Just how flexible is our flexible working policy?
As you might or might not be aware we try to run NixonMcInnes a little bit differently from other companies, believing in the following set of core democratic principles:
Transparency/openness:
Open seats for employees to attend board meetings; open book accounting (financial information including salaries made public); decisions made in the open; distaste for secrets.
Individual freedom:
Very flexible working arrangements; no dress code; self-management.
Decentralisation:
Individuals and groups empowered to set goals and make decisions without formal authority; lack of hierarchy.
Accountability:
Individuals take responsibility for their actions and are held to account by their peers; a culture of giving and receiving feedback.
Participation:
Voting on important company decisions and issues that affect individuals; everyone has a voice.
As Tom has admitted we’re not nearly there yet but we are all firmly committed to the attempt. Although there are many benefits to this kind of working culture, there are also challenges – if there is no ‘them and us’ then ‘they’ can’t be to blame – so who can fix anything that’s wrong? Only ‘us’! The onus is very much on us all to make an individual effort and take personal responsibility for the success of our company. But in return we can expect a very human response to any individual problems we may encounter – as I am currently discovering.
Just after Christmas my husband was offered a place on a four week residential course to train as a chef – he’s staying in the beautiful Devon countryside, in a top notch B&B, fulfilling a lifelong dream. I’m working full time and also taking on all the childcare responsibilities that he usually does. I’m very happy for him. No really, I am.
I made the decision that this is manageable and told everyone that I would be in the office each day til 2.30 so I could do the school run and then would pick things up again in the evening after the kids bedtime. I had no complicated approval process to go through, no bartering of holidays or hours here and there, in fact I didn’t even ask. This is only possible because I am fully and personally responsible for managing my workload – and empowered to do so by the culture in which we work.
Alexander Kjerulf, AKA the Chief Happiness Officer, wrote that
Happy companies naturally embrace … flexibility. In happy companies there is enough trust between managers and employees that the flexibility will be used to make people happy at work, and not to make them work more.
I don’t know about you, but working at a happy company certainly sounds like something we should all aspire to – and I’m glad that here at NM Towers we’re trying to set up the kind of conditions in which happiness can flourish.
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kudos to Flickr user StinkiePinkie for the pic
Jenni wrote this on 14.01.09 – 2 comments
It's filed in the Democracy, NixonMcInnes box
On January 14th, 2009 at 10:00 am, Andrew responded:
Amazingly flexible? – http://tiny.cc/iiAJw
Great post!
On January 15th, 2009 at 11:07 pm, Pete responded:
Like your post Jenni.
On the topic of “them and us” and blame, I think blame is probably the wrong frame.
Looking at issues through a frame of “how did I contribute to this issue (along with everyone else?)” is probably more useful.
It’s less confrontational – when we hear blame we close down and don’t listen. We also get emotional – we feel picked on, for example.
If we are not listening and feeling emotional we don’t have the information or the processing space we need to solve problems.
So we just spin our wheels.