Workaholics Are Bad for Business

For Americans, especially when you factor in the recent economic catastrophe, workaholism seems to be a badge of honor. Spending 14 hours at your desk subsisting on nothing but coffee and vending machine snacks with your eyes nearly bleeding trying to get the report done right before the deadline has become an accepted, if not encouraged mode of work.

You'll often hear the workaholic boast that they're "best under pressure" or "sleep is for the weak." Management contends that workers are lucky to have a job right now and that the workaholics are the dedicated, value added members of their team. It's a simple enough proposition, since measuring hours worked is probably the easiest metric around, but a growing bit of research contends that workaholism is actually counterproductive.

Fire the Workaholics

The boys at 37Signals.com have recently released a book based upon a completely different type of office space. "Yeah, my feeling is that the modern workplace is structured completely wrong." Says Fried in an interview with bigthink.com, "It's really optimized for interruptions. And interruptions are the enemy of work. They are the enemy of productivity, they are the enemy of creativity, they are the enemy of everything. But that's what the modern workplace is all about, it's interruptions."

Fried is absolutely right. When you can't think deliberately or be contemplative, the ideas you produce are rote. They're reactive and rarely are they the most elegant or efficient solution available to any given problem. While the solution may happen today, there's nothing to suggest that it's the best solution for the organization.

Shifting a workplace away from interruptions is a great way to begin to change the culture away from number of hours worked towards number of elegant solutions devised. Sheer number of hours does not produce the results an organization claims it is after.

Workplace Burnout

Forbes.com reports that up to 2/3 of American workers don't cash in their vacation hours for the year, opting to continue work to appear dedicated. A truly dedicated worker, on the other hand, would understand the regenerative and restorative benefits of those vacation hours. From the article:

"Vacations are underrated," agrees Joan Kane, a Manhattan psychologist who has worked as a therapist for 22 years. "People think they're fluff. I believe they're crucial." Beyond the obvious benefits of stress reduction, regeneration and rest, they satisfy a deep need to feel that you're in control of your own time. "On vacation you have no boss to satisfy," Kane observes. "You're not under constant surveillance."

More and more we're working harder for less and less. Working harder isn't how the car was invented. The Wright brothers didn't invent the airplane by sheer number of hourse. Cliché as it sounds, these inventions were built by working smarter, not harder.

In our economy today very few physical widgets are actually produced. The economy is based on services. Medical, legal, professional, food, etc. All service based. When people aren't at their best, which they certainly aren't when exhausted and burned out from this false badge of honor called "workaholic," they simply cannot perform at their best. As a result they falter and the organization at large falters.

Implementing the Ideas

In our own real estate business in San Diego we strive to embody this working smarter with restorative breaks philosophy. We work in 90 minute sprints without interruptions. With doors closed and phones turned off is when some of the best copy work or marketing ideas come about. While we may not be available 24/7 for our clients (as seems to be expected in this industry) we deliver far superior results. When I'm working on a particular client's file, that's what I'm doing. Not taking calls related to another client. You can bet you're getting my full attention when I'm working on your file.

It is imperative that the American economy move away from encouraging and rewarding sheer number of hours worked in the form of workaholism towards an economy and office environment that rewards contemplative workers. The simplest explanation, according to Okham, is usually the best. Eliminating work hours to allow people to live their lives is more than likely the fastest way to boost productivity and worker satisfaction. That's just good business for everyone.

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Sources:
http://bigthink.com/ideas/18522
http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/12/vacation-job-relaxation-leadership-careers-employees.html