Protect people’s energy so they can work on their craft

Christine Armstrong started her career as a researcher in the advertising industry. She remembers being one of those people who loved work, spent long hours in the office, and enjoyed evenings socialising with colleagues. She confesses to having loved her Blackberry device too.

But after starting a family, Christine found that maintaining the balance between work and home got harder, and she spent several years trying to resolve the conflicting priorities. As part of that process, she started speaking to others about their lives, gradually turning her curiosity into a new career. Since then, Christine has written a book about having children and a career, worked as a media columnist, and co-founded a communications consultancy. She now runs Armstrong & Partners, where the “new world of work” is her focus: what works, what doesn’t, and what businesses can do better.

Here are three headlines from our interview with Christine at the event, which explored matching culture to personality, the polarisation of work, and why a “good job” is important. Christine also called on business leaders to protect the energy of the people who worked for them and reduce the cognitive overload of electronic messages. Finally, she gave the audience three practical pieces of advice – actions they can take now to make a difference.

A great place to work is about matching culture to personality. “Someone’s personality should match the environment in which they work,” said Christine. An insurance company feels different than an advertising agency; a management consultancy feels different than a retail chain. “Very often, I meet people who are frustrated and who think their business is bad. You can find two people in the same law firm, for example, with one who is thriving and loves the environment while the other one doesn’t.” She added, “We don’t talk enough to young people about the environments that will suit them best.”

A polarised workplace is bad for the company and the employees. Many businesses are embracing hybrid and remote working. They are leaning into the challenges and figuring out the right model, and they aren’t afraid of asking themselves tough questions: How do we make this work for our teams? How do we bring people together? How do we really connect with each other? But, at the same time, other businesses are trying to force people back to the office. “I was recently shown a company memo which essentially said, ‘We’ve told you to come in two days a week, and you’re not coming in. If that continues, we’re going to make it three days a week,’” said Christine. “It sounds like shouting at your children for not eating two bits of broccoli and forcing them to have a third.” She added, “When people want to feel seen and they want to make a difference, creating a power struggle is bad for the culture; leaning into new possibilities is better and gives people what they need in the process.”

Providing a “good job” is critical to hiring and retaining people. “How many people in your team would tell their friends and family they have a good job? I don’t mean a well-paid job; I don’t mean a high-status job; I mean a good job,” said Christine. Are they listened to? Do they have the right equipment? Do they care about what they are doing? Business leaders who hesitate with this question are going to have a problem hiring and retaining people, she said.

Reducing the cognitive clutter can protect people’s energy – and improve productivity. People are feeling overwhelmed by electronic messages, which have dramatically increased since the pandemic, she said. For senior-level staff, some of those messages can be screened – but other team members might have to review message coming through. Christine shared an example of a consultancy company which had experimented with a five-hour working day. They left their phones in reception, did 15 minutes of email in the morning – then focussed on work – with 15 minutes of email at the end of the day. People’s minds were decluttered, and productivity increased because they weren’t constantly switching between tasks. In the future, good businesses will reduce the number of messages and give people back the space to work on their craft. They will feel better, more productive, and happier as a result, she said.

Three things to do now:

1. Make sure your working model matches your brand, your people, and your culture.
2. Protect people’s time and their ability to focus.
3. Ensure your team members feel seen and heard. Fifteen minutes a week, one to one, where they do most of the talking, is a good place to start.

It was clear from Christine’s interview that culture remains front and centre of people’s experience – and culture can be experienced differently depending on someone’s personality. Mental health, energy and focus are the next frontiers of good professional practice, because job satisfaction often correlates with having the time and space to produce good work. Excellent communication – but not too much communication – will be important. Time spent listening and sharing will help improve relationships, culture and, perhaps, productivity too.

Read more from Christine about the future of work, including links and insights from other writers and researchers. Find out about her book The Mother of All Jobs here.

Three speakers have taken part in Protiviti and Robert Half’s Tackling Tomorrow Today 2023 event series. Read ‘Why diversity matters for AI governance’ and ‘Well-being isn’t fluffy’ to find out more about the other two.