When the Great Resignation hit in 2020, there was a big push to rethink the way we work. Part of that rethinking was a renewed focus on work-life balance. Because the labor market was so competitive at that time, companies around the world—including here in the Asian-Pacific region— were forced to take a look at their culture, benefits, perks, and how that related to burnout and work-life balance.
As a result of this global shift in the workforce, we’re now seeing a lot more employers promoting work-life balance as part of their employer brand. Here at G2, authenticity is one of our values, so it was necessary that we didn’t just talk the talk, but actually walked the walk. Here are some of the actions we’ve taken to support work-life balance for the global G2 team:
As a member of the G2 Global Employee Success team, I see and hear first-hand the impact of work-life balance initiatives. By far, the change that has made the greatest impact on work-life balance for our APAC team is our updated approach to paid time off (PTO).
Here in APAC, we provide the following individual PTO:
Of course we are not the only company that offers robust individual PTO. In fact, it’s common in the tech industry. However, what I believe makes G2’s approach to PTO unique is what we provide in addition to this time off.
A couple years back, G2 leadership made the decision to give regional teams collective time off. Why did leaders feel this was important? Because when you know that every person on your team is off, there’s a true sense of relaxation. Nobody is getting ahead of you, and you are not falling behind.
That’s how our globally aligned PTO was established. For example, in 2022, our team here in India had two days off after Ganesh Chaturthi. The intention is to provide G2ers additional time to spend time with family and friends and to truly disconnect from work reenergize around important and culturally significant holidays.
Most recently, our entire global team was on PTO from December 26 through January 2. What makes this globally aligned time off significant is that all our global offices are closed for business. While individual PTO is an important benefit, the truth is that when we take time off for ourselves we can feel guilty about being absent or feel anxiety about missed emails and the work that is building up while we’re out. Everybody, from the CEO all the way down, is reenergizing together.
After our week-long break, I reached out to my some of my India teammates to ask them how they spent their time off and why they think this globally aligned PTO is important:
“I just started learning piano recently so I have been practising that on the recent PTO. Pre-Covid, I used to take advantage of G2 PTO to plan a long weekend getaway to go wakeboarding and hiking. These activities not only allow me to achieve a balance between work and personal life, but they also provide a much-needed opportunity to recharge and come back to work feeling refreshed and energised” - Jay Chng
“G2 has one of the best employee friendly PTO policies that I have come across in my career. Working here for 3+ years has allowed me to allocate time to check out a few items in my bucket list. Most importantly, I get time to take care of myself and unwind from meetings.” - Deepu Krishnappa Siddegowda
“During a recent PTO leave, I took my parents on vacation. Surprisingly, this helped me to establish open communication with them and helped me evaluate my life decisions. I’m very thankful for the leave G2 gives us.” - Lubdhak Mahapatra
“I plan my PTO whenever I wish to take a couple of days off to rest. This may be visiting family and spending some quality time with them. This also gives me time to recharge physically and refresh mentally, so I do not get demotivated about work.” - Rejoy Roy
“I have always been a very outdoorsy person, so over the past year I utilized the majority of my leaves for trying out sports that have fascinated me like skiing, solo paragliding, and tackling my favorite trek till date—a 50km hike through the gorgeous landscape of Kashmir. It culminated at the crystal clear waters of Tarsar and Marsar lake at a whopping 13000 feet!” - Anoushka Singh
“I LOVE using my aligned PTO to go back home and spend some time with my family! It’s amazing that I get so much time to cook and bake for my loved ones and to experiment with new recipes. I also go on short, relaxing trips whenever I feel the need to take a break. Traveling and being one with nature allows me to reset on so many levels and helps me come back to work with more life and excitement.” - Maria Alexander
G2’s PTO philosophy is that everyone needs, and should, rest and recharge away from work. We believe it makes for happier employees and studies consistently support this idea. Furthermore, the importance of time off is ingrained in our G2 culture. When people take time off, we respect that time off and we don’t ask why. We view PTO as earned and deserved personal time and thus, we also respect the privacy of that time.
2022 was a year of ups and downs, particularly for the tech industry. This meant more stress than usual. The globally aligned time off allowed all of us to catch our breath and prepare for 2023, which economists are predicting to be uncertain. But because we’re rested, reenergized, and refreshed, the G2 global team is ready to face whatever 2023 brings.
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