High Job Performance – Put in more hours won’t work anymore

How do you drive sustainably high performance in an era of relentlessly rising demand?… 

The typical solution – put in more hours – won’t work anymore. The vast majority of salaried employees are already doing that, and many of them are paying a price that they are finding less and less acceptable. They are exhausted and often overwhelmed, and they deeply want to invest time in their families and the rest of their lives.

But what if people could simply be more efficient and productive during the time they are at work? What if there’s a win-win solution for employers and employees?…

Most companies invest in building the skills of their employees. Few of them systematically invest in building people’s capacity to perform at their best.

The first step is learning to observe and recognize how we’re feeling at any given time, and then how to shift from the self that undermines our performance to the one that enhances it. This capacity is essential to all great performers, whether they’re athletes, musicians, surgeons or managers and leaders.

We feel better and perform better when four core energy needs are met: sufficient rest, including the opportunity for intermittent renewal during the work day; feeling valued and appreciated; having the freedom to focus in an absorbed way on the highest priorities; and feeling connected to a mission or a cause greater than ourselves.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  The Secret to Sustaining High Job Performance – The New York Times