Articles

These articles can be downloaded from this site, provided the reprint is for free distribution to the public or within an organisation, acknowledgement is made to the author, and a copy of such use is sent to the publisher. See our Reprint Policy for full information.

Workaholic or Work-enthusiastic

by Geof Cox Published in Management Scotland magazine, Issue 7, January 1997.

In a recent edition of Quality World, a magazine of the American Society for Quality Control, the editor commented on the habit of staff in a large number of companies working long hours. Assuming that these were all "quality" organisations, as they had achieved IS09DO2 status, or were pursuing long-standing Total Quality Management programmes, he was inclined to view these long hours in a positive rather than a negative light, He argued that in a quality Organisation that those working long hours were more likely to be an expression of work-enthusiasm rather than workaholism. In a quality organisation, staff members are in control of their own work practices and enjoy their work. They are committed to the organisation's goals and vision. And they are keen to improve and be productive.

I am afraid that I see a different world, at least on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I recall an apocryphal story about a manager who looked around her office and was pleased with what she saw. Her staff all seemed to have the same dedication and commitment to the organisation that she showed. They were always busy at their desks, even late into the night. whenever she left the office to go home, which was usually well after the official closing time her staff were usually still hard at work, and resisted her entreaties to finish and go home to their families. Her staff were truly loyal and committed.

One evening, after a particular long, period of late working for everyone - it was the annual budget time - she left the office somewhat earlier (i.e. not as late) than usual to attend a concert with her partner. Five minutes after leaving the office, she remembered that she had left her spectacles on her desk, and knowing that she would not be able to enjoy the concert without them, she returned to the office - to find it completely deserted.

Only five minutes before, all of her staff had been busy and looked to be set for yet another late night. How had they all managed to complete what they were doing within five minutes of her leaving? Not finding an immediate answer to her question, she proceeded to monitor what happened over the next week (being a good quality manager - collecting data before coming to a conclusion and making a decision). She left the office at different times each evening, and waited in her car a couple of streets away to observe what happened. Each time she left the office, all of her staff appeared to be very busy and set to carry on with their work for some hours, Yet every night, within five minutes of her leaving, everyone in the office had completed what they seemed so engrossed in and had gone home. The penny eventually dropped, and the manager realised that far from having a dedicated and committed staff, she had set a climate in the office where you didn't leave work before the boss.

I see the same pattern of behaviour in organisations large and small, in the public and private sector, in Scotland and elsewhere in Europe. The same scenario is enacted in one way or mother. On the surface we see dedication and commitment; the demand and challenge of the job; staff demonstrating their enthusiasm for the organisation's goals through hard work. The reality is that the behaviour i . a nothing less than fear. Fear of the boss. Fear of being considered disloyal. Fear of being seen to not care. Fear of being different.

In today's delayered, downsized and deregulated workplace people are increasingly feeling disempowered, disgruntled and depressed. They are showing signs of survivor sickness - "we have survived the last round of cuts and layoffs, but we may be next." Professor Cary Cooper of Manchester University in his studies of organisations that have recently undergone a redundancy programme, identifies staff exhibiting outward signs of being indispensable and loyal by working long hours, but not working effectively, and showing growing signs of stress, worry, health and family problems.

We do need not want workaholic people, we want work-enthusiastic people — but who work in an environment that has the right balance between work and private life. An environment that recognises that there is a fall off in the value added and quality of work when people get tired and stressed. An environment that limits working hours and insists that everyone takes their annual vacation entitlement. An environment that is not run on fear. An environment where managers (like the one in the story) recognise that their own behaviour (however unintentional) will have an effect on the behaviour of their staff. Then we will have a Quality working environment.

Return to Bibliography