Leaders have been Struggling to get their Workforces to become more Productive for years.
But is it really "that" Bad?
Well, when we look at the Data around this, it is Very Horrible.
According to the World Health Organization in 2022, Workforces lost 50 MILLION YEARS of Productivity due to poor work habits, stress, and Burnout.
Then, on top of this, despite Leaders Increasing Employee's Expected Work Hours, the average professional is only productive for 2.3 Hours per Day.
What does this actually mean though?
When you understand Human Psychophysiology, you begin to see, very clearly, what is happening and the Larger Impact that we are seeing in the Workforce.
When are Humans at their Absolute Most Productive?
It is in a Psychophysiological State known as Flow.
In Flow States, People are 5x More Productive than the "Average" Person Not In Flow.
Now, the Research that discovered this average came from a time "Before" Burnout became the Norm in our Workforce.
Why is Burnout Important for this Discussion on Productivity?
Well, Researchers have more or less determined that Burnout is the Opposite of Flow.
It's not "Exactly" True, but from a Productivity Specific Standpoint, it makes Perfect Sense.
Where Flow States make Humans More Productive, Research has shown that Burnout makes Humans Less Productive.
People in Burnout Can "Not" Achieve Flow States.
It is Simply Psychophysiology.
How Much Less Productive Is Someone in Burnout?
I've estimated in the past that it would make sense for the Drop to be About 80%.
According to the Data I was pretty close.
Right now, Productivity is down ≈ 75% of what it "Should" be based on the "Average" Person.
However, there is another Factor that is Necessary to Understand.
This ≈ 75% Drop has occurred with "Only" 80% of the Workforce in Burnout.
If it were to Increase, as the Trends are showing "Is" Occurring, that Productivity Drop would also continue to Plummet putting us very close to where I predicted.
So, if we say that a Person who is in Burnout is 75% Less Productive than the Average Person (Using the Lower Number for the Sake of Argument)...
How much "Less" Productive are they than their Potential Productivity in Flow States?
By doing some simple math here, we can Determine the Answer.
A Person in Burnout is at 25% Effectiveness (75% Less than the "Average").
In Flow, they are 500% Effective (5x the "Average").
This means a Person in Burnout has a 20x Loss of Potential Productivity.
Let me Rephrase That.
Employees in Burnout are Operating at "At Most" 1/20th of their Potential Productivity!
This becomes What it is so Important for Leaders to Understand!
Most Employees are Operating at "Dramatically" Less than what they are Capable of as Humans.
Many of these Decreases in Productivity due to Burnout are Caused by Leadership Decisions, as we have seen in the Leadership Decisions from Remote-Work Research.
These Issues have Caused Organizations around the World to lose 50 MILLION YEARS of Productivity.
What is Standing in the Way of Leaders Unlocking Employee's Potential, Where They Could Be Gaining 20 Times Productivity or More?
Burnout.
Now, what Causes Burnout?
When People Exceed their Stress Threshold (How much Stress they can handle at once aka Dis-Stress) for Extended Periods of Time, their Bodies begin to "Literally" Break Down.
When a Person's Body has Broken Down to a point where they Physically can No Longer Continue, this is what is known as Burnout.
It is also During this Dis-Stress that Work Habits often become their worst.
All of the Problems that the World Health Organization points to as Causing Loss in Productivity are derived from the "Same" Place.
These Problems are all Interrelated, what I would call a Stress Chain.
However, because these Problems have Persisted for So Long, it has Reached the End of the Road which is Burnout.
As Burnout is the Opposite of Flow States when it comes to Productivity, if you Do Not Fix Burnout, you will "Always" be at a Productivity Disadvantage as a Leader.
However, if you as a Leader Help your Workforce get "Out" of Burnout, you can set them up to get into Flow States.
When you get them into Flow States Consistently, your Workforce will Suddenly become 20x "More" Productive than Every Other Organization that is out there.
This also doesn't take into account what happens when you Successfully attain Group Flow.
If you think 20x Productivity is Amazing, Group Flow leads to "Exponential" Results in Comparison.
However, those Exponential Results are "Meaningless" unless you Fix Burnout First.
Now, there isn't any Research I am aware of (yet) around Group Burnout, but I would Imagine that just as Group Flow has Exponential Effects, so would Group Burnout.
We "Can" Anecdotally See in Organizations What Types of Exponential Negative Productivity Group Burnout Leads to.
Strikes, like what has simultaneously happened at about 30% of Amazon's US Warehouses.
Mass Quitting, as Grindr experienced when 45% of their Workforce Simultaneously Left.
All these Qualify for "Exponential Decreases" in Productivity due to Group Burnout.
So, the Solution you Need as a Leader is to Fix Group Burnout.
If you Fix Group Burnout, then you open the Potential for Flow States.
In Flow States, your Productivity Challenges will Disappear.
However, Fixing Group Burnout is "Not" Exactly Easy.
Last Month, I detailed how Most Programs are designed for "Burnout Prevention".
The Problem is that when you are already "In" Burnout it is Too Late for "Prevention" Programs.
You Need a Different Solution to Succeed as a Leader.
Specifically, you need a Stress Optimization Program (Via Breaking Stress Chains and Increasing Resilience via Targeted Eu-Stress) that also Fixes Stress Damage (via Ceruloplasmin).
Burnout itself is a Multi-Faceted Problem, and if you don't Fix the Multiple Simultaneous Problems, you'll end up back in Burnout "Very" Quickly.
Truly Fixing Burnout is a Challenge.
However, the Alternative of Allowing Burnout to Expand into Group Burnout is Much Worse.
If Group Burnout Remains, as a Leader you can Expect to Have a Completely Unproductive Workforce that Works at a Fraction of their Potential.