It has been pointed out that modern workplaces are too dismissive of workers. How can we create a 'sustainable workplace' that doesn't overwork workers?



While many managers view their companies and work in terms of output, goal achievement, and value creation, they rarely consider the people who make up the systems that drive their companies. In response,

Maria Kalanica-Murray , a professor of work and organizational psychology at the University of Leicester in the UK, and her colleagues explained the problems facing modern work environments and how to create sustainable workplaces.

The workplace wasn't designed for humans – and it shows
https://theconversation.com/the-workplace-wasnt-designed-for-humans-and-it-shows-269127



Many managers view their companies as mechanistic systems of production, execution, and optimization, with little consideration for the human energy, attention, and resilience required to maintain these systems. However, over time, work can cause stress, poor health, demotivation, and burnout, ultimately damaging the company.

Worker exhaustion and burnout are by no means an anomaly. A survey by the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that 48% of workers in eight countries, including Japan, reported suffering from burnout. Furthermore, in the United States, approximately three-quarters of workers said that workplace stress was affecting their mental health.

'These high levels of stress, ill health, and burnout have prompted introspection and led us to question whether, as concerns grow about depleting natural resources in pursuit of profits, employers are doing the same to their workers - squandering resources in the name of productivity with little regard for the long-term costs,' write Karanika-Murray and colleagues.

Many work models assume that workers have infinite human resources and place emphasis on output rather than the status of the remaining workers. However, in reality, human resources are not infinite, and unreasonable working practices can lead to problems such as attrition, turnover, and burnout.



Karanika-Murray and her colleagues argue that managers do not necessarily need to exhaust their human resources in order to achieve results, and that productivity and worker happiness are not in conflict. They propose a work style called '

circular work,' which enables sustainable company operations while protecting workers as human resources.

Instead of treating workers' time, energy, and skills as consumable resources, cyclical work sees work as a cycle, incorporating the recovery and acquisition of these resources into the cycle. The goal of cyclical work is not short-term profit, but rather to create jobs that people can continue to work without burnout.

Circular work is built on four simple ideas:

1: All human labor resources are connected, and energy, skills, knowledge, and relationships influence each other.
2: It is possible to recover and regenerate expended labor resources, and rest, support, and learning can help employees recover.
3. Jobs can increase or decrease labor resources. How jobs are designed determines whether workers thrive or are hindered.
4. Sustainable work comes from protected and renewable labor resources. Investing in well-being and development helps sustain people and organizations.



In today's demanding work culture, it may seem overly idealistic for companies to take on the role of restoring workers' energy and skills. In response to this view, Karanika-Murray et al. state, 'People are not infinite, nor are they infinitely replaceable. Work saps our energy, attention, and health, sometimes taking years to recover. Designing work as if this doesn't matter actually comes with a high cost.'

Decisions about workload, autonomy, recovery time, recognition, and support will determine whether work drains workers or helps them recover and thrive. It's also important to promote psychological safety in the workplace, creating an environment where workers feel comfortable speaking up and raising concerns without fear of recrimination.

To achieve circular work, we also need to reconsider the criteria for evaluating managerial leadership. Even if a management approach produces short-term results, it should be evaluated more harshly if it worsens worker absenteeism, lower productivity, and turnover. Conversely, by highly evaluating management approaches that promote worker learning, growth, and recovery and protect well-being, it becomes possible to retain talented personnel over the long term.

'Ultimately, as long as work is designed like a productivity-maximizing machine, burnout will remain the most predictable outcome,' Kalanika-Murray et al. wrote. 'But sustainable performance is possible, and that means designing workplaces that protect and regenerate workers.'

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