These past few weeks, I have been working with a number of EXCO teams in financial services where discussions of people being stretched, stressed and overwhelmed have come up again and again. In many cases, people are possibly heading for burnout. I had one leader, who does lead a balanced life, say that he’d like to make it right to the top. But he is not prepared for it to cost him his life and from what he sees – and is being told – it is the price he’ll need to pay. He stayed after a workshop to chat with me in private about his dilemma and he asked, “Sharon, do you really think there is another way?” I sure do! And he is the type of CEO we need to show the way. We need leaders who model positive work behaviours.
When this HBR article came across my desk the same day I chatted to this exec, it felt like a sign that I needed to share the article with you (the link is in the comments below) and speak out loudly that we all need to STOP the culture of overwork. The advice in the article really resonates, and the depth of the problem is real. Workaholics Anonymous laments that work addiction is the only addiction that is “both socially sanctioned and financially rewarded.”
The article urges us to recognise overwork as a systemic issue rather than an individual problem and foster an environment that values quality of work over sheer hours spent. Leaders need to realise that long work hours are associated with higher rates of burnout, unnecessary errors, accidents, fuzzy thinking, presenteeism, ill health and even shorter lifespans. There’s a financial toll as well: Stress from these hours can lead to disengagement that Gallup estimates costs $8.9 trillion in lost GDP around the globe every year. It’s a systemic problem that we all need to address.
In summary, here are the five powerful Key Steps HBR discusses in-depth and recommends that we take to…
‘be the difference that makes the difference.’
- Leaders, shift your mindset
- Get work processes right
- Right size the workforce and workloads
- Craft a productivity and well-being culture
- Be willing to experiment
How can you STOP OVERWORK and be part of the solution?
