Workplace crushes, clocksuckers & what we're doing in bed
A round-up of the biggest stories in workplace culture
Just a brief newsletter this week, as I’m on a half work, half holiday trip, but some of the links were too good to sit on any longer.
‘At first it made work exhilarating, then it made work bearable, and life unbearable’ - half of us have an ‘office crush’
We’re in crisis, what shall we do? “It sounds like we need to work 6 days a week,” say Samsung bosses. I don’t understand this, longer isn’t by default better, it’s like thinking a 31 track album is better than a 10 track album
Employees just aren’t interested in non-monetary benefits at work 48% of HR directors say
60% of people say they are too busy to enjoy life. The World Health Organisation suggest that the amount of discretionary time we have at our disposal contributes to our stress levels
It’s not that Gen Z don’t like feedback, it’s just you need to think about how you give it:
“they want to be themselves at work, feel that their voice matters, and that their managers are empathetic and will invest in relationships with them. They also value context on why things should be done certain ways…Young workers say older generations are wrong to label them as lazy or soft. Instead, they just want to bring humanity back to the workplace.”
You might have heard that loneliness is bad for our health, but why is it? “Lonely people tend to view the world differently from those who aren’t” - leading to bigger stress responses to situations. This is a fascinating read including some intriguing details:
A brisk walk completely reversed low feelings created by loneliness
It is suggested that lonely people get “stuck in rumination” — a behaviour that exercise could jolt them out of
Did the Pandemic change our personalities asks the British Psychological Society. The article refers to waves of longitudinal studies that found while changes weren’t universal there was a small fall in levels of extraversion. On the subject of declining extraversion, this TikTok is amusing
One of the changes that the Pandemic did seem to bring about was that we’re all getting more sleep than in 2019: “Young adults, ages 25 to 34, have started to get much more sleep, with the gap between them and those younger than them narrowing”
People in routine and repetitive jobs found to have 31% greater risk of dementia in later life: mentally stimulating work helps stave off dementia
The great offshoring begins: Google announced it has started to move ‘core’ roles to Mexico and India
This week’s podcast marks the start a mini project that will unfold over the next few weeks - and I’ll talk about it more extensively then.
Today I chatted to Yale’s Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., we talk about the power of positive leadership, what leaders should be taught and about her new book, Sovereign. I strongly recommend Emma’s two articles about the power of positive leadership because they’ll give some context to the discussion.
Listen: Apple / Spotify / website
An enjoyable meander through much of interest, as always, thank you Bruce. I really wanted to read the Emma Seppala articles but am not an HBR subscriber and am coming up again a paywall, sadly.
I can look out for her work elsewhere, I am sure, so thank you for the signposting: leadership by the positive contagion model is my chosen way of operating, but I suspect that the honesty that goes with that also sometimes mean I share too freely my frustrations!
Great list of takes! The one on employee benefits really caught me and I realised the quote is a bit misleading. You give the impression that employees aren't interested in the non-monetary benefits implying that employees only want monetary benefits but the underlying article argues that employees are interested in non monetary benefits (which is consistent with research) but that companies aren't offering the right benefits or consulting employees about benefits.