January 31st, 2024 - when does less work mean more stress?

We know employee engagement is still low. We’ve renamed quiet quitting to “bare minimum Monday”. But employee engagement numbers being steadily low isn’t our only problem, Gallup tells us that 44% of employees report being stressed. They state that when employees are engaged, they are less likely to report themselves as feeling stressed. Which if you really take a few seconds and think about that, it’s fascinating.

A disengaged employee is doing the bare minimum, not seeking out extra or harder work. An engaged employee would potentially have “more” work and work hardER at tasks. Yet, the engaged team members are less stressed? YES.

If you’re going to a job every day where you care about what you’re doing, where you find meaning in the tasks, the goals, the purpose, where you align with values and vision — you’re going to feel good about it, even when it’s hard and objectively stressful.

When we are engaged, focused, immersed, enjoying the work and ALSO feel respected, acknowledged, just seen - our brains are releasing the very neurochemicals necessary to regulate our reactions to stress.

The traditional ways of addressing stress at the individual level just aren’t enough. Organizations must step in to create work environments that provide access to projects, goals, and collaborations that cultivate low-stress environments even in high-stress situations. Ya know a simple way to start? Playful work design.

Playful work design isn’t just fun and games. Adding playfulness to a company community (aka culture) is about bringing curiosity, mission, accessibility, value, and vulnerability to the workplace. A playful workplace will have an engaged workforce that is innovative, productive, and profitable without any sacrifice of physical or mental wellbeing.

You can bring this to your organization through a full consulting model - starting with a culture audit leading to application of playful work design approaches directly to the business bottom line.

or start with the Playful Team Toolkit - a program of four workshops, offered once quarterly, that will create a space where team members feel comfortable taking risks, exploring new ideas, and being themselves. When team members feel comfortable and supported, they are more likely to be engaged in their work, collaborate effectively, and achieve their goals.

2024 is a great year to see transformation in your organization and across society.

Let’s start today! Schedule a discovery call here or just reply to this email!

To learn a little more about the benefits of play - check out some of the digital products below!