Burnout, Employee Well-being, Recruiting
How you measure employee engagement can have profound consequences for well-being, according to new research.
Employees want their work to be meaningful, but can you have too much of a good thing?
Employees are two to six times more likely to stay with their organization long-term when they say their work is more than “just a job,” according to Great Place To Work® research. Meaningful work increases the likelihood that employees will have well-being.
Meaning, however, shouldn’t be mistaken for obsession with your work. Research has shown the importance of
In her view, these imprecise evaluations beg a question: “Are people just conflating extroversion with passion?”
When not trying to assess body language, some managers can resort to other markers that encourage damaging behavior.
Vough gives examples: “I’m willing to work really long hours. I’m willing to not necessarily get paid. I’m willing to make these sacrifices.”
Some managers even claim to be able to detect passion in an employee’s work product by looking at “a building or plan that somebody draws up and tell whether they’re passionate or not.”
The road to burnout
An overemphasis on passion can : harmonious and obsessive.
Obsessive passion, among other characteristics, is defined as an inability to step away from work and a rigidness in how work is pursued. Harmonious passion allows for more flexibility, where inspired employees can pursue areas of interest while maintaining other relationships and entertaining competing priorities.
Employers might value the passion of an employee, but the moment they demand it or incentivize it, they open the door to negative consequences.
Instead, employers should focus on creating high-trust workplaces where they harness workers’ harmonious passion, but refrain from putting pressure on workers to demonstrate their passion at every turn. Otherwise, you risk pushing talented, committed employees out of the organization — or even the industry.
“I had one architect in the first firm that I studied, who looked around at everybody and said, ‘They’re so passionate. I just wish I had that. I don’t have that.’” Vough shares. “And he was thinking about leaving architecture despite finishing school and everything because he just didn’t feel like he had the passion everybody did.”
In Vough’s opinion, those kinds of stories represent a loss for employers.
“That’s a pity to lose a very competent person because they look around and everybody’s doing this performance of passion,” she says.
Her advice: “Have more objective criteria.” Passion is a great thing for a workplace — but it’s not the only thing.
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