Work in NJ? Here’s why giving 110% may be a mistake (Opinion)
We've all heard it before when it comes to the workplace. Reasons why we should always go above and beyond, regardless of what the job is. Whether it's white-collar or blue-collar work, many of us have taken that advice of going the extra mile to impress our bosses.
It's a mentality that has been around for a long time, and up until recently, has been embraced. I say up until recently mainly because of the shift in the workforce and the concept of quiet quitting in recent months. However, the reason some are quiet quitting does tie into why you shouldn't give 110% or more at your job.
Now before we dive into it any further, let me first say this. This argument is not to say one shouldn't work hard for their employer. In fact, it's important to do the job you're asked of, so no arguments there.
Also, if someone wants additional responsibility to grow, they absolutely should inquire about it with their employer. But if that's the case, then why shouldn't you give 110% or more?
Well, the answer's quite simple. If you're giving 110%, then you're not doing your fair share of work. In fact, you're doing more than you should be doing, and it's not the extra work you asked for. It's the difference between wanting to grow and taking the right steps to do it, versus picking up the slack for somebody else.
It ties into the reason why some people are said to be quiet quitting in the first place. They don't want their personal life dictated by their job. Rather, they want to have a personal life with a job to support that.
Giving more than 100% will cause burnout, and that's not fair to anyone doing the job. Burnout isn't healthy in any situation, and some employers need to do a better job of acknowledging that with their employees.
This also points to the problem with some bosses. Some bosses might force extra work onto an employee for the promise of advancement or a raise. It may not be something the employee wanted to seek out, but they do the extra work anyway to please their boss as well as to get ahead.
Unfortunately, far too many bosses do this to their employees and ask them to go beyond their regular duties only to not honor their word in the long run. In other words, the employee goes 110% or more doing the work of more than one person only to be burned to the ground at the end.
Employers that do this really need to think hard about how they treat their employees. If they don't think that the employee will eventually call it quits, then they're delusional. And if the employee speaks up, listen to them. If the employer treats it as the employee being lazy, then that boss shouldn't be in leadership in the first place.
It's not just bosses, however, that try to squeeze more out of an employee. Sometimes it can be fellow coworkers that do it.
We all know the type. Coworkers who clearly don't pull their own weight and give well-less than 100% at their job. This might prompt the harder workers to go beyond 100% to cover for the behavior of their lazy counterparts.
This though could also hurt the ones picking up the slack. In the process of giving 110% and beyond, burnout and mistakes may start to happen. Unfortunately, when a mistake happens, it might be on that very person who covered for the lazy co-workers since they did the work.
And those co-workers who gave maybe 90% at best? They get off free from any kind of discipline. Another reason why going beyond 100% is not the way to go in the workforce.
One should always give 100% because 100% is the maximum we should be doing in the first place. Again, this is not to be confused with the desire to grow and learn more. In that situation, the employee should work with the employer to adjust workloads and allow one to learn and grow.
In New Jersey, we work hard enough to make a living in this very expensive state. Under no circumstances should we be picking up the slack for someone else. Don't worry about the co-worker's workload. That's their priority, not yours.
And in the case of a boss taking advantage of their employees, expect the quiet quitting trend to continue. Yes, there's more to the concept of quiet quitting than just this, but it does factor in. If you overwork your employees and burn them out, then you deserve the turnover.
It can be hard sometimes, but nobody should be going beyond 100% for someone else. Stand your ground, do your job, and have a personal life. And if you want to grow, do it the right way and not the burnout way.
You can read more about what exactly quiet quitting is by clicking here.