Work can be difficult, but it shouldn’t always be difficult, according to new research from a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Executive Education.
Author: Michelle Russell
New research shows that giving employees too many difficult tasks in a row makes them more likely to quit.
Three-fifths of this year’s respondents convene Annual Salary Survey Oversight Meeting Staff – An average of four team members compared to two in last year’s survey. Those who manage others should take note of a recent Wharton article @Work, which explores how leaders can prevent employee burnout and avoid quitting by highlighting the research of Dr. Maurice Schweitzer.
Schweitzer, a management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues pored over five years of an organization’s data to understand what causes employees to quit. Their main takeaways:
“People who are assigned a series of difficult tasks in a row are more likely to give up than people who are assigned equally difficult tasks but interspersed with easier tasks.”
Schweitzer said the study’s results were “shocking. If you think about the types of tasks we do, some are difficult and can be exhausting, and some are easier. Those that are less difficult. Breaks at work are not required, but they are not as draining as more difficult tasks. The order in which we approach these tasks is “very important,” adds Schweitzer.
Schweitzer says managers “can gain a lot by assigning work more thoughtfully. First, managers have a responsibility to recognize that order matters. Second, managers should work to identify which tasks are relatively more difficult than others. Third, managers should A way to distribute tasks should be found so that they are not assigning very difficult tasks to any one employee in a row,” which can lead to burnout, he said.
Michelle Russell Is the editor-in-chief held.
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