Something for the weekend: Global skincare, wellness, hair care and weight management firm Neora has implemented a ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’ policy for some members of its workforce. One way to avoid the Sunday scaries for sure!
Caitlin Winter, marketing manager for Neora Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, set up the initiative for her small marketing and events team after being inspired by a TikTok video about it by Marisa Jo Mayes, co-founder of US startup Spacetime Monotasking.
The policy involves staff working from home on Mondays, a naturally quiet day for them due to the firm’s US-based head office. No one on the team, which includes two Millennial and one Gen X workers, schedules any meetings or any hard deadlines, or is required to say what they are doing or where they are throughout the day.
Winter, who is based in Adelaide, Australia, explained that some of the tasks she and her team will generally do on Bare Minimum Mondays are aimed at ensuring a good work-life balance, such as sorting their inboxes, rewriting to-do lists, planning for the week, doing tasks that might take a little more focus, professional development, doing some washing, grocery shopping, meal planning and looking after pets and children.
Winter said in a LinkedIn post: “I do not worry about my team slacking off, because we have great communication between us all and I have confidence and trust in them that the work will get done, and they’re amazing. This will not be something everyone or every workplace can do, but we’re utterly grateful that we work for a business that values its employees’ mental health and wellbeing. It’s not about increasing productivity either, it’s a wellbeing initiative.”
We at Employee Benefits think this sounds like a great way to boost employees’ mental wellbeing!