Dec 12 2007
Article Review: Signs you're a workaholic
I recently had a conversation with my manager and admitted that I was frustrated with the fact that I’ve been working at my new job for a whole three months and have not seen anyone I sourced hired yet. Yep – a WHOLE three months (hint of sarcasm!) After my manager told me that she believed I was being way too hard on myself, I had to pause and consider what made me feel this way. I read an article this evening by Carmine Coyote titled Time to lighten up and forget those macho urges: The dangers of getting too intense at work. Perhaps I should have read this article before my conversation!
I’ve come to find that this time of the year simultaneously brings out the best and the worst in people. Some people throw themselves 100% into family, festivity, and fun, while others put their nose to the grindstone and ‘pick up the slack of all the others who are going to their parties and family gatherings instead of getting their work done’. This article discusses the individual who is a workaholic and presents some interesting insights on how this person combats their growing tension. My favorite quote from the article has to do with the fact that may workaholics try to solve their problems by driving themselves even harder and thus compromising the quality of their work:
“Quantity of output is all that productivity measures, but quality is what the customer pays for. No one will accept shoddy work with the excuse that you’re turning out more of it every day.”
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And in a feeble attempt to tie this post back to sourcing, let’s think about this from a sourcing metrics perspective: throwing 100 UNqualified researched contacts at a recruiter isn’t going to make their job any easier – in fact it probably makes it harder because it’s more junk to sift through than if you threw 10 qualified researched contacts at them.
And recruiters must consider this as well – sometimes you’re better off with the researcher who sends you fewer, better people than the guy who throws contact after contact at you, hoping something will stick. The one who pumps out more product isn’t always the better employee.
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Back to this article – I think it’s worth taking the time to read, and it is very timely for this season. In Miracle on 34th St., Kris Kringle says, “Seems we’re all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less that Christmas and I are sort of getting lost in the shuffle.” Try not to work too hard during the holidays, but don’t neglect your work either. Find a happy medium, lest you become that workaholic! I took a step in that direction myself and baked a gingerbread cake tonight (and it was delicious!)
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Hilarious!