DECEMBER 2022 BUSINESSMANAGEMENTREVIEW.COM8By Lindsay Barnett, Sr Director, HR Business Partner, Kite PharmaIS THE NEW FLEXIBILITY STILL JUST "GOLDEN RUBBER BANDS"? My friend Alison (insert your friend's name here) has been in her job at the same organization for almost a decade. Sure, the work has some interest for her and takes advantage of her skills and background. But it doesn't ignite Alison's passion and connect her with feelings of strength and purpose on a daily basis. However, she's been there long enough that she can set her own hours and it offers her good benefits and a nice paycheck. Are you already bored by this description of her work life? Well so is Alison and countless other American workers who have sacrificed real meaning at work for a phenomenon that I call the "Golden Rubber Bands".Like the proverbial "Golden Handcuffs", where people feel trapped by the monetary promise of bonuses or stock vesting dates, "Golden Rubber Bands" shackles people with the promise of flexibility. In many workplaces, we see this in action where the job claims to be so supremely flexible that people, predominantly women, are afraid to leave even if they are miserable. Yet often the "take the afternoon off to go to your kid's baseball game" comes with intermittent emails during the game and other strings attached. So while most managers like to seem magnanimous in their granting of time, there is often little to no actual accommodation given in expectations or deadlines.Indeed, the work still must get done and often does Lindsay Barnett
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