How was your holiday break? Were you able to disconnect from work and recharge a bit? My questions are not just of passing interest. I'm Hind, one of Criteo's People Experience Directors, so your work-life balance is a major preoccupation to me.
Criteo's focus on work-life balance pre-dates the Covid crisis. It's reflected in our flexible work schedules. It's not the time we clock in or out that matters; it's the results we produce.
We're also expected to use the time off we're given. For me, using up my holiday time has never been a problem. I love my job, but I know I'll do it better if I take an occasional break.
And yet, I know keeping our professional and personal lives in balance isn't the same for everyone. It's unique to each individual. Without families, young people frequently appear on my list of those at risk of losing unused vacation time each June. Others are too passionately engaged in their work and can't find a way to hit the off switch.
Get in that hammock. Now!
You can't say we lack opportunity. With holidays and rest days, we're given seven weeks of annual time off -which is two weeks more than the French legal minimum - plus two days each year for volunteering. New parents also have maternity and paternity leave conditions that are very beneficial. At the same time, some days are meetings-free: we have called them the Quiet Days. This initiative encourages employees to spend the last day before a holiday winding down by catching up on paperwork.
As part of my job to ensure the best possible experience for the people who work here, I also monitor the time people spend working. If I see that someone isn't taking their time off, my teams will contact their manager to see what's going on and address the issue.
Yes, Covid sucks. But…
How and where we work can be a significant factor in how we feel about our job. Pre-pandemic, we could already work from home 2 days/week, which quickly shifted to 5 days/week as the crisis hit.
Yes, this has been an adjustment for many of us. I'm one of those people who likes and needs to go into the office at times. I miss the social interaction with my colleagues. On the other hand, I've been able to spend so much more time with my daughter. Stressing out about picking her up on time every night has been replaced with having lunch together every day. Through online interactions with colleagues, I feel like I've also gotten to know a personal side, including meeting their kids and their pets.
Are you OK?
It's been a learning experience for Criteo too. Fears about the impact on productivity have been allayed: the work gets done just as well from home. Importantly, 85% of us responded to the most recent survey that our well-being is good, answering another concern.
We'll keep listening to our team members through engagement, manager-rating surveys and workplace experience surveys as well as one-on-one HR Pulse Checks.
In return, we ask this of our fellow Criteos:
- Listen to yourself.
- Please, take some time off for yourself and those around you.
- Remember another takeaway from this challenging past year: life is important.
Let's take time to enjoy it.