The Energy Crisis in the Workplace

Is there an energy crisis in your workplace? Frequently I hear about people dragging themselves into work day after day exhausted from the demands of work and home.

No wonder the sale of “energy drinks” has skyrocketed in recent years. But seriously is this the way to live our lives? I think not.

We often think about energy as something we either have or don’t have and of course if you are like me, you want more of it.

Most of us are aware of how energy, or lack of energy, affects our ability to get through the day. Without adequate energy we can’t be at our peak performance and neither can the organizations we work for.

But how many organizations think about the energy requirements of their employees and how vital this energy is if the organization is going to excel?

This is elephant in the room that no-one wants to talk about. We talk about increasing productivity, increasing efficiency and effectiveness, doing more with less, etc. But I would argue that few organizations acknowledge the importance of energy.

It seems to boil down to adding more to our already overflowing plates.  And then we end up stressed, sick and we lose our ability to be creative, our production drops and our satisfaction flies out the window.

And, of course, we burn out.

I started thinking about this earlier in the week as I listened to a conversation between Joel Monk of Coaches Rising and James Flaherty, author of Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others. This conversation was about the dynamics of change.

 We all know that people will change only when they are ready. Readiness for change is huge and yet it is often overlooked both by coaches and by organizational change agents.

James Flaherty approaches this by asking each new coaching client about their energy levels. He focuses on two key areas:

• Awareness – why do you want to change?
• Energy – do you have enough free energy to make the shift?

If the person doesn’t have enough energy then that becomes the first priority. This capacity building work is done before any discussion about goals and outcomes.  

What would it be like in our organizations if we had this conversation in our teams? At the beginning of a new change initiative? In conversations with our colleagues?

 One of the most interesting books that I’ve read on the subject of energy, performance and engagement is The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.

Loehr and Schwartz describe full engagement as requiring four separate but related sources of energy:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Mental
• Spiritual

 In my next post I’ll explore these in more detail. Cheers and have a great weekend!

Lesley