We often find people complaining about their 80 hours of work a week, demanding bosses, and competitive jobs. What employers don’t realise, however, is that this phenomenon of overworking may hurt their profits and their employees. In fact, it may lower productivity in a firm and increase costs of production – both changes undesirable for any profit maximising firm.
Managers across companies expect their employees to revert to their messages immediately and give up any free time or life they may have of their own. Excessive work like this may lead to employees losing their motivation, which would, directly and indirectly, affect the firm’s products or services.
There is a psychological aspect to overworking too, where an employee’s ambition and motivation drives them to put in extra effort into their job. While some may be intrinsically motivated by their pride in their work or in the sheer joy they experience while working, others would be extrinsically motivated, where a promotion or a bonus drives them to boost their career. An office may even be a safe place for one, and they choose to spend more time there, especially if they have unstable or unfavourable home conditions.
Burnout is becoming more and more common as we enter the phase of the world where everyone wants to be the very best. Harvard Business Review, in fact, shared that burned out employees across the United States spend approximately $150 billion annually on healthcare and well-being.
As mentioned earlier, overworking can affect different aspects of the business, with the primary impact on productivity. When employees are unable to maximise efficiency and utility of resources in the firm yet are paid for overtime or inefficient work, that hinders the firm’s work. Moreover, an employee working excessively would not be able to retain quality to the best during the entire tenure of the week, so there may be a substantial deterioration in the product’s quality. These factors would directly harm the growth and reputation of the firm, and employees lose their sense of belonging and motivation to work.
Employers and managers can look out for signs of burnout and aim to reduce it before it gets to a position of harm for the worker and the company. Overworked employees may not be present all the time, may perform more poorly than before, have outbursts more often, and pass comments on how their ‘entire life is work.’ These one-line humorous yet sarcastic comments may reveal how an employee feels about their work. Heads of companies must ensure that they look out for their employees and foster a sense of belonging. Setting clear goals, motivating employees, encouraging stress-relief breaks, or having an in-office therapist are just a few of how managers can positively improve their office. Once these measures are taken, they can achieve a much safer work environment with fewer mental health risks!
