in which individual workers hold authority, and respecting the right to autonomy and trust in colleagues and their abilities becomes the fundamental value that employers can use to attract and retain workers.
In the hybrid mode of work, the timing of work takes a back seat, and the future of work will be based on mutual respect and trust. For many workers and employers, this has been a long-awaited mode of work, as it offers numerous advantages, among which flexibility and individuality are paramount.
The Greatest Challenges of the Hybrid Future for Employers
While the hybrid mode of work contributes to the well-being of workers, the question arises as to what fosters socialization among colleagues.
Despite the fact that people are faster and easier to connect with virtually, there is an increasing trend of social distancing, which affects worker engagement and organizational culture.
To maintain interpersonal collaboration, employers will need to devise new ways of socializing and make it an imperative. Only through connecting people and their emotional ties to the employer can maximum engagement and sustainable results be achieved.
Employers who encourage themselves and their workers to act responsibly and humanely toward the institution of work that connects them and who find a hybrid way of socialization that unites all team members in common goals, successes, and satisfaction will succeed in attracting and retaining the workers they need for the future of their business.
