Proof Positive Work Cultures are More Productive Says HBR
This Harvard Business Review Article mixes some scary stats – health care expenditure is 50% higher in ‘high stress’ businesses etc – with some useful thoughts on what a healthy culture is and what you can do to foster one in your own business. “Proof Positive Work Cultures are More Productive” says HBR missing a very significant point.
A lot of companies don’t care very much. Do you?
“Too many companies bet on having a cut-throat, high-pressure, take-no-prisoners culture to drive their financial success.
“Although there’s an assumption that stress and pressure push employees to perform more, better, and faster, what cutthroat organizations fail to recognize is the hidden costs incurred.”
In reality, this is only true for a certain type of company, the type that wants to be around for a long time. The ugly truth about many businesses is that they aren’t that interested in the long term health and welfare of their employees – Uber gets tons of job applications from people who are willing to work 100+ hours a week. They can recruit ‘the best talent’ if it doesn’t deliver, there are plenty more people to choose from. The money and the upside potential is giant. But it won’t deliver for most and people will be spat out if they don’t deliver.
- It only matters if you want to build a business that will be there for the long term.
- What sort of business do you want to work for? What sort of business do you want to build?
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