“Volkswagen Group Australia has implemented a cultural change program with the objective to be a leading customer-centric, high performance organisation,” says Human Resources Director, Lisa Taylor.
Lisa Taylor – Human Resources Director
Fundamentally, whilst technology has undoubtedly increased productivity and connectedness, it is also having a compounding impact on work patterns and the ability of workers to switch off from their job.
Volkswagen has been at the forefront, with the introduction of an agreement in 2012 that stopped its servers sending emails to some of its German employees after working hours.
Under this arrangement, servers stop sending emails 30 minutes after the end of employees' shifts, and then start again 30 minutes before they return to work. This gives workers who like to check in to their work email on the commute to and from work the opportunity to do so.
DID YOU KNOW?
46% of workers feel technology brings with it the feeling of being ‘always on’ and unable to completely shut-off from work. (2016 Snapshot of the Australian Workplace)