TM - October 2007 - (Page 36) recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning achieved an arbitrary level of success, and until then, it is all about struggle. There’s little room for personal satisfaction, much less a fulfilling life when the sole focus is on “making it.” • “My success is defined by my job title and how much I earn.” With this distorted thinking, the standards of success are placed squarely on the external environment, not on the individual, to define success on your own terms. Moreover, measuring success in terms of earning power is relative — there are always those who are making more, and the bar keeps getting raised. When is enough enough? • “When I attain the success I want, I will stop wanting more.” The individual who is in the grip of toxic success is hardwired to crave more and more. Any stepping back decreases the flow of adrenaline and precipitates very real anxiety for which the only fix is more adrenaline. The charged-up feeling becomes the background against which cravings must be satisfied. This is precisely why unstructured time is so unbearable for people who are under the effect of adrenaline. • “If I don’t stay on the fast track, I will be viewed as a nonplayer.” Fear of loss of livelihood permeates many of today’s organizations, particularly those whose landscapes have been littered with downsizings, restructurings, mergers and spinoffs. The distorted thinking here is that one has to overdo to maintain, much less get ahead. The Real Consequences of the Cul t of Productivity ing to making a life as 80-20. As a result of his heart attack, he said he was determined to make the ratio closer to 50-50. For a while, Howard followed his doctor’s orders and did manage to put some boundaries on his working hours. He felt better, he had a renewed sense of purpose and all seemed to be well. But when Howard began talking to others at work about his heart attack and his fears of losing it all because of his seriously out-of-balance life, the response was disturbingly unsupportive — his colleagues told him he was making too much of his heart attack and that he should stop worrying so much. Meanwhile, the work kept piling on. Before long, Howard was back to his old patterns, and his heart attack seemed like a distant memory. But like many people who remain in the grip of toxic success and a cult of productivity, Howard lost his sense of perspective. His formerly sharp business acumen dulled under the weight of chronic excessive fatigue, and he lost his edge in attaining increasingly demanding results for the business. He became less approachable, more cynical and less receptive to feedback from his direct reports. Eventually, management pushed him into early retirement. Creating Work Environments that Support Heal thy Success The personal consequences of the cult of productivity and toxic success are bad enough, but there are high-cost consequences for the organization. The costs might be extracted in many ways, typically in absenteeism, diminished productivity, dissatisfied customers, diminished employee morale and unwanted turnover, all of which affect the organization’s bottom line. What’s disquieting about this is that the organization might suffer the ill effects of widespread toxic success even as the organizational culture itself reinforces and maintains the very thing that could strangle its ability to maintain its competitive advantage. Consider the story of one corporate casualty. Howard, a vice president for a U.S.-based durable goods manufacturing company, was on a managerial visit to inspect the company’s newest facility in Asia, when he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to medical facilities in the host country, stabilized and then flown back to his home city in the United States, where his physicians took over his care. Fortunately for Howard, the heart attack was mild, and despite the frightening wake-up call, he suffered no permanent disability. Like many other executives in his company, Howard had a pattern of 14-hour days, including weekends and holidays. He described his ratio of making a livOctober 2007 It takes courage as a leader to step up and meet head-on the challenges of managing the cult of productivity. It’s not a popular position in many companies to openly question cultural norms that appear (at least on the surface) to support the organization’s competitive agenda. But it should be reassuring to those intrepid leaders who do take a stand to realize the strategies for supporting healthy success shown below can have near-term payback to both individuals and the organization. • Measure results, not face time. Make it clear people will be measured on the tangible results they are held accountable to deliver, not intangibles such as hours worked, problems analyzed, task forces staffed, etc. Then, align the metrics so you actually do measure what you expect. • Align individual strengths with job responsibilities. The plethora of evidence pointing to increased performance and personal satisfaction when people are allowed to play to their known and valued strengths creates a clear mandate for leaders to organize and align job responsibilities to what people are good at doing. This might entail re-examining the assumptions about job roles and how work is assigned, as well as putting in support mechanisms so people aren’t forced to produce extraordinary effort in weak areas. • Incorporate measures relating to effective self-management into performance appraisal. When people are expected to demonstrate mature self-management, and self-management behaviors are rated and rewarded, it’s a clear signal the culture won’t indulge the often out-of-control behav- 36 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com
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