Working overtime could actually harm employee productivity rather than contribute to meaningful outcomes, new research claims.
Pipedrive’s State of Sales and Marketing Report shows that more than two in three (69%) employees are working overtime, with 10% working an additional 16 hours each week, bringing the total between Monday and Friday to more than 60 hours.
The research shows that older workers are among the most likely to work longer than their assigned hours, including company founders and CEOs.
Working overtime doesn’t help at all
Despite the misconception that more time on a job should lead to higher output, CRM company Pipedrive found that those who work overtime are actually less likely to hit their KPIs. Two-thirds (66%) of employees who avoid overtime achieve their goals, compared to 60% of those who work up to 15 extra hours per week, and 58% of those who work more than 16 extra hours per week.
Spending more time at work doesn’t just impact the business, the report says – with 42% of employees working standard hours claiming to have a ‘very good’ work-life balance, compared to just 12% of overtimers is the case.
In light of the findings, Pipedrive’s research shows that employees with management support are 13% more likely to achieve their goals, but only one in three feel they are currently supported by their managers.
The small business CRM company also explored the role of technology in promoting work-life balance, highlighting automation as a key time-saver. Pipedrive’s research is also one of many highlighting the need for companies to consider the needs of their employees when deploying technology: 82% of employees who are satisfied with the software they use are meeting their KPIs, compared to 62% of those who can’t handle their software. .
“As Britain’s productivity epidemic looms, we don’t need to work more hours, we need to work smarter and with a greater sense of teamship,” said Dominic Allon, CEO of Pipedrive.
“Business leaders should be concerned if their staff often works overtime; this is unlikely to have a positive impact on their business or their employees’ happiness in the workplace.”