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Say goodbye to the Sunday blues

I listened to an excellent podcast recently with Kirstin Furber, Director of People at Channel 4, which dealt with the issue of company culture, in terms of banishing the so-called Sunday blues, that sinking feeling which we have all been familiar with at some time or another as the weekend ebbs out to make way for the incoming Monday tide. Those of us who run our own businesses may not feel it in quite the same way, but we will undoubtedly have told ourselves that a little time spent working on a Sunday will make Monday more bearable, as we shore ourselves up for the week ahead.

What is particularly helpful about the perspective of Sunday blues when discussing company culture is that it forces us to think in terms of our employees. What are the triggers of resentment that cause gloom to descend at the end of the weekend and what can be done to alleviate them?

The answer may be different for each individual. Some may feel overwhelmed by the volume of the workload they face, whereas others may feel under-skilled for the challenges ahead. This latter point is particularly relevant as automation and digital transformation move forward at pace, unsettling for those who have been working in the same way for as long as they can recall, in particular.

For some, it may be the office environment itself and the logistical challenges that the average working week poses, not least in terms of childcare, caring for elderly or disabled relatives, or juggling the demands of a busy family home with perhaps the inconsiderate and inefficient boss or clients that are difficult to please. In such cases, an open and frank discussion about flexible working or office hours may go a long way towards smoothing the transition between weekend and working week.

The podcast highlighted some interesting and powerful solutions. These included the importance of having a clear purpose as a means of engaging and galvanising staff; using employee forums to unearth points of resistance and areas of resentment; and prioritising communication at every level of an organisation. Something definitely coming out from discussions with staff that has been highlighted to me is the desire for those employees/workers to be able to switch off at weekends, as with holiday time generally.

Communication and feedback channels are more important than ever in an era of flexible working, where the nature of teamworking has been transformed.

You can listen to the podcast here.

For specialist legal and strategic advice for boards and those who sit on them contact Richard Port rport@boardside.co.uk