If you are being soft, you are just encouraging your team to adopt movements like Bare Minimum Monday, Try Less Tuesday, or Lazy Girl Jobs.
“Pausing? Breaks are for sissies!”
“Back in my day, we worked through lunch almost daily.”
“60 or 70-hour weeks were my standard hours for most of my career.”
“Work ethic has changed since I started working.”
Hold the phone!
NO ONE wants to hear that today. And no one wants to work with someone who doesn’t care, or someone that doesn’t give a #%$@.
Does it make sense to give people time to step away from their work to pause?
Unequivocally, yes.
Consider the alternatives – poor output, making mistakes, inefficiency, decreases in organizational or individual productivity, burnout, losing good people, treating customers, clients, or members poorly – all these situations can be avoided simply by knowing when it’s time to take a breath, a break, or a power pause.
According to a study by The American Institute of Stress, today’s workplaces are a significant source of stress and anxiety which causes employee dis-engagement, turnover, and absenteeism. Nearly 77% of workers in their research reported that work stress negatively affects their mental health and only one-third of employees are “engaged” at work, and high stress is a major culprit. Stressed employees are also more likely to quit; roughly 40% of employee turnover is attributed to job stress with even higher numbers for Gen Y and Gen Z. Nearly half of resignations might be prevented with a less stressful work environment.
The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) reported that workplace stress costs U.S. businesses up to $300 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, and healthcare costs.
A good leader should know how to help others manage stress and that it affects more people than they probably realize.
They should understand the costs of losing great employees and the costs to hire and onboard a new one.
They should do every reasonable thing to keep great employees.
They should have an understanding of EAP plans and how to counsel a team member who needs assistance.
Enabling poor performance shouldn’t be tolerated. Allowing people to barely get by without a conscientious work ethic helps no one.
Showing you care by giving a damn about their health and well-being during stressful times does matter.
