People-First Principles

Establishing boundaries is half the battle in combating workaholic workplaces. The second half requires a workplace that actively supports and respects employee boundaries.

The non-workaholic workplace treats people well by design. The very structure, nature, and culture of an organization should be built to incorporate people-first principles at every step. The non-workaholic workplace is a people-first organization.

These principles embody the concept of restful work in an organization. Work following these principles is generally slower in cadence, but they reinforce the employee’s ability to focus on the highest priority items in order to increase productivity and output where it has the most meaningful impact.

When searching for the best job to support developer health, we recommend keeping an eye out for jobs that follow these people-first principles.

Note: for in-depth reading and resources on people-first characteristics, check out peoplefirstjobs.com.

Key Characteristics of a People-First Workplace

Asynchronous Communication

Across industries and company sizes, employees average eight meetings per week, and that number only grows as positions become more senior. Async communication challenges constant meetings and wasted time to create more efficient communication and work practices. Most importantly, it gives us the agency to work and respond to inquiries when it best suits our workflow.

In a people-first organization, live chat and urgent requests are the exception, not the norm. Work is planned and prioritized so that emergencies and blockers are rare, and we are prepared ahead of time with what we need to be our most productive.

Workaholic workplace example:
Danika is a senior developer working on an upcoming project. Her workflow is interrupted by two to three meetings per day, and she’s often scrambling between meetings to have an “update of her work” prepared for the next one. She also has to address urgent and unexpected requests that come in through Slack throughout the day.

People-first workplace example:
Danika has the agency to respond on her own time and not at the whims of her colleagues. Requests for updates on her progress are known in advance so she can plan time to work on these. She has the opportunity to share these updates asynchronously through Loom or messages. Her colleagues know who among them must review her updates and who is not required to review. There is also a known time frame in which updates are expected to be reviewed and feedback is provided. Regular updates do not require an urgent response. Emergencies are communicated separately. Danika works with the peace of mind that she can plan her work in a way that allows her uninterrupted heads down time without the fear of being reprimanded for missed messages. That agency extends to her colleagues as well.

Deep Work

Restful work is predicated on the unapologetic elimination of work that does not address our immediate and most purpose-driven goals. Refinement measures are taken to allow employees to focus on work uninterrupted.

The people-first organization promotes meaningful, focused work over busy work.

Workaholic workplace example:
Lewis accomplishes each of his tasks in tiny increments. He’s often distracted by constant notifications, meetings, or general interruptions, and finds himself struggling to return to a focused mindset. This leads him to feel constantly rushed to complete tasks, all while feeling stressed that he’s “falling behind” and not contributing anything that can “push the needle.”

People-first workplace example:
Lewis is encouraged to organize his schedule in a way that allows him focused time for deep work at times that are best for him. Lewis often finds that he is most productive on Mondays and Tuesdays, and he structures his week to include blocked, uninterrupted time on both days. This is further reinforced and supported by his organization, which asks employees to try and give their colleagues at least 24 hours to respond to messages.

Diverse and Inclusive

The people-first organization intentionally and transparently addresses its own biases and supports all employees. Every facet of the company, such as hiring, promotions, compensation, employee autonomy, recognition, and company culture, is analyzed to identify where genuine, non-performative inclusion can be strengthened.

The people-first organization promotes a culture that gives all employees the opportunity to contribute and participate equitably in the workplace.

Workaholic workplace example:
Mia works at a tech startup where her team is largely made up of a homogenous employee base. She’s constantly catching the inherent biases of her team reflected in product decisions and is worried that they’re designing a product that doesn’t consider, and can potentially harm, a diverse user base. When Mia attempts to voice her concerns, she is dismissed or intimidated from doing so by colleagues who are singularly focused on meeting deadlines, regardless of the cost.

People-first workplace example:
Mia works at a tech startup that understands that true diversity and inclusion require constant inspection of end-to-end processes and that this work is never done. Her company is still largely homogenous, but they are actively working to correct this by reevaluating hiring and promotion practices. Her team values her knowledge and opinions the same as they would anyone else. She feels comfortable sharing concerns that may not be immediately understood or obvious because she knows her colleagues will take the time to listen and honestly consider her perspective. She feels she is genuinely a part of her team instead of someone constantly trying to fit in.

Flexible Schedules

The world continues to turn between the hours of 9 and 5, and rigid schedules often add an additional stresser to employees when life suddenly happens during work hours. Emergencies happen. Daycares suddenly close for the day. Doctor’s appointments overlap during the workday. Life doesn’t stop for our work, and people-first organizations understand that.

In a people-first organization, employees have the agency to mold their schedule to accommodate and recognize the complexity and unpredictability of life. This allows them to work without the worry of failing to fulfill outside responsibilities.

Workaholic workplace example:
Sergio struggles to get started with work every morning. After dropping his daughter off at school, traffic always causes him to rush to his 9:00 am standup. Often, he arrives a few minutes late, and his boss continuously speaks to him about his tardiness. He’s asked if standup could be moved to 9:30 am, but his manager refuses since scrum dictates standup be first thing in the morning, and the rest of the team (none of whom have child drop-off duties) is there. Even when he’s on time to work, Sergio is so stressed about running late that it takes an hour or so to wind down, deeply impacting his ability to focus on his work.

People-first workplace example:
Sergio starts work around 9:10 am to 9:20 am every day after dropping his daughter off at school. He has time to settle in and organize a few things in his day before his team begins their 9:30 am standup. Standup was originally scheduled for 9:00 am, but after sharing with his boss and team that it was a struggle for him to make that time due to parenting responsibilities, they changed their recurring meeting to a time that worked well for everyone. After standup, Sergio begins his work for the day with a clear, calm, and focused mind.

Outcome Oriented

Efficient and productive teams focus on the outcome of work, not hours in a chair. The executive team has outlined clear and reasonable goals with measurable targets, each team has clear objectives for achieving those goals, and each team member is tasked with reasonable objectives. It is understood that objectives change, tasks pass or fail, and unexpected events occur. People-first companies are willing to make changes along the way.

The people-first organization has clearly outlined shared goals and objectives that are complete with reasonable targets and measurable results.

Workaholic workplace example:
Jade couldn’t tell you which of their main “goals” was the most important to their company. Their team worked towards different targets than another team with a similar intention, and they often found themselves competing for resources and trying to prove to leadership who was most effective. They work long, hard hours to get ahead and accomplish what they believe needs to be done, but they are not entirely sure that what they’re doing is correct or effective. Jade operates in a workplace filled with competition, suspicion, and low-trust relationships among colleagues.

People-first workplace example:
Jade and their team of developers feel confident that they are contributing to the overall goals of the company. When there isn’t enough time to complete all of the work requested, they know exactly which tasks to drop in order to focus on what the company needs most. They often share resources, collaborate with other teams, and spend time each quarter ensuring that each team is aligned on their overall goals. Jade pivots when necessary and trusts that their leadership team will agree with them on those decisions.

Professional Development

The people-first organization invests in helping its employees improve their skills and knowledge in the areas they are interested in. Expanding one’s knowledge base is always encouraged through a combination of internal resources, training, and external options (conference allowances, online courses, etc.).

The people-first organization invests in its employees and encourages and supports efforts to learn and improve through regular 1-on-1s, career planning, peer reviews, and structured feedback.

Workaholic workplace example:
Abbas felt like another cog in the machine — easily replaceable with no noticeable interest in his career outside of completing assigned tasks. If he slowed down or struggled, it didn’t matter; he had seen his colleagues quit and be replaced at the drop of a hat. He didn’t know how to grow his career from his current role, he just knew it wasn’t with this organization.

People-first workplace example:
In concert with his regular targets, Abbas had objectives focused on growing and improving his skills and career. His boss had an interest in Abbas’s aspirations and actively helped him achieve his goals. The skills Abbas developed improved the quality of his work while also preparing him for his next steps.

Remote Work

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to operating an organization. However, the willingness to incorporate unrestricted remote work showcases a willingness to put the needs of employees first. The key word is unrestricted — remote work with restrictions doesn’t solve the rigidity that the traditional in-person 9 to 5 offers; it just changes the types of problems.

The people-first organization understands that the work completed is more important than the location of the team doing the work.

Workaholic workplace example:
Following the reopening of her office post-lockdown, Serena and her team were required to work in-person at least two to three days per week. The only reasoning she was given for this mandate was that the CEO did not support long-term remote work and that their best work could only be completed in person. Her team often bargained with her to work days remotely that best suited them, and she spent considerable time explaining those decisions to her own superiors.

People-first workplace example:
Serena works for a remote-friendly company that is slowly transitioning to remote-first. They have an office — which her team uses for big project work a few days each month — but have communication tools and processes in place to accommodate someone working from anywhere in the world. Serena views the office as another tool for helping her team meet their goals, not a mandatory institution.

Sensible Hours

A healthy organization understands that time and energy are a limited resource. Employees need rest to do their best work and are actively encouraged to work between 32 and 40 hours per week. This isn’t just lip service — the 4-day/32-hour work week is in place to actively encourage healthier work boundaries, and the leadership team makes concentrated efforts to be great models of this behavior.

In a people-first organization, rest is built into the culture with employees and the leadership team leveraging appropriate scheduling boundaries.

Workaholic workplace example:
In his yearly review, Daniel was reprimanded for working less overtime despite regularly putting in 50 to 60-hour weeks. His colleagues constantly compete to see who can work the most, and he couldn’t tell you the last time he saw his boss take an actual lunch break. Last night he went to sleep in his work clothes so he could spend a little more time in bed in the morning. He can feel himself burning out, and he’s watching the mental health of his team deteriorate daily.

People-first workplace example:
Daniel is actively encouraged to stop working at 40 hours through realistic goals and metrics designed to fit within that time period. He knows that it’s okay if a task ends up taking longer. Items can be moved around to accommodate the company’s top priority, and neither he nor his colleagues are expected to work overtime regularly. His company is experimenting with the 4-day work week, and he can tell the difference when he starts work each Monday feeling more rested than ever before.

As you may have noticed, each people-first principle clearly overlaps. These principles complement one another to create restful work.