What Do We Mean When We Talk About DotActiv’s Work Hours?

Working in a fast-paced environment comes with many challenges, and completing your day without working overtime or assisting members is difficult. We get it! Thats why at DotActiv, we strive to live by an important motto: Work smarter, not harder. It’s a key element to the longevity of our business and ensures our colleagues have a healthy work-life balance. But what do we mean when we say this?

Also, what are DotActiv's usual working hours? Do we expect you to work overtime? And if yes, how often do we expect you to work past your regular hours? We answer these questions and more in this article and unpack what we mean when we talk about DotActiv’s work hours.

What are DotActiv's usual work hours?

According to the labor law of South Africa, an employee may not work more than 45 hours per week when contracted on a full-time employment basis. For DotActiv, that is more than enough time for us to make an impact and deliver results for our clients.

So how do we use these 45 hours each week?

We have differing core working hours which are dependent on time zones, the working hours of our clients or the nature of the work we complete.

Are you interested in working in a fast-paced industry but for a team where everyone looks out for each other? We want to hear from you! Browse our open positions here.

Currently, DotActiv has four different working hour standards:

• 6:30am to 3:30pm

• 7:00am to 4:00pm

• 8:00am to 5:00pm

• 5:00pm to 02:00am

The above hours are applied from Monday to Thursday for various teams. On Fridays we like our teams to get a head start on their weekends by ending an hour early. 

For example, if you usually work 6:30am to 3:30pm, you would work until 2:30pm on Fridays. If you work from 7am to 4pm from Monday to Thursday, on Friday, you would end work at 3pm. Likewise, if you usually finish work at 5pm, you can knock off at 4pm every Friday.

Those are our standard working hours. But what about our main principle of working smarter, not harder? What do we mean by it? More importantly, how can we fully embrace it? Here are our top tips:

• The early bird catches the worm

Get up early and view your daily planning to see if you are on schedule for the day.

• Take that coffee/tea break

We work with people, not robots. That means taking care of your health, taking short breaks between work and allowing yourself to reflect and rearrange or prioritise your workload if needed. The last thing we want is for you to burn out.

• Using company resources efficiently

DotActiv is in a fortunate position to provide you with the amazing software for you to optimise and strategise your day. We encourage you to use what is available. That means that we should also always be on the lookout for ways in which we can improve our resources so that we not only stay relevant but also efficient.

• Avoid a clock-watching mindset; instead measure your progress

We know the working day can get long and exhausting. That is why we try to keep our colleagues as engaged as possible throughout the day. We also log and assign tasks with reasonable deadlines to help you prioritise your daily tasks.

• Do not be afraid to delegate or ask for help

One of the keys to working smarter and not harder is to understand how to delegate. Why? If you know how to delegate work, you can be more productive. Of course, we are not saying you should give your work to others. Instead, its about collaborating to get work done on time. And if you are unsure about anything we have plenty of friendly colleagues happy to help or answer questions along the way.

• Focus on high-impact tasks

Many of us tend to create to-do lists that seem to be never ending. There is nothing wrong with that. However, instead of trying to accomplish everything or get that list ticked off, rather focus on tasks that will have the most significant impact. 

Work smarter by concentrating on the most critical aspects of your job performance and DotActiv's long-term success.

Are you expected to work overtime at DotActiv?

Now that we have unpacked DotActiv's working hours and provided you with a few tips on how to manage your time during the week, the next question is around overtime. 

Does DotActiv expect you to work overtime?

Let us first unpack what working overtime means with regards to the law.

According to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, all hours worked in excess of your usual daily or weekly work hours are regarded as overtime. 

At DotActiv, working overtime is definitely not the norm. We don’t expect you to work past your standard work hours and we want you to have a healthy work-life balance. However, it is critical to point out that when the chips are down - when we need to complete work on a tight deadline - we do expect you to help to get the work completed as soon as possible. 

This is about everyone helping everyone. It’s about collaborating to ensure that we can deliver the best possible service.

It is also worth pointing out that while we do not encourage working overtime, we do appreciate it when you go above and beyond for a client to meet a specific deadline. As long as it doesn’t become the norm. We commend our colleagues for stepping up, assisting where and when they can and pulling together to complete a project. 

We’ve even built it into our values. At DotActiv, we strive to get things done first time and on time every time. When we need to get things done, we need our team members to be onboard and ready to jump in to assist.

Do you want to work for a company where everyone supports, celebrates and encourages you to grow? We want to hear from you yesterday! Browse our open positions here.

When you make working over time the norm you might begin to experience long-term side effects such as:

• You can suffer from burnout, fatigue and loss of sleep

Sleep is essential to function properly during your working day. Studies show that deep sleep can rewire the brain to be less stressed and anxious. When you work for long hours, it is likely that it will squeeze your sleep time. Even after going to bed, you might face difficulty falling asleep. Whats the result? You might become more irritable and tired than usual the next day.

• Your stress levels will increase

We all know what stress can do to you and that it is bad enough by itself. But it is also a common culprit for several diseases and illnesses, including diabetes, depression, high blood pressure and more. Of course, stress is inevitable. However, there is no need to put yourself in situations where you elevate it unnecessarily.

• Your personal relationships might suffer

If you have a full-time job, it’s true that it can (and does) take up a good chunk of your time each day. However, what’s not right is when it takes up too much of your time. Remember, we’re all about work-life balance. 

If you spend most of your day at work, you family and friends will feel deprived of your presence, love and affection. And often work-related frustration can spill over to your loved ones, adding strain to your relationships.

Conclusion

It is important to work the contracted hours assigned to you as it will not only contribute to the success of the company, but also add to the success and wellbeing of your future. At DotActiv, we’re committed to that - while we want to strive to be a world-class business, we can’t hope to achieve success without first looking after our people.

Are you interested in joining the DotActiv and providing category management solutions to retailers and suppliers from across the world? We’d love to hear from you. You can read up about DotActiv, what we stand for and how we operate here or browse through our open positions here.