The Culture of Overwork Hurts Everyone (Quick Study) 2022

June 8, 2022



The standard work/family narrative is an outdated excuse for what holds women back.

Ask people to explain why women remain so dramatically underrepresented in the senior ranks of most companies, and you will hear from the vast majority a lament that goes something like this: High-level jobs require extremely long hours, women’s devotion to family makes it impossible to put in those hours, and so their careers inevitably suffer.

Not so, say the authors, who spent 18 months working with a global consulting firm that wanted to know why it had so few women in positions of power. Although virtually every employee the authors interviewed related a form of the standard explanation, the firm’s data told a different story. Women weren’t being held back because of trouble balancing work and family; men, too, suffered from that problem and nevertheless advanced. Women were held back because they were encouraged to take accommodations, such as going part-time and shifting to internally facing roles, which derailed their careers.
The real culprit in women’s stalled advancement, the authors conclude, is a general culture of overwork that hurts both sexes and locks gender inequality in place. To solve this problem, they argue, we must reconsider what we’re willing to allow the workplace to demand of all employees.

———————————————————————

At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more creative, and more courageous in their work. We enlist the foremost experts in a wide range of topics, including career planning, strategy, leadership, work-life balance, negotiations, innovation, and managing teams. Harvard Business Review empowers professionals around the world to lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact.

Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters

Follow us:
https://hbr.org/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/
https://www.facebook.com/HBR/

https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review

Click to rate this post!
[Total: 0 Average: 0]
18 Comments
  1. "Organizational scholar" what kind of made up title is that. How do you know anything about overwork or even underwork 🤨

  2. I love how vocal fry is so everywhere in US these days.

  3. I just recently heard that a major auto manufacturer in the South Eastern United States is considering a 5 or 6 day 60 hour work week because they can't hit production numbers. Hiring more people to boost production is too "expensive". Companies fail to understand that their employees are human. The fact that this country enslaved people for 250 years isn't very surprising. If they could get away with it, companies would still use slave labor today.

  4. I'm done with this video as soon as she just applied this to women the same issue resonates for everyone more importantly the new generation that's coming into the workforce

  5. Use Amyris essential oil, to treat heavy legs, varicose veins, stress and overwork

    known as "candle wood" or "torch wood" because of the high oil content of the wood

    https://youtu.be/17bOsVc_6uU

  6. So it's sexism now because a woman can't give 24/7 availability for a job? Seriously? Wow okay.
    The client doesn't care about your problems. You better be at the ready for whatever they need!
    You have no clients means no money is coming in. If no money is coming in, then you will be out of a job. Stop crying and get over it.

  7. Was hoping to get insight on blue collar working conditions instead this was through the lens of only metropolitan women. Seriously…..I feel ignored and like a serf this makes it feel like it's being rubbed in my face

  8. Reply
    Alibaba Intelligence June 8, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    it's kinda strange the fact that this woman's voice sounds like a twenty year old

  9. There's more then just women that want to spend time with there family. Men work non stop and it and never get to see there family.

  10. Do they consider all the stress and projects at home as work? More often than not, my home projects and taking care of my children are more tiring and stressful than being in the office.

  11. Kind of useless video though
    everyone knows the issue and nothing is doing anything

  12. In my country (Denmark), working longer hours isn’t seen as a sign of dedication. It’s seen as a sign of inefficiency, that you can’t get your work done inside normal working hours.

  13. Objectively speaking it doesn't hurt everyone…Owners and CEOs of the company benefit masively from it. The problem is that , higher someone is up the hierarchy more benefit he or she gets from other people's Overwork . It is built in the way things are today and no amount of these soft talking and self introspection is going to do anything about it.

  14. Can we just say this affects everyone in the US and call it a day.

  15. Cryin rn, too much work for 5th grade. Wanna have free time..

  16. But I need to overwork to get to Harvard

  17. Ok mea culpa, i didn't watch the video, i was looking for business insights so what could be better than the harvard business review, then i gave a look at the videos and i thought…right… i see… colleges in 2020 are the territory of leftist progressive activists. Maybe you could call it woke business review.
    Rember this my friends when everything is politics (or is related to political ideology as this is) nothing is politics anymore, it's about forcing our agenda into others, even when this is done by a convenient recourse to abstract concepts as kindness, care etc.
    I will leave, never to return. Bye

  18. It is true that in most cases we do not really need 24/7 availability , it is also true that some employees exhaust themselves at work doing double extra tasks to impress their employers which i find really funny sometimes 😀 , i would also like to ad , if women cannot have enough time for their families that will have a negative effect on the entire society on the long term , so yes it does effect everyone, yet i do believe that a woman's greatest responsibility in life is to take good care of her children , but i have to admit that it's an awkward situation due to the financial circumstances a lot of people go through , yes there are women who seek personal growth on the professional level but i don't think they are too many , on the other hand there are jobs more suitable for women , jobs more suitable for men and jobs suitable for both , besides men also should be able to spend time with their families too , so if we look at it from all deferent angles we'll be able to recognise that men and women are suppose to complete each other not undermine each other , it's all about self awareness when it comes to responsibilities and commitments , and that is what i truly believe is right

Leave a Reply to Soul Society Cancel reply

Reviews We Trust
Logo
Register New Account
Reset Password