Your Staff is Not Lazy They Are Exhausted.

The most dramatic event of the American Civil War was called Picket's Charge. During the third and final day of the battle of Gettysburg, fifteen thousand rebel troops attempted to overrun gun positions in the Union lines. The Union greeted the assault with a hailstorm of lead and steel. When it was over, six thousand rebel troops were killed or wounded. The survivors of the attack shambled back to Confederate lines, and General Picket, exhausted and injured, told Robert E. Lee, "I have no division now." Robert E. Lee had pushed his luck and men as far as possible. The confederacy would never invade the North again and be slowly crushed by Union forces until the eventual surrender at Appomattox two years later. Business leaders can learn plenty of wisdom from the story of Picket's charge. 

It is no secret that employee productivity numbers have fallen. The trend began after the subprime mortgage crisis and has continued uninterrupted since. I have some suspicions about why this is happening. First, the increase in inequality in the workplace means that workers have less incentive to be more productive because they are not sharing the benefits of the growing economy. Next, the push for economic efficiency and maximization of shareholder value is cutting staffing to unsustainable levels. Often one or two people are responsible for doing the work of five or six. Naturally, the result will not get done conscientiously, and the people doing it will not approach it with any sense of craftsmanship. Finally, business leaders straining to accommodate the shifting demands of the global economy are attempting to force change through organizations they created to resist change, causing exhaustion in the workforce. They are like Robert E. Lee pushing their people too far. 

These three trends are why there is such a substantial decline in productivity. We can fight it, but it will take years of effort and a paradigm shift in business leadership. First, we need to be more generous with how we compensate employees. Everyone who manufactures or provides services to others should be able to afford these same products and services. Walmart using the food-stamp system to help their employees eat is madness. Next, businesses need to improve the resiliency of their organizations so they can respond to changes. Finally, business leaders must embrace agile reformation because rigid organizations are less likely to survive. It means pushing decision-making down to the people who get the work done and allowing more flexibility to address problems rather than via a bureaucratic process. 

By doing these three things, we will see improvements in employee productivity and better customer satisfaction. Profits will increase accordingly; otherwise, we will exhaust ourselves just like Picket did during his charge. 

Until next time.