Many Business Leaders currently have Massive Productivity Challenges.
This isn't exactly anything "New" and in many ways has been something that Businesses have Always been trying to push for.
How do we get More Productivity?
The answer most Business Leaders give is "Just Work More".
If a Team isn't getting the Results Needed, just push them to Work More Hours.
There's been a Problem with this answer Leaders have been having recently.
Despite Pushing for More Hours, Productivity has not Increased with More Hours.
This has led some Leaders to make "Horrible" Business Decisions like "Mandate" Returning to the Office, even though the Research "Overwhelmingly" has shown this Decreases Productivity and Only makes Workplaces Worse.
Based on Simple Human Psychophysiology we "Know" Why Productivity is Low, "And" Why Returning to a Physical Office will "Only" make it worse.
Burnout.
It is that Simple.
Burnout has been shown to Reduce Productivity Potential in Humans to 5% or Less.
Burnout is also Impacting 80% of Employees, with More on the Way.
Of course, there are Productivity Challenges when 80% of your Workforce is only "Physically" Capable of working at 5% of their Productivity Potential due to Burnout.
The Solution to the Productivity Challenges is also Simple.
Fix Burnout.
But most Leaders are Still Reverting to an Old Solution that Has Continued to Fail - Add Hours.
Now, in the US, many Employees are Actively Fighting against their Leaders saying that This Does Not Work.
Employees are Refusing to Add More Hours when they are Already in Burnout.
This has led "Some" Shortsighted Leaders in the US to make Threats that Employees in "Other" Countries work Long Hours, so US Employees shouldn't put up such a Fight.
(Anytime a Person in a Position of Leadership must Resort to Threats, they have Lost their Right to Lead their Employees and Teams).
However, are Employees in other Countries "Better-Off" with working Hours?
Sometimes "Significantly" More Hours?
Does it End Up Creating More Problems for Businesses?
Well, recently there was a 26-Year-Old Old Girl in India named Anna Sebastian Perayil who was working at Ernst & Young (EY) India.
India is one of the countries "Most" often pointed at as being "Bastions" of Long Hours that Employees Work Regularly.
The International Labour Organization also states that Indians are some of the most Overworked and Underpaid Employees in the World.
According to colleagues of Perayil, it is "Expected" to work 12 Hours a Day during the Non-Busy Season, and 16 Hours a Day in the Busy Season.
7 Days a Week.
365 Days a Year.
They Do Not have "Any" Days Off.
Not Even on the "Annually Announced Day Off to Rejuvenate Employees" do Employees have Off.
The Consequences?
For 26-Year-Old Anna Sebastian Perayil...
Death.
Only 4 Months into her Job.
Doctors reported that it was due to Work-Related Stress.
No One Should Have to Die Doing Work.
This does Not only happen in India.
In some Countries, they have Created Words for "Death from Being Overworked".
In Japan, they call it Karōshi.
In China, they call it Guòláosǐ.
In South Korea, they call it Gwarosa.
Burnout is simply the "Final" Stage before Death by Overwork.
In many of these Countries, they work these types of Hours because they "Must" to Survive due to being Underpaid.
No One Works like this because they "Choose" to.
No One wants to be Worked to "Literal" Death like a Slave.
US Employees are Not Fighting Against Being Treated Like This because of "Any" of the Reasons Leaders are Giving.
US Employees are Fighting Against being Treated Like This because it is a "Literal" Matter of Survival, and the US is one of the Places where Employees Actually "Have" Rights.
Burnout is a Cause of "Many" Health Diseases, Up-To Death.
High-Blood Pressure.
Heart Disease.
Type-2 Diabetes.
Respiratory Problems.
Gastrointestinal Problems.
Muscle Pain.
Decreased Immunity.
Depression.
Anxiety.
Insomnia.
Death.
This is only a Handful of Problems that Burnout Causes.
What makes this Truly Sad is that Leaders are doing the "Exact" Opposite Actions Needed to Fix the Burnout Problem.
By Adding Work-Hours (Often On "Top" of Already Overworked Employees), they are making Employees Burnout Faster.
This Means "More" Employees are having their Productivity Potential (aka Their "Max" Potential due to Psychophysiological Limits) Reduced to 5% or Less.
However, if Leaders "Fixed" the Burnout Problem, they could get a 20x Boost in Productivity from their Employees.
Plus, there would be So Much in Business Savings due to Improved Health across Employees.
The Reality is that All Flourishing is Mutual.
When Employees are Not Flourishing, Businesses are Not Flourishing.
When Employees are in Burnout, it is like a Sickness that is Spreading Slowly in a Business, like Cancer.
Perhaps the Business does not Perish Today, but as the Cancer Spreads, it reaches a Catastrophic Point of No Return.
The Business "Will" Perish.
It is not a Matter of "If", only a Matter of "When".
The Reality is that Many Businesses are "Already" Past the Point of No Return.
The Resulting Carnage will be Catastrophic.
Employees are "Seeing" the Fruit of these Businesses, and it is Withered and Poisoned.
So Employees are Fighting for their Lives.
But it Does Not "Have" to be this Way.
The Truth is that our Goals Coincide.
Employees want to be Healthy, and Honestly "Want" to do Great Work in the World.
Leaders "Want" Businesses to be Successful.
They "Want" Productivity, Innovation, and Profits to Increase.
Everyone "Wants" to have a Better Workplace.
These are Not Separate Goals, and the Solution is Fixing Burnout.
This is Why Leaders must Design a Regenerative Legacy.
It is the Solution to "All" of their Problems.
It also Ensures that No One Ever has to Die from being Overworked Again.
Anna Sebastian Perayil should Never have Died from Overwork.
No One, especially someone as young as 26, should Die from Work.
Leaders Must Stop Contributing to this Sickness.
Leaders Must Stop the Spread of this Cancerous Burnout.
The Leaders who Design the Future will be the Ones who have a Healthy Business, Healthy Employees, and Healthy Customers.
The Leaders who Design a Regenerative Legacy will become the Future.