The Energy Crisis Inside Your Office
After chemical giant Albemarle faced a series of swift changes, employees were stressed and even the CEO himself experienced a troubling shortage of energy.“I was being pulled in many different directions, it wasn’t about time, work-life balance, or allocation – even if I thought I could balance those hours – if I didn’t have energy or excitement for each task, someone got cheated,” the CEO, Luke Kissam, told attendees of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s Monthly Lunch series last week.To address the problem and pave the way to a less-stressful future, Albemarle decided to partner with The Energy Project for help fueling sustainable high performance, said Kissam who explained “A Scientific Approach to Helping Companies Design a Better Way of Working” with The Energy Project Vice President of Business Development and Senior Facilitator Andrew Deutscher.Their presentation, BRAC’s second Signature Speaker event of 2014, focused on how companies and their workforces can meet the demands of today’s business world while achieving optimal performance.
What is The Energy Project?
The Energy Project is a specialty consulting firm that guides organizations and individuals by helping them become more aware of their energy levels and providing them with the tools and action steps they need to maintain high levels of performance, explained Kissam.According to Deutscher, “we are all living and operating in the most difficult era to work in throughout our history.” Research conducted by The Energy Project found 70 percent of workers are disengaged or actively disengaged and 74 percent of employees are experiencing a personal energy crisis.
What is Energy at Work?
Energy is “the capacity to do work,” explained Deutscher, so, the more energy an employee has, the more capacity she has to get work done. “Energy can be expanded, renewed and used more efficiently, so you’re either spending energy or recovering energy and this awareness is the game changer.”“It’s not the number of hours you work that determines the value you create. It’s the energy we bring to whatever hours you work,” said Deutscher. The Gallup report, “State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders,” found workers today are “exhausted, emotionally depleted, unfocused, and lacking in purpose.”
Change is a Top-Down Process
To turn around an organization’s energy, “the commitment starts at the top,” said Kissam. “I’m committed because I’ve seen the change in my own life.”“Our entire leadership is committed to this because we recognize how important it is for our employees to be engaged and operating at optimal performance, he continued. “From a scientific perspective, more energy means more firepower to perform efficiently.”Although it starts with leadership, every employee needs to understand the rationale behind why the organization is making changes and the expectations that come with those changes, said Kissam. “It’s not just personal, but organizational change. It’s about energy renewal.” Need help getting your leaders committed to change? Consider Success Labs executive coaching.Success Labs is a full-service, strategic organizational and leadership development company located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.
