Année
2025
Abstract
Many high-performing professional services firms—from big law to accounting to consultancies—are characterized by the extreme hours logged by their employees. Yet, organizational attempts to curb these hours (and the stress associated with overwork) have often failed. A study of 150 global firms explains one reason for this failure: a misunderstanding of overwork’s root cause. Rather than a personal problem faced by workaholics, the study found that overwork is caused by a synchronization between employees and a relentless organizational tempo characterized by formal timekeeping, professional advancement systems, and cultural expectations of 24/7 availability. These factors work together to create a pace that feels impossible to clock out of, even after hours. In order to free employees from this punishing cycle, organizations must make strategic, company-wide shifts to help protect workers’ personal time and help them truly disconnect.
LUPU, I. et LIU, S. (2025). New Research on Why Teams Overwork—and What Leaders Can Do About It. Harvard Business Review.