Workaholics: Wonderful Employees or Weak Links?
The workaholic phenomenon is global: in the U.S., people are putting in 20% more work hours than they did in 1970. Statistics Canada reported in 2009 that one-third of Canadians considered themselves workaholics. In the Netherlands, 3% of the population reports suffering from “leisure sickness”, where workers actually become physically ill on weekends and vacations when they stop working and try – in vain – to relax. The Japanese even have a name for it: karoshi, which means “death by overwork”. Here’s why workaholism doesn’t work – and how you can help employees caught in the workaholic trap.
The Dangers:
Karoshi is right – workaholism is estimated to cause 1,000 deaths per year in Japan. Other health hazards include vision impairment and headaches from too much computer screen time, and depression when the frantic efforts of office eager beavers fail to meet standards.
That brings us to the productivity paradox – despite the huge number of hours they log, often at the expense of their health and relationships, workaholics are frequently ineffective employees. Taking on too much can equal disorganization and sloppy work, while underlying perfectionism issues can make for a poor team player who cannot delegate or trust coworkers.
The drudge factor also comes into play – even workaholics who like what they do will eventually burn out. Losing the “fun factor” can result in less-inspired, less-imaginative work.
How to help:
According to Psychology Today, there are four distinct workaholic “styles”: The bulimic workaholic is a perfectionist. Fear of failure keeps them from starting on projects, resulting in “binges” of frantic, exhausting effort to meet deadlines. These employees need to be encouraged to set a reasonable timetable – and stick to it.
The “adrenaline junkie” workaholic, takes on more work than can possibly be done – and ends up juggling too many balls. You can help by regulating their workload, and encouraging delegation.
The ADD workaholic often enjoys the brainstorming part of a project and begins with a fury, but becomes bored by details and fails to follow through. This type of employee may benefit from having a work partner, particularly someone who is weaker in idea generation but strong in attention to detail.
Finally, savoring workaholics are methodical and scrupulous to the point of overkill. Because of their micromanagement tendencies, they tend to miss deadlines, be possessive of projects and not work well with others. You can help by breaking projects into smaller pieces, and assigning them work where their excessive attention to quality and detail are essential.
The next time you’re interviewing a job applicant, and they reply “I’m a workaholic” when you ask about their biggest weakness, consider being dismayed instead of delighted. You want someone who works smarter, not harder – and no one does that better than the technology employment specialists at Triumph Services. For more helpful strategies on hiring and managing your IT workforce, contact us today!
