HR Trends
Chill at Work!
Now it is proven again!! Take it easy and chill at work – it increases your chances for a promotion - if you can differentiate between hard work and good outcome.
Dr. Argyro Avgoustaki at ESCP Europe Business School has examined the effect on increased work effort on well-being and career related outcomes from 52.000 employees in Europe and came to the conclusion that employees, who take it easy in the job are luckier, more healthy and have better possibilities to get promoted. Increased work effort is related to strongly reduced well-being and only modestly to intermediate career related outcomes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIA22O538Zk
So… here we go again: The guy in the forest, who takes regular brakes and sharpens his saw has the best chance to win the competition against the guy who works hard without brake with a blunt saw. The right outcome is about avoiding the stress trap and to focus on doing the right thing.
It sounds easy…… yes I know… but the essential question should be: How do we know that we do the right thing? Even advices like “focus on doing the 20 % that bring you 80% forward” does not help very much if still, the main challenge is to define the 20%!
To avoid the stress trap and to define the right thing, one could consider the following steps:
- The right thing is the outcome that brings you closer to your target. Don’t forget to define objectives both for your professional and your private life. Make an objective for 5 years and brake the goal down to 2 years, 1 year 1 month, 1 week, 1 day
- The right thing is linked to the limits you have decided for your well-being. If you know that you need 8 h sleep to be fit for work, it is a minimum. If you know that you only should smoke 1 cigarette/day it is your maximum.
- The right thing is communicated and agreed upon with your colleagues and with your family and other friends who are important for you. This is to avoid and foresee conflicts. Ask for feedback, discuss and find solutions together. Perhaps you need to adjust your minimum and maximum.
- The right thing is good enough for the moment but can always be improved. Make a weekly review on the outcome, adjust and take action again.