High performance has been a buzz word bandied around the workplace for many years.
Pay and reward systems designed to financially benefit those in the category of superman or wonder woman.
Yet with the continued rise in the number of people affected by stress, adrenal fatigue and burnout, at what cost has high performance come?
Is working late into the night on a regular basis to cope with a mounting workload high performance?
Is working weekends to meet deadlines or make up for being a team member or two down considered high performance? Is arriving at the office at 07.00am because you are working on securing a big deal our idea of high performance?
Is remaining glued to your desk during lunch so that you can ‘just get this done’ rather than take a proper break high performance?
When you think about it, what does high performance really mean?
The truth is, you can reach a level of high performance but to sustain that level of high performance without burning yourself out is a different game all together.
Statistics show that more than 60% of work absenteeism is attributed to psychological stress and stress-related burnout.
A new approach to high performance
High performance isn’t about being superman or wonder woman, it’s about knowing exactly how to be consistently at your best.
It’s not about survival of the fittest, high performance is about forming a set of behaviours and habits that form your approach to your work, to your relationships, to your health, family and enable you to live an enriched life.
These habits that really matter in improving your performance are not unconscious. They are intentional deliberate habits.
True sustained levels of high performance don’t come from what is natural, easy, convenient or automatic.
In the same way that an athlete will hone their skill, they will also ensure their nutrition, mind set, sleep, hydration and down time feeds into their ability to remain at the top of their game.
Can these habits be taught? Absolutely. Knowledge is power and when you understand the why, the application of that knowledge becomes easier.
That’s why we created the Digital Wellbeing Portal. We know that the perfect recipe for a high performance workforce is one where employees have access to the knowledge of what high performance really is and exactly what is needed to remain at the top of their game.
Arianna Huffington hit the nail on the head in her concluding weekly remarks on Thrive Global on May 30th; “Now, with burnout in the spotlight, companies have a fresh opportunity to step up, for the sake of their people and for the health of the bottom line.”