Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What We Can Do about It

by Erin L. Kelly, Phyllis Moen

Why too much work and too little time is hurting workers and companies—and how a proven workplace redesign can benefit employees and the bottom line

Today's ways of working are not working—even for professionals in "good" jobs. Responding to global competition and pressure from financial markets, companies are asking employees to do more with less, even as new technologies normalize 24/7 job expectations. In Overload , Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen document how this new intensification of work creates chronic stress, leading to burnout, attrition, and underperformance. "Flexible" work policies and corporate lip service about "work-life balance" don't come close to fixing the problem. But this unhealthy and unsustainable situation can be changed—and Overload shows how.

Drawing on five years of research, including hundreds of interviews with employees and managers, Kelly and Moen tell the story of a major experiment that they helped design and implement at a Fortune 500 firm. The company adopted creative and practical work redesigns that gave workers more control over how and where they worked and encouraged managers to evaluate performance in new ways. The result? Employees' health, well-being, and ability to manage their personal and work lives improved, while the company benefited from higher job satisfaction and lower turnover. And, as Kelly and Moen show, such changes can—and should—be made on a wide scale.

Complete with advice about ways that employees, managers, and corporate leaders can begin to question and fix one of today's most serious workplace problems, Overload is an inspiring account about how rethinking and redesigning work could transform our lives and companies.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2020

Reviews

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book summarizes a case study in which the authors developed a program to alleviate burnout among employees at a multinational tech firm. It was helpful in understanding burnout in a corporate or industrial setting, especially pertaining to middle management and remote vs. in-office work. This is a good resource for I/O psychology.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Important book about a really pervasive issue.

I feel everyone should read this.

3.4/5

[V · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hopeful this book would provide insight that would be applicable for real life. It appears to be that the author conducted a study where initiatives promoting work-life balance where implemented at an unnamed company and the results documented. Much of the book is rehashing the same points and interviewing workers on their particular experience. Very theoretical and no real life application. Disappointing book.

[Sergio Caredda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo testo è basato su un esperimento "sul campo" di "work redesign", volto a combattere gli effetti del cosiddetto "Overload" da lavoro. L'esperimento, realizzato nel dipartimento IT di una Fortune 500 per oltre 5 anni, ha permesso di validare un approccio che permette di migliorare la produttività pur riducendo gli effetti perniciosi del superlavoro.
In generale il libro presenta un ottima analisi del perché anche tanti mestieri "buoni", dai salari medio elevati, siano oggi segnati da profondi problemi di burnout, stress e overload.La metodologia di intervento proposta volge a migliorare sia la salute dell'individuo che le performance dell'impresa.
Un'ottima e realistica visione su un problema da risolvere. Lontana dalle visioni rosee del Futuro del lavoro fatte da troppi, illustra un problema serio, e propone anche delle modalità di risoluzione adeguate.

[Erika Sanborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody needs better “work-life balance” but everybody needs relief from work as it is. Overload is an important read for anyone interested in how work itself can be something other than what it is right now, in a way that benefits both employees and employers. Kelly and Moen, of MIT and University of Minnesota respectively, conclude with strategic insights from their research how to create “sane and sustainable jobs” - strategy that will be only more necessary in our post-COVID, increasingly unsustainble work worlds. There is hope.

[Brittany McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lens to reflect on the past 1.5 years (it released March 2020) through, as well as to imagine the promise and perils facing workers’ #returntowork
Very thoughtful and thorough examination into how overbearing many middle/ upper middle class jobs have become. Excellent resource for any study into the area of work and work-life “balance”. Comprehensive stop for additional sources on all relevant topics as well.
Incredibly timely read for this COVID existence.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

first of all if you read this as a drinking game and drink every time "star" is mentioned, you'll die while reading.
The star idea is good but the story about it very repetitive. Also it is an USA project and it shows. Many things that are considered normal in Europe are present in the book to improve work conditions in the USA.
After finishing it, I wonder again why people in the USA are willing to work under those bad conditions.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for sociology, psychology and business majors to understand how overwork can impact the health of employees. It is a thorough but limited case study based in America, but could be applies elsewhere. The authors themselves acknowledge its a stepping stone to larger policy changes.

[Avi-Gil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book does a great job of outlining the problem. The intervention they staged (at a company that remains anonymous) is not detailed enough to be helpful for others to copy.

[Petty Lisbon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
This was okay but I was hoping for a historical analysis or sociological explanation instead of just advertising a method they created.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Work-life balance isn't the problem; overworking is the problem. Too many companies are eating into employees' lives to get more than 40 hours/week, often without pay, and harming employee health, well-being, and familes in the process. The authors report the results of a rigorously designed program of dual-agenda work redesign in a tech company aimed at a win-win resolution. It proved that giving employees greater say over when, where, and how they work makes their lives at work and home significantly better, without negatively impacting productivity. The result: instead of rolling the program out across the company, management cancelled it! (I read the uncorrrected page proof; book due in March 2020)

[Russell Chee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not bad but it feels a bit capitalist (and also skirts over the fact that the merger just completely obviated their experiment, which is part of the problem with modern work - not just what are the right methods. but is anyone actually going to adopt them?)