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Cultivate a High-Energy Workforce

Cultivate a High-Energy Workforce
by Arlene S. Hirsch, M.A., LCPC

4 kinds of energy refuel and recharge employees for better performance

The U.S. workforce is rapidly being drained of energy. The 40-hour workweek is disappearing. Today, adults who work full time log an average of 47 hours a week, which equates to working nearly six days a week. Sixty-hour workweeks are not uncommon.

Blame it on globalization, the digital economy, a 24/7 mentality or any among a host of other reasons, but the result is the same.

"We have a human energy crisis that leads to fatigue, disengagement, judgment errors and stress," said Jack Groppel, Ph.D., co-founder of Johnson & Johnson's Human Performance Institute (HPI) in Orlando, Fla.

"People are not designed to run like computers at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. They need to take time to rest and recover," said Tony Schwartz, founder and CEO of The Energy Project (TEP), a Yonkers, N.Y., firm that consults on employee engagement and performance.

While machines can run on a single energy source, human energy is more complex. When TEP and the Harvard Business Review surveyed 12,000 employees worldwide, they discovered that employees are far more satisfied and productive when their needs are met in four energy realms: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

A Holistic Approach to Energy Management

Energy, in its myriad forms, is the driver of performance. When organizations make a commitment to helping their people develop better energy-management skills, typically through efforts owned by HR, they are cultivating a high-performance culture.

HPI's Human Energy Pyramid is based on the scientific premise that achieving a level of sustained high performance requires an increase of energy capacity in all four key areas, with physical energy at the widest part of the base. Next, further up the pyramid, is emotional energy, and then mental energy. Spiritual energy is at the apex.

Read full article on Society For Human Resource Management.