Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 06

Off-the-ClockWork Work creates time commitments beyond office hours, such as commuting. To that, add the time spent reading and corresponding after hours. Now add time spent fretting over work dilemmas and conflicts. You may even be unofficially on-call—expected to answer quierries at any hour. As a cadre, junior executives and middle managers are much maligned as the “clay layer” where change initiatives get bogged down. Is that fair? Take a romp around the game-board. Along the way, consider the pushes and pulls faced by the caught-in-the-middle manager. Each pressure is not experienced as a discrete one-off but as a compounding series of bombardments. If you find yourself caught in the middle, take steps to protect your own physical and mental health, as well as the well-being of others in your orbit. Gender Expectations Performing chores is a thankless energy drain. The unequal division of household labour means chores fall disproportionately on women managers. If paid enough to hire help, move forward two squares. If shirking your fair share of chores due to male privilage, move forward one square. Expense-Ratchet Trap Being time starved causes you to invest in labour-saving appliances and services. Expenses ratchet up, which require you to work more. Working more increases the need for time-savings, which leads to more expenses. The cycle is hard to break when the culture tells you that you can “have it all.” Passive-Leisure Trap Work and chores have depleted energy reserves. There is no fuel left in the tank to engage in fulfilling physical, relational, spiritual, or intellectual pursuits. Slothful leisure activities take up your few spare moments, such as wallowing on the couch in front of the TV. Status Competition The desire to project an admirable image to peers results in spending on status enhancements: home, travel, car, clothing, you name it. As peers do likewise, there is a competition to improve your social status. And this drives you to toil for another lap around the game board. Coughice You catch a cold and spread it. -10 energy and staff product- ivity points. STILL CLOCKED IN Pick a Card Let’s Have a … Extended Family Various demands are making the nuclear family more isolated, which weakens relationships within the broader network of kin. Thus, an important source of social support is less present to make coping with life easier. Elder Care Becoming a middle man- ager or junior executive often coincides with parents reaching the late stages of life. Some care responsibilities may be added even if parents do not move into your household. Maintaining Friendships With less and less discretionary leisure time, it is difficult to maintain friendships outside of the household or workplace. Maintaining broader interests, such as hobbies, is even harder. Parenting Having kids is a job in itself, which is why the overworked are having smaller families. Children understandably want their parents to be highly involved with their lives. Even with fewer kids, parenting duties can take up a larger than expected share of the life-cycle because, these days, children tend to stay at home longer. THE CAUGHT-IN-THE-MIDDLE MANAGER B Y P E T E R S T O Y K O HOME HOME 16 / Canadian Government Executive // December 2018/January 2019