How HR Leaders can change the culture of ‘hustle’ and build happy workplaces instead

A targeted focus on the above can support the development of cultures that are built less on mindless hustle and more on happiness, writes Claire Seeber.

As a career and leadership coach working with individuals and organisations globally, I’ve noticed an influx of people reaching out for career or leadership support specifically because they are feeling stuck, unmotivated and unfulfilled at work but also feel like they just have to “suck it up” right now because of the current labour market.

This is a BIG problem.

According to the latest Gallup 2024 State of the Global Workplace Report, lost productivity, absenteeism, or turnover is costing the global economy US$8.9 trillion per year, or 9 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP).

On the one hand, there may be some employers thinking, “Great, my people aren’t going to leave because they need this job”, but on the other hand, what is it costing the organisation to have employees physically present but mentally, intellectually, and emotionally absent?

And how, as HR leaders, do we drive and encourage an organisational culture that can keep employees engaged, motivated and delivering on objectives but without encouraging “busyness” in all the wrong ways?

We need to focus less on hustle culture and more on a culture built on happiness.

Hustle culture has had such a negative impact on our workforce that we’ve even seen the introduction of Right to Disconnect laws taking effect, whereby employers are no longer able to unreasonably expect their employees to work or be contactable outside of work time. Will this be effective? Time will tell, but one thing is for sure: HR teams who can influence their organisations to see the genuine power of a culture built more on impact and happiness over and above just compliance with the new legislation will be the ones leading the charge into the future.

Imagine this:

• Your employees come to work each day knowing what success looks like for the organisation and the collective purpose they are a part of in a more meaningful capacity than just the mission statement on the wall.
• They know how they as an individual contribute to that purpose and can target their efforts more deliberately.
• They know what their unique strengths, skills and talents are and can consciously use them to deliver outside-of-the-box thinking, problem solving and more effective collaboration.
• They know for themselves, as individuals, what motivates them (beyond just their job), what their personal career values are, and engage in conversations about them regularly to keep enthusiasm high and outcomes higher.

These are employees who go beyond just sitting on the payroll. Employees who dig deeper and aren’t falling victim to quiet quitting or counting down the seconds until each day is over.

Easy to achieve? No. Worth it? You betcha! Here are three ways we can drive it.

Promote greater connection and communication about the purpose – We know the importance of having a purpose to inspire people, but how do we communicate and bring it to life for employees in a way that truly inspires them? By encouraging deeper and more targeted conversations that move beyond job descriptions or tasks to more personal conversations that demonstrate alignment with collective goals, engagement will be lifted by employees being able to see the value they add. For instance, a property manager isn’t just handling administrative tasks for a real estate company – they’re providing essential shelter for people in need. Help them see the impact they make.

Language fuels culture – If the standard practice in your organisation is for people to walk around saying, “I’m so busy”, it fuels others to feel the need to do so too, consciously or unconsciously. Language fuels culture, and if the unspoken rule in your organisation is to succeed and get ahead by saying how busy you are and to look busy (irrespective of whether they are), then telling people to slow down will not feel like a truly safe thing to do. Get into the habit of asking regularly, “What are we busy with? Are we busy with the right things? Are these the most impactful?”

Encourage leaders to have more direct conversations about strengths and skills – Empower employees to talk openly about how they can use them more in their day-to-day work to achieve outcomes and increase impact. For leaders, providing regular feedback on how they can see their employees’ efforts and expertise translating to deliverables for the team will help increase enthusiasm, engagement, and motivation. Getting leaders into the habit of asking, “What strengths did you leverage to help you achieve that?” is a great way to get team members thinking about the talents they have and how they use them.

A targeted focus on the above can support the development of cultures that are built less on mindless hustle and more on happiness; the connection point of targeted effort, contribution of expertise, and enthusiasm, which can ultimately lead to more effective outcomes for teams and organisations.

Claire Seeber is a career and leadership coach, trainer, keynote speaker, and author.