Let’s talk about Hustle Culture.
A term that experts say began to emerge in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entrepreneurial boom. Gaining prominence with the technology giants in Silicon Valley with the emergence of Google and Facebook, the idea of ‘Hustle Culture’ is now part of our daily lives. With an intense focus on work – often an all-consuming focus – the successes of Silicon Valley helped establish this is an enviable culture.
In recent years, hustle culture has become an increasingly popular buzzword. Hustle culture often glorifies the idea that employees should be constantly working hard, making substantial sacrifices in their personal life and wellbeing in pursuit of success.
In our recent blog about employees ‘Rejecting Hustle Culture’, we discussed how hustle culture – also known as burnout culture or grind culture, refers to a work environment where productivity, ambition and success are considered the only things that matter in life, and working to the bone and sacrificing your mental health are the positive signs that you’re getting closer to success.
But in recent times, particularly post-Covid, when people began to reassess the importance they place on work in their overall work-life balance, and now we’re seeing more and more employees rejecting this mentality.
They’re actively seeing a healthier balance between their work and life, and trying to carve out a more sustainable approach to their career.
Employees are increasingly recognizing the negative impact it’s having on their mental health, leading to increased burnout rates, stress, and anxiety in employees. Now, companies run the risk of losing top talent if they aren’t able to support this shift.
Paired with the rise of remote work and increased flexibility, people are consistently reassessing what it means to be ‘productive’, trading in the old idea of the daily grind, a 9-5 work day and hours lost each day commuting to the office.
So how can businesses support this shift – and their employees? We look at ways you can get ahead of the declining hustle culture curve.
Focus on outcomes, not hours to avoid overloading your teams
The idea of productivity is shifting from the idea that hours clocked in the office = a productive workforce. The ‘bums on seats’ mentality is on the way out. With increased flexibility, employees are able to work and deliver results when they’re at their most productive, not clock-watching until 5 pm rolls around.
It’s important you set clear, measurable goals that employees can work toward – allowing them to achieve realistic results.
We know it’s easier said than done in tough economic times when business can be tough and the importance of results is at an all-time high.
The same goes for overloading employees. While it may produce a temporary fix, is not a sustainable long-term solution. In fact, it’s likely to cause more headaches for you down the line as employees burnout, and ultimately, move on.
That’s why setting clear expectations is so vital. It ensures you’re not overburdening team members with additional workload, leading to increased stress and reduced productivity.
(Continue to) promote work-life balance
The importance of work-life balance for employees isn’t going anywhere. As a company, you should be continuing to find ways of promoting a healthier work-life balance to support your team.
Let’s work to drop the ‘always-on’ culture that hustle culture has emphasized. It’s vital that employees find that balance – and that companies actively promote it.
With most US workers only getting around ten days of paid vacation time, ensure your team is taking that time off, and more importantly, switching off when they do. You’ll find your employees are much more likely to come back after their vacation time refreshed and ready to go.
Encourage teams to take breaks
Encourage teams to take short breaks. Hustle culture says ‘work through lunch’. However, in a survey by Tork, 40% of North American employees say they only occasionally, rarely or never take breaks during their workday, with nearly a quarter (22%) feel guilty or judged when they step away from work midday.
So when the reality is that with 94% of employees saying they feel happier when they can take a lunch break, 94% saying it offers them a chance to step and back and get a fresh perspective and 88% of employees (and 91% of bosses) agreeing or strongly agreeing that taking a break is important maintaining mental focus, why are so few people doing so?
If you’re looking to avoid burnout in your employees, promote taking breaks, reduce – or eliminate scheduling meetings over lunch and encourage people to take a well-deserved step back.
After all, with more than 9 in 10 employees saying they are more likely to stay at a company where bosses encourage employees to take a break, it’s in your best interest in the long run.
Speaking of meetings…
Meetings can be stressful and overwhelming for employees. A weekly calendar packed full of meetings – of which, many are unnecessary – can be daunting for team members. It can also hinder productivity as employees spend all their days in meetings, but never get time to decompress or find the time to action things from their growing to-do lists.
We need to re-shift our approach to meetings. Make them focused, and productive, circulate an agenda ahead of time and when possible make them 30 minutes or less. Effectively raced through your agenda ahead of time? Give people time back in their day.
Reward and appreciate employees
It should be a no-brainer, right? Celebrate success and milestones and appreciate employees for delivering against goals. However, it’s often something that’s overlooked.
In a Gallup survey of more than 15,000 American workers, just 30% said they’d ‘received recognition or praise for doing good work’. Another survey by the HR software company Workhuman found that more than half of the workers they spoke to didn’t feel valued by their employer.
When staff turnover is at an all-time high, with 50.5 million people quitting their jobs in 2022, a little appreciation may go a long way for your team.
What does the future hold for hustle culture?
The rejection of hustle culture isn’t something that’s coming down the line, it’s already here. The rise of Bare Minimum Mondays and Quiet Quitting are just a few of the ways employees are striving to find a balance that helps them avoid the inevitable burnout associated with hustle culture.
As with many of these movements, there’s no silver bullet that works for every company. But as is so often the case, it’s deeply rooted in a company’s culture. It’s time to make changes – if you haven’t done so – to support your team, or you risk a much bigger problem down the line as top-talent moves on.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for help with your volume-hiring campaigns, we’d love to help. Chat with us here.
Read more: Read more about how employees are rejecting hustle culture