Cornerstone Study Finds Extreme Workloads are Destroying Employee Productivity

This is the second in a series of articles we’re doing around our annual State of Workplace Productivity survey. See the first article here.

Employees are working for what feels like infinite hours on never-ending projects, and while those overworked employees are getting work done, they aren’t being as productive as they could be with less work. A recent study by Cornerstone OnDemand found that 68 percent of employees have suffered from work overload in which they have too much to do on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, that’s a majority of employees and a significant increase from the 54 percent who felt overloaded last year. The year-over-year survey results show that work overload is worsening, and employees feel that productivity is suffering. More than half of employees who have had too much work in the past year say it has only gotten worse.

Not enough time in the day, inadequate technology and multi-tasking distractions are some of the things employees rattle off as causes of their work overload. Employees are overwhelmed when they’re in the office, at home and on vacation — the overload never stops. With work constantly on their minds, one in of four employees feel like they can’t turn off outside of the office.

Work overload has many consequences, but 61 percent of employees say it's their biggest hindrance to productivity. Information overload, experienced by 46 percent, also plays a role, as does technology overload, experienced by 47 percent.

It’s doesn’t have to be all gloom and doom, however. "Employers who empower their people to get their work done in the best ways possible, whether it is through policies, resources or workplace culture, are best positioned to attract and retain top talent. Fortunately, cloud and mobile tech is making it easier to intertwine physical and virtual workspaces in ways that still encourage collaboration and connectivity," offers Adam Miller, founder and CEO of Cornerstone OnDemand.

To read more findings from The State of Workplace Productivity Report, click here.

And check out the infographic on overload (click for a big version):