Beware of dinosaurs—the sequel.
How many hours per week did you work for the first six weeks of 2021?
20-40
41-60
61-80
81-100
101 and up
How many hours per week are reasonable for a company who declares, “Our people are our greatest asset” to expect employees to work?
How many hours are irresponsible for a company to expect every week?
How many hours per week do you want people whose advice you trust to work?
A group of Goldman Sachs first-year investment bankers reported working 98 hours per week on average for the first six weeks of 2021.
98 hours! That leaves just 70 hours for sleep, family time, nutrition, fitness, showers and grooming—for the whole week!
The internal group of first-year employees at the center of key IPO work conducted their own survey of their thirteen-member group. They summarized the results here: Working Conditions Survey.
A few datapoints reported:
68% decline in their mental health since starting the job
74% decline in their physical health since starting the job
Do you think people with such significant declines in mental and physical health are really working their best? GS employees are the best and brightest, yet no one would be their best working 98 hours a week consistently.
What level of trust would you have for the work knowing those hours and declines in mental and physical health?
Some executives might think, “Suck it up! I worked those hours and had no life at that age too. We never complained!” Heck, my friends and I worked those hours on our way up too. But, the world is different now. Comparisons to life 20 or 30 years ago are obtuse and irrelevant.
A gigantic red flag to those of us who work in the corporate culture space is when a website declares, “Our people are our greatest asset.” Goldman Sachs website declares it in at least two places, even touting they say that often. It is a red flag because companies who say that rarely behave that way.
GS is no exception.
Four week ago, Mr. David Solomon, CEO of #GoldmanSachs (GS), said work from home (WFH) is, "aberration and we're going to correct it as soon as possible." While many companies appreciate WFH’s benefits, not that one.
I pointed out here his disregard for the benefits of WFH, indifference (disdain?) toward GS employees, and antiquated thinking about work.
The employees already saw the disregard, disdain, and dinosaur-like perspective. While Mr. Solomon was displaying his antiquated thinking, coincidentally, his employees were conducting the survey.
The survey results went viral last week, which earned it attention internally.
Sunday, Mr. Solomon sent a voice message response to the survey to the company. He promised a return to the Saturday Rule, which means junior associates do not work from 9pm Friday until Monday. He also promised to hire more staff and be more selective about opportunities the company pursues. (Source: CNBC)
Then, the CEO leading 40k employees globally said, “If we all go an extra mile for our client, even when we feel that we’re reaching our limit, it can really make a difference in our performance.” (Source: CNBC)
As I mentioned in the prior post (Beware of dinosaurs!), GS financials did not suffer in 2020.
What did decline in 2020? Mr. Solomon’s take-home pay.
At nearly $24 million, it was $72k less than 2019, which is slightly more than he makes in one day. (Source: MarketWatch)
How much is enough? At some point, don’t company leaders need to get a grip and realize they are not worth more than the lives of the employees?
Yes, lives.
GS employees rated their satisfaction with their lives a one out of ten. Real leaders would care about that number. Contemporary leaders in touch with needs of modern employees, and just people in general, would be sad and horrified to see such dismal satisfaction in life.
Not Mr. Solomon. He wants more. Is HE going the extra mile or just expecting first-years to do it?
What about you? What if you were in Mr. Solomon’s John Lobb shoes?
How do you stay in tune with your employees’ needs? How do you modulate expectations to ensure they do not risk errors caused by burnout? How do you ensure your legacy as a leader is honorable? How do you live in alignment with your core values as a person?
Learn from GS and Mr. Solomon. You are the CEOs and senior leaders thousands of others count on. Think bigger than dollars. Care about people. Don’t be dinosaurs. It will matter in the end.