In an ADP survey released on October 12, we learn that 32% of workers do not feel “able to set boundaries at work to maintain a work-life balance.” Beyond policies, wishes and good intentions, we wanted to know what a company can concretely do to establish a culture of disconnection. We asked managers and HR professionals. Here are their answers.
- Set up your out-of-office message
In May 2022, consulting engineering firm CIMA+ unveiled a commitment to work-life balance as part of its Work-Life Balance Charter and Right to Disconnect Policy. Among the disconnection strategies put forward, employees are encouraged to set up their email to send an out-of-office message.
This is a practice that is not only supported, but recommended by my organization,” explains Andréanne St-Pierre, Marketing and Communications Director at Cima+, who uses it on a daily basis. It’s a simple way for me to not feel the need to check my messages in the evening.”
- Schedule your messages for the next day
At the other end of the communication chain, those who send messages can also make an effort to concentrate their sending into work hours. Véronique Turcotte, Talent and Culture Manager, suggests that managers and colleges on the same team pre-schedule their emails for the next day.
As much as possible, it is preferable not to send emails on evenings and weekends. If it’s not urgent, we can use the ‘schedule send’ feature so we don’t tempt our colleagues to respond to us outside of work hours.”
- Update your status
José Lemay-Lecler, founder of the Telework Quebec organization and sales support for Zoho Canada, suggests establishing a common practice for using work statuses when the work team is on a collaborative platform.
The advice I would give is to use tools that clearly display the status of each colleague, such as: available for collaboration, focused on work, absent, on the road, etc. Another strategy is to create a Presence channel, in order to centralize communications related to presence, quite simply. Very useful for teams that work on the road.”
- Turn off notifications
What brings our minds back to work is not only the emails that come in, but also the notifications that draw the eye to the phone. Stephanie Thomas, director of talent acquisition, points in this direction by suggesting employees close all system notifications, including Teams and Slack.
One should not publish one’s personal phone number in the company. Institute the practice of avoiding meetings at lunch, after 4 p.m. and on Fridays,” she adds as other disconnection strategies.
- Give yourself a “disconnected” work day
Laurie Michel, a speaker and expert on the right to disconnect, floats the idea of allowing a “disconnected” work day.
An email-free day can help teams relieve the pressure around constant digital availability, while also being an asset to their personal disconnection period,” she explains.
If we remember correctly, this is a principle that the agency Duvernois esprits créatifs tested and appreciated in 2021.
More broadly, Laurie Michel invites companies to appoint a “digital wellness manager”, a resource person who will be able to open the discussion and help employees to raise the internal challenges that the disconnection generates. Several of her clients are in the process of setting up such a title, she says.
It is now up to employees and managers to adopt these very concrete disconnection strategies.
