Shawnee Love   •  
January 11, 2013

In the late ’90’s, I worked in a company with a bunch of young creative types who were invincible and loved their work so much (I am not kidding!!!) they would easily put in 60-80 hrs per week. Week after week, month after month, this pace continued with no end in sight. Performance was incredible, the team was strong, and everyone was having fun…. for about the first 18 months. After 18 months, performance started to slide, people started getting grouchy and things that would normally blow over became blown out of proportion. Sick days increased. We lost a few people to other companies. I learned my lesson.

No matter what people think they are capable of, in the end, all work and no time away from work is unsustainable. Your employees will start to crack, and the fissures will be severe. To avoid this cataclysm in your workforce, start thinking about work life balance now. Next week, we will talk about some things to consider.  If you have a story to share, please comment.