Go Home to Your Family — Burnout is Firing Offense

“The example came from the very top. Bouchard had personally reproached employees “caught in the act” of working too many hours. One night when he passed by his office to pick up a file, Bouchard found an attorney, recently hired by Couche-Tard’s legal department, busy preparing a contract. He lectured him at length. “You have a family, a wife and kids. What are you still doing here at this hour? Go home!” he ordered. The young employee explained that it was normal for lawyers to work long hours, and that he’d been taught to stay late in the private firms he’d worked in before coming to Couche-Tard. “To me, it isn’t normal,” Bouchard responded. “You have to have a balanced life to be able to reach your potential. I’m paying you to have clear ideas. Go home to your family, and don’t let me see you in the office this late at night again.””

““Those are management theories that are totally void of sensitivity,” his human resources manager responded. So what should be done with the least productive workers? “We’ll put them in the right place, where they’ll learn to be productive,” Plourde told Bouchard. It was the price to pay to obtain loyalty from employees, rather than obedience; long-term commitment, rather than mere submission.”