Many Organizations Actually Punish Employees for Taking Care of Themselves

I have written before about dysfunctional values and behaviors in organizational cultures, such as esteeming being busy over being productive or, relatedly, rewarding doing over thinking. Recent research from USC’s Marshall School of Business, reported in the  Harvard Business Review, reveals just how deep our dysfunction actually goes.

The researchers reported in the HBR that, “even when leaders recognized that detaching from work boosts employee well-being and improves job performance, they still penalized employees who engaged in these behaviors when they were up for a promotion or being considered for a new role. This is because these workers were seen as less committed than those who worked around the clock, even if their job performance during working hours was perceived to be higher than their ‘committed’ counterparts.” Read that again. Even when leaders understood that employee behaviors were better for the employee and the organization, and their performance exceeded that of colleagues, those same leaders’ biases were so deep, they still rewarded other employees who “appeared” to be more committed based on sacrificing work-life balance than the employees who were actually more effective and productive on the job!

How is this possible? As I’ve noted before, most managers and leaders, particularly those in senior roles, were “brought up” in organizational cultures in which regardless of espoused values, they observed what behaviors were rewarded, who got promoted, and what employees were held up as exemplars. As the researchers note, “We are trained, often unconsciously, to value visibility and responsiveness as a proxy for dedication. Employees who respond late at night or skip vacations are seen as “going the extra mile.” Meanwhile, those who protect their non-work hours are viewed as less passionate, less committed, and therefore less promotable, even when they are equally or more effective on the job.”

You can imagine how this dynamic feeds into burnout culture. Half-hearted statements and superficial commitment to supporting detachment from work do not align with what actually gets rewarded, resulting in employees not detaching from work while engendering cynicism as well. And guess who gets promoted into positions that then continue the dysfunction: Employees who are rewarded for being most visible, busy, and responsive even at night, on the weekend, or when on “vacation” (regardless of their actual performance).

At the Transformation Collaborative™, our leadership model is radically different than what has come before and radically different than what is described in the research reported in the HBR. We understand that to be effective in today’s hyper-change, volatile, and complex environment, leaders must drive success through others, building human capital as their primary competitive advantage. Leaders must model their own authenticity, vulnerability, and values, while honoring the humanity in those they lead. In such a context “work life balance” is a given and leader behaviors align with the stated values. Such leaders recognize that engaged employees are far more powerful and produce far better results than busy employees, and they focus their leadership on supporting that engagement. Our Leadership Discovery program teaches leaders how to move past anachronistic practices—that also burnout leaders—and shift to practices that rekindle one’s joy for leadership! It’s time to be part of the solution.