Are You Killing Off Your Best and Brightest Employees?

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One of the most common frustrations I hear from high-achievers is that there aren't enough hours in a day to get things done. Just when they feel like they're close to completing a task, their boss throws more into their in-box, making it seem like no matter how hard or long they work, the "to-do pile" never goes down. Moreover, the ease of sending digital "communications" 24/7 is a major contributing factor, exposing workers to an unpredictable inflow of information that many feel they have to respond to even when they're "off work."

This constant barrage of seemingly endless expectations from employers often results in workers who feel overwhelmed, depleted, and hopeless to effectuate a positive change. This aligns with the most recent results of the American Psychological Association's Stress in America poll (2022), which revealed that work is one of the most significant sources of stress for a majority of Americans, and one that carries over to negatively affect almost all other aspects of their lives. In fact, more than a quarter of adults in the poll reported feeling so stressed most days that they simply couldn't "function" (APA, 2022).

Obviously, this type of intense and ongoing stress is unsustainable. It drains a person's energy and agility, diminishes their creativity and engagement, and decreases performance and productivity. This isn't good for employees, nor is it good for employers who, without proactive intervention, risk losing their best and brightest workers to burnout. But what can employers do to most effectively combat the epidemic of stress that seems to be running rampant in American workplaces and burning out their best and brightest employees?

For two decades now, Tony Schwartz and his team at The Energy Project have worked to answer this question. Partnering with Harvard Business Law Review, they surveyed more than 20,000 employees across a broad range of industries to better understand what most influenced worker engagement and productivity. They discovered that workers were significantly more satisfied and productive when their work environment met four core needs: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

• Physical needs can be met by companies who offer workers regular opportunities to renew and recharge at work. The Energy Project survey discovered that workers who take a break every 90 minutes reported a 30 percent higher level of focus than workers who took one or no breaks during the workday. They also discovered close to 50 percent greater creative thinking capacity and a 46 percent higher level of health and well-being among employees who are given regular breaks.
• The more hours worked beyond 40 per week, the worse workers reported feeling and the less engaged they felt. In addition to regular breaks, providing employees with wellness programs, nap rooms, and healthy food options also appear to fuel worker productivity and enhance their sense of engagement.
• Emotional needs can be met when workers feel valued and appreciated for their contributions and performance. The Energy Project survey revealed that "feeling cared for by one’s supervisor has a more significant impact on people’s sense of trust and safety than any other behavior by a leader." In addition, workers who perceive their employers and supervisors as being supportive were found to be 67 percent more engaged and 1.3 times more likely to remain with the company.
• Mental needs can be met by providing workers with opportunities to focus in an absorbed way on their most important tasks and define when and where they get their work done. Only 20 percent of survey respondents said they were able/allowed to focus on one task at a time at work, but those who could were 50 percent more engaged.
• Only one-third of respondents said they were able to effectively prioritize their tasks, but those who did were 1.6 times better able to focus on one thing at a time. In addition, employees who were given more flexibility about when and where they worked were significantly more engaged and productive.
• Spiritual needs are met when workers are encouraged and allowed to do more of what they excel at and enjoy most, and when they feel connected to their company's mission. In fact, when employees experience meaning and significance from their work and feel that their work accomplishes a higher purpose, they are more than three times as likely to stay with their companies. They also report 1.7 times higher job satisfaction and were 1.4 times more engaged at work.

(For full survey results, see Reinventing the Workplace: Meeting People’s Four Core Needs - The Energy Project).

Meeting any of these core needs is better than meeting none, but employers that prioritize providing all four core needs to their employees are likely to reap a wealth of benefits. These benefits come not only in the form of decreased employee stress and lower turn-over rates, but also increased employee productivity, engagement, work quality, energy, loyalty, and job satisfaction.

Finally, the benefits appear to trickle from the top down. As Schwartz and Porath (2014) write, "The energy of leaders is, for better or worse, contagious. When leaders explicitly encourage employees to work in more sustainable ways — and especially when they themselves model a sustainable way of working — their employees are 55 percent more engaged, 53 percent more focused, and more likely to stay at the company ...." In other words, lead by example.

The bottom line, both literally and figuratively, is ... if you value the overall well-being of your employees and the well-being of your business, invest in both by being a "do-as-I-do" leader and incorporate these four core needs into your business model. It's likely to be a win-win strategy for everyone involved.