Bring bombarded with numerous texts from work and feeling the pressure to follow up, even during holidays follows the concept of urgency culture. Creating a workplace where employees are being compelled to accomplish tasks at any time of the day is more unprofitable than profitable.
It places a profound impact on an employee’s mental well-being. Knowing that he/she may have to carry their laptop out for dinner or answer meeting calls in between gatherings would demotivate their work performance overall. Answering late night calls or texts will discourage them to go to work. This creates an impression that tasks are never ending, and employees are expected to be on the go, whenever matter arises. This creates a looming cloud of anxiety which consumes the employee’s personal life. Potentially, burnouts and attrition may occur due to increased levels of agitation.
The quality of work gets tarnished when the employee is asked to complete a task in half an hour. High quality work cannot be expected when work is rushed. A global survey conducted by KPMG has revealed that many global leaders fail to consider two essential drivers in a business – disruption and innovation. Eventually, there will be more faults discovered in work which delays the flow of operations. Making corrections due to hasty work would only drag the duration of the task. Overall, the rate of productivity declines.
The issue lies in handling urgency. In todays fast-paced world, people and technology are accelerating. However, the execution of urgent matters must be conducted in an organised and logical way. Employees must not be pushed to the edge; their wellbeing must not be strained when it comes to handling urgent matters. Instead, there must be a clear chain of communication that involves employee support and encouragement.