Tamara J Erickson‘s “Task Before Time” article (which I wrote about here) made the rounds this week, appearing in a bunch of papers all over the globe. Here it is in the Malaysia Star. (That they’re publishing this in Malaysia shows just how global these issues are.)

I love the way she’s able to distill the issue down to a simple truth: time is immaterial when it comes to getting work done. And it’s completely irrelevant when it comes to getting work done well.

My favourite bit:

Ys love to work asynchronously – anytime, anywhere. One said during our research, “What is it with you people and 8:30am?”

Employers are going to struggle with this, partly because it requires a lot more managerial talent to ensure work is getting done when it’s not getting done right in front of you. And that’s a worthy and just concern. It’s also, thankfully, a surmountable one. With enough training and re-culturing, employers in small, medium and large businesses can find a way to make it work.

Unfortunately, I think there are a number of older workers who dislike the idea for another reason altogether. They hear about the changes Gen Y is demanding and they immediately feel resentful. That’s not what it was like for them. They got to work at 8:30 a.m. (or earlier!) every day for YEARS and never once complained. In fact, they were GRATEFUL for it.

This is an attitude that’s going to be hard to change, no matter how many articles like Erickson’s appear in newspapers and online. I predict that, for these employers, it won’t be until the impact of not changing is felt economically that we’ll see real movement.

Photo by H4NUM4N. Licensed under Creative Commons

Tags: economics, flex time, generational shift