A story in the Wall Street Journal broke in mid-August about Leo Lukenas, a 35-year-old Bank of America employee who was working 100-hour weeks who suddenly died two days after closing a big deal.
This tragic event really resonated with me because it’s emblematic of a problem we’re seeing across corporate America: Policies and systems that are meant to protect employees are instead subverted by leaders within a company which lead to unintended business, health, and life outcomes.
The senior bankers put junior associates through a "rite of passage" which involved working more than 100 hours a week for months. Some senior managers instructed the junior employees to only report as many hours as were allowed by the bank’s policies.
Reuters reported that Lukenas was in the process of working with a recruiter (Douglas Walters of GrayFox Recruitment) to secure a new position at a hiring firm:
“While compensation was lower at the hiring firm, Lukenas considered the role as he sought a better work-life balance. He made a comment saying like, 'hey, I'll trade hours of sleep for a 10% (pay) cut.’ Lukenas said he had too little time to spend with his family, Walters added.”
Two weeks later, another Bank of America employee, Adnan Deumic – this one only 25 years old – also suddenly died, while playing in a charity soccer tournament. Deumic worked closer to 60 hours a week and his shift was highly stressful, according to a direct source.
“‘He was not happy… he was looking at other jobs,’ the source said.”
While these are extreme examples, these stories had me reflecting a lot this week on these three areas:
How do you evaluate a company, a potential leader, and the work culture they create?
Your career vs. the other important aspects of your life
The problem of adverse health if in a toxic culture for too long
Evaluating a Company and Work Culture
When you’re in the initial stages of the interview process with a company, you’re the seller and the company is the buyer. Your goal is to sell the product – yourself. But once you’re in the offer stage, the tables turn. Now the company is the seller, trying to convince you to “buy” their offer.
Your role is to evaluate if a company’s messaging about their purpose, people, and culture are founded in reality, and secondly, if they are aligned with who you are and your expectations. You should really be asking yourself: Is this company really worth the sacrifice and my commitment?
Here are a few important things to consider:
When interviewing, consider asking questions around how people do their jobs, how the team collaborates, and what success looks like in the specific role you’re applying to. These areas can give you important insights into what the day to day duties of the role are, how efficient people are with their work, and specific criteria the hiring manager uses to evaluate high performance.
Read the company’s Glassdoor and Blind reviews. Take everything with a grain of salt, but it’s good to know what actual employees are saying.
Reach out to people in your network that work at the company to see if they’d be open to having a quick chat about their experience.
Balancing Your Career with the Rest of Your Life
A successful career can provide you with the safety and security we as human beings strive for: a good salary, health benefits, recognition, meaningful work, community, etc. However, money isn’t everything and it’s important to consider all the other aspects of your life that are important to you.
Does the company’s environment create self-actualized human beings? Does this role allow for mental and physical health, time with friends and family, hobbies?
The Cost of a Toxic Workplace Culture
As we saw in the examples above, staying at a company or organization with a toxic culture for too long can have tragic and/or deadly consequences. Many people continue to deal with workplace trauma long after they leave the work environment. Those feelings of betrayal, resentment, anger, and anxiety have the potential to leave long lasting impressions in the mind if not healthily processed afterwards.
Luckily, you don’t have to stay at a workplace if it’s not working for you. Your future is in your own hands, and it’s never too late to make a change.
Stay Connected
If you are wondering whether your current role is the right one for you, or if you’ve been considering looking elsewhere, feel free to reach out.
I help people like you reflect on what’s important to them, discover their strengths and goals, and craft a narrative, role, and job search strategy that is aligned to what they truly want.
Want to read more about workplace culture and employee well-being? Check out these articles below: