Work life balance

The other day I was told that there is a culture in some parts of Pearson Education of having to stay in office until ten o'clock. Apparently if you don't , and if you are not in the office on Saturdays you will not grow.

I strongly disagree with that statement. We are a performance oriented organisation, and frankly, I don't care when you get the job done, so long as it is done well, and following due process.

We are also a young organisation that is in a hurry. That sometimes means the infrastructure is having to catch up with us, which results in people having to work harder than perhaps they should to achieve planned results. That is a part of the fun of the job we are trying to do, establishing leadership in a fast growing economy. There are other employers (the Government is a great example) who offer more balanced hours of work, and I am hoping that each of you who works for Pearson is here because you share the passion for creating a high performing organisation. I have been a part of start- ups and high growth businesses all of my working life, and I can tell you that they are far more fun than running mature businesses.

Also, I can't believe this is true, because on the days when I stay late in office, I find that there are only a few people around.

And finally, I know that I have benchmarked us against competition, and our productivity per head whether measured in revenue or titles released seems to be at best in line with other companies, so its not as though we are trying to do more with less.

Having said all of that, I know most of you are working really hard, and I am grateful for the energy and passion that you display. I really hope you come in to work every day stimulated by the challenges that face you, and not because someone says you have to be in office until 10pm.

If you disagree, let me know.


Vivek Govil
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