The more the brain is engaged in a specific task (even busy work), the less it can transcend the here and now.
Happy Wednesday, World!
I’m mixing up my writing between keeping it formal and informal – and today will be one of those more ‘formal’ days, but I promise you it’s equally exciting and a topic that draws from my personal experiences.
‘Busyness’ has become a status symbol. People consider those who exert high effort “morally admirable,” regardless of their output. SIGH.
Have you noticed recently when you ask people, “How are you doing” they often respond by saying ‘busy’ instead of telling you how they feel? I’m curious about how someone is feeling and care—a LOT.
The recent academic research is in from all the major universities across the globe that our days are becoming increasingly jam-packed. The reasons for the rise in “time poverty” (as social scientists have termed it) are numerous and nuanced. However, corporate cultures that value busyness are at least partially to blame – and, in theory, should also be easy to correct.
This got me thinking as most of the people I spend my day-to-day with work in corporate jobs. In the corporate world (without exception), everyone feels busy. The evidence shows that “time poverty” and stress are reducing firm productivity and leading to burnout, and many of the leaders are mistaking activity for achievement.
The Problem:
Predominantly in corporate cultures, everyone feels busy. “Time Poverty” and stress produce firm productivity and lead to burnout. (2022 World Health Organization)
The Causes:
Corporate cultures idolize busyness. Even as the long-term damage of busyness becomes clear, individuals continue to overwork because of an aversion to idleness mindlessly – it feels ‘good’ at the moment to be busy, and it fuels the needs of corporate leaders to justify their efforts.
Partial Solutions:
Leaders should conduct audits to see whether employees have time for ‘deep work.’ There is a need, especially after the pandemic, to check in with colleagues more and to truly mandate paid time off, offer incentives for output, model the right behaviors by disengaging from the busyness culture, and build slack into organizations to make them more resilient. As the sociologist Johnathan Gershuny notes, “Work, not leisure, is now the measure of dominant social status.” Sigh.
To be candid – busyness is not a virtue, and it is long overdue that corporations stop placing it in the highest regard. This obsession with busyness is what has led to ‘quiet quitting,’ which is causing even more significant issues for employers than imagined.
If we look at how busy employees are, we are not putting a value on two essential factors.
Creativity + Natural Talents
“When organizations overload employees, base their incentive primarily on the amount of time they work and excessively monitor their activities, productivity and efficiency drop. “(Sloan Management Business Review 2023.) To me, the fascinating value of this research was that reducing working hours to manageable levels can enhance productivity.
My sense is that managers are now more open to reconsidering the values of busyness than they have been in a long time. The effect on companies and their employees is significant. “The more organizations overload employees, base their incentives primarily on the amount of time they work, and excessively monitor their activities, productivity can increase turnover, at considerable costs to firms’ financial performances.” (Harvard Business Review)
The thinking behind busyness is that the harder you work to achieve something, the more value you will find. (Not always true.) BTW - this is a fancy way to describe “effort justification,” which is a tendency to push through even when a task is mundane and meaningless. (Boy, there are a lot of those in our day-to-day - but true must be done in a sense to keep the world and economy moving forward.
As an academic leader, I pose five solutions to organizations to rethink the value of busyness.
1.) Reward output, not just activity. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. As shocking as it may sound, though, paying people for effort can lead to more action rather than greater productivity. Shifting to performance-based pay can enhance worker productivity but comes with its own risks. At the same time - compensation programs will combine incentives based on both input (to encourage risk-taking and innovation) and output (to maximize overall productivity), and this already signals the message that you don’t value busyness alone.
2.) Assess whether your organization is generating deep work and eliminate low-value work. Companies need to rethink how they view “deep work” or sustained attention to cognitively demanding tasks. Most times, leaders give employees shallow work (data entry, nonessential meetings, expense reports), which impacts their ability to do deep work, but the hours get clocked in. It’s super counterproductive, and in the new digital/hybrid age of work, it’s completely unnecessary. Do audits – check in with employees about their deep work, get surveys in for the data, and trust your employees a little more.
3.) We have to force people off the clock. I’m grateful that at the university level, there is an emphasis on working the hours that you need – and then respecting your time when you are not in the office. Look at how in countries such as Iceland, France, and Belgium all believe the 4-day work week is here – and here to stay. (The UK, Scotland, Spain, and Wales are all close to implementation after successful trial periods to passing these new laws and regulations.) Companies with these new legislations in life have done significantly better than those who still believe in working people to the ground. As a huge #mental health advocate, I fully support the #4dayworkweek and think it would be the game-changer for organizations – especially in a country like the US where burnout and stress levels are reported to be over 65%. (Insane.)
4.) Model the right behavior. The message that companies value well-being over busyness will resonate with employees only if they see their bosses take time off. Remember, the boldest leaders aren’t those who burn the midnight oil; they are the norm by taking a pause.
5.) Build slack into the system.
As serial entrepreneur Seth Godin puts it, “Systems with slack are more resilient.” What does slack look like? (Enhanced resources, reallocation, and asking people what works for them. I’ve always said that this will come with a cost, but losing good employees or loyal customers because of a burdensome, overly busy work environment or slow service will be more costly.
This was a long one. I know. Think about it – and do not get caught up in the busyness loop.
Xoxo, Ms.K
留言