Doing More with Less

by Tracy Thurkow, Ph.D.
Continuous Learning Group

In recent times, the working world is about “and” rather than “either/or.” It’s a world in which a leader’s top three-to-five priorities really number more like six-to-eight. It’s a world in which employees see their co-workers lose jobs and then pick up their responsibilities because the work still needs to be done. It’s a world in which the office follows us home on weekends and on vacations by e-mail, cell phone, pager, and BlackBerry™.

Consider these statistics:

• Since 2002, American industries have seen an increase in revenue approaching 15%. However, new jobs haven’t been created; in fact, 2.8 million jobs have been lost since 2000.
• According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average middle-income married couple with children is now working 660 hours more per year than 25 years ago—the equivalent of more than 16 extra weeks of full-time work.
• Americans hand back to employers more than $21 billion in unused vacation hours, according to a recent survey by Expedia.com.

What does all of this mean? It means that people are doing more with less. And they are feeling it. According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, one-third of workers say they are dissatisfied with their work-life balance. Sixty-eight percent of workers report feeling burnout at work.

Today’s leaders should be concerned about these issues of work-life balance for many reasons. We are being warned about the soaring medical costs associated with job stress, and Joe Robinson of Work to Live puts the number at $150 billion a year. We are also facing significant threat to retention. It’s no secret that corporate America is headed toward a talent shortage, particularly a leadership shortage. A survey of large companies by RHR Associates found that half of the respondents expected to lose more than half of their current senior management team by 2010. Companies can ill-afford to lose talented people as a result of their inability or unwillingness to sustain the loads they are currently carrying.

According to the 2003 Towers Perrin Talent Report, employees today are willing to sacrifice now in order to help their companies through this economic down-cycle, but they are also frustrated. While employees are grateful for their jobs and, in large part, care about the future of their companies, they are dissatisfied with their overwhelming workloads, the failure of senior leadership to provide a clear path toward success, and the lack of developmental opportunities. When economic conditions ease and people have more employment choices, the companies that best address these concerns are most likely to retain and attract key talent.

Many leaders today recognize that there is no time more critical for strong leadership than now, when it comes to retaining key people. Many of these same leaders are hungry for advice about what to do, particularly since they are also dealing with overwhelming workloads and competing demands. Survey after survey tells us that two of the most important motivators for people at work are being recognized for their contributions and feeling a personal connection with their boss and their colleagues.

Fortunately, Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) can provide leaders with tools they need to lead through these times. Below are three points of advice about how to apply a few OBM principles to today’s leadership challenges. They appear relatively simple, but in reality, they demand discipline and focus.

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