Human Doings/Human Beings
The future of work starts with people
Summary
Work is where we spend so much of our time, energy, and attention. It often shapes how we feel about ourselves, what we think we’re capable of, and how we move through the world.
Too many workplaces are designed for output, but not for the people doing the work. And ironically, that approach doesn’t lead to better results—it leads to burnout, turnover, and short-term wins that cost long-term momentum.
This post explores what happens when workplaces are built for human doings—and what becomes possible when they’re built for human beings instead.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
How the “ideal worker” myth holds us all back
What organizations lose when employees feel unseen
Why building for human beings leads to stronger teams, better work, and sustainable success
This piece lays out the heart of why I started Human Doings / Human Beings. It’s equal parts research-backed and personal — a reflection on what I believe workplaces can be, and why the way we treat people at work matters more than ever.
Why Work Should Be Built for Human Beings
The more I’ve learned, from psychology to leadership to lived experience, the clearer it’s become that time is my most precious resource. Not to be glib, but every moment matters. Not just in theory, but in practice…for all of us.
Each life is a unique experience with a beginning, middle, and end—never to be repeated. Each moment of that journey, because it’s one-of-a-kind, is beyond valuable and will never happen in exactly the same way again. It’s now. And now. And now. My moments, and your moments, are irreplaceable, worth more than money. Worth more than gold.
Here’s what this has to do with work: Well… work is where we exchange these valuable moments for things that we need. On the most basic level, we need safety (and money to provide food, shelter, and medical care). But as human beings, we also need a sense of relatedness (accomplishment, teamwork, pride in our work) and meaning in order to grow. And we can find these things at work as well as elsewhere in life, no matter the type of job.
Where growth and contribution intersect
I’m a fan of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and of the ERG theory (which is built on Maslow’s pyramid) for how it applies in the workplace. Because we bring our psychology, our personalities, and ourselves to work. We bring our attention, care, and motivation to work. And a workplace has the power to create an environment that cultivates employee growth and healthy contributions, or stifles it.
John Ruskin, writer, social thinker, and philosopher said, “The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.” Work is an exchange and, like everything in life, it can be part of how we grow and evolve as a person. At its worst, a workplace culture can create conditions of disrespect that will slowly extinguish employees’ sense of self and power in the world. This can cut especially deep for those who’ve historically been excluded or underestimated.
I completely understand when folks ask me if a workplace is really responsible for employees’ growth. I get it when people say to me that they want their employees to “just clock in, do the work, and clock out. Keep it simple.” And if we were… I don’t know… robots, I’d completely agree.
If we could sever our work personas from our overall psychology and humanness, there might be a valid argument there (see Apple TV’s Severance). But we can’t. We bring our full selves to work, whether our employers invite us to or not. Workplaces that expect employees to leave their personality (culture, religious beliefs, gender identity, etc.) at the door aren’t built for human beings. They’re built for human doings. (I use terms like “workplace for human beings,” “human-centered,” and “people-first” interchangeably to describe cultures that prioritize employee well-being and sustainable performance. I also want to note that “people-first” is widely used but not always felt by all employees. The key with this term is authenticity, not optics.)
Work isn’t separate from life. It shapes life. Even when we try to keep our identities from being defined by our job titles, work still has a huge impact on how we feel about our days, our energy, and our sense of purpose. Many of us spend more waking hours working than we do with our families, friends, or passions. Work is a cornerstone of human experience, and it can be intensely rewarding—if it helps us thrive.
How short-term wins can undermine long-term thriving
It’s easy to see how we got here. As the economy fluctuates, executives are under pressure to increase profitability and explain the path forward for their business. Employees are often framed as disengaged and underperforming, which creates a rationale for major cuts and an instant benefit to the bottom line. For boards and shareholders, it looks like a win.
As pressure builds, leaders are asked to do more with less, so they tighten deadlines, squeeze productivity, and micromanage results. AI, automation, and efficiency consultants are brought in to optimize processes. The cycle continues when this backfires, stifling employee creativity, eroding trust, and weakening company culture and brand reputation. Fear, pressure, and worries ripple through the organization, and performance suffers.
The problem isn’t that leaders don’t care. It’s that they’re caught in the cycle of cutting costs and pushing harder so the bottom line will quickly improve. But this model is outdated. Squeezing doesn’t inspire. Cutting doesn’t create. Fear doesn’t fuel growth. And burnout cultures come at a steep cost. Employees leave to protect their mental health, draining resources and momentum. Amazon, for example, has a notoriously high turnover rate, which reportedly costs them $8 billion every year. Yet they’ve recently announced plans to cut 14,000 management jobs, to save $3.5 billion annually.
The whole cycle is fueled by anxious “not doing enough” energy passed from workplace to employees and back again, which is especially treacherous for insecure overachievers or anyone navigating imposter syndrome. Part of what fuels this cycle is the myth of the “ideal worker,” described by author Brigid Schulte as a tireless, always-on, always-available employee with no real needs beyond a paycheck and the occasional pat on the back. It’s an impossible standard, yet many of us have internalized it without even realizing it. And many workplaces continue to design roles and expectations around it.
This fictional ideal worker has no caregiving responsibilities, no health issues, no need for rest, stability, or psychological safety. He’s not a full human being with physical, cultural, familial, and psychological needs that must be met in order to thrive. And yet, the ideal worker idea still persists as the measuring stick that informs how many people evaluate themselves as employees (inevitably coming up short). The ideal worker is how many organizations structure roles, assess value, and shrug off burnout.
In this case, a human doing workplace culture becomes unsustainable. It won’t make employees care about the mission of the organization for the long term. If anything, their energy and focus will shift to finding a new gig in a better (more successful) workplace. It’s not easy to find a workplace that will see them as human beings instead of “human doings,” but they do exist and they are profitable.
This gap between what’s possible and what’s practiced is a missed opportunity for everyone involved. A famous study showed that onboarding employees with an exercise that encouraged them to bring their unique perspectives and problem-solving skills to their work increased retention rates by 33% compared to the employees who received only brand messaging or tactically focused onboarding. People who feel seen and respected for who they are stay longer.
The researchers’ write-up in Harvard Business Review said that shaping “processes around individual, rather than organizational, identity has beneficial effects on employees’ attitudes at work, such as their engagement and job satisfaction, and also reduces turnover and enhances performance.” This employee engagement ripples out to colleagues, making collaboration easier, and to customers, resulting in more profit for the company.
Research from Gallup backs this up, too: “Workplace burnout is reduced to near zero among engaged, high-wellbeing employees who also work in a culture that honors individual strengths,” the Gallup website reported back in 2020. Another publication from Gallup points to a similar correlation: “When you like what you do, you do more of it, get better at it, and increasingly reap the rewards of your labor. It’s a virtuous cycle of personal growth and professional development.”
Real-world examples abound that support the business case for a “human being” orientation in the workplace… and that’s what’s inspired me to create this blog in the first place. There are successful businesses that have found a better way.
In my own work leading workplace communications campaigns in tech, nonprofits, philanthropy, and mental and behavioral health organizations, I’ve seen how the right approach can shift behavior and spark employee creativity. The impact is even greater when there are meaningful policies and practices that go beyond words to show employees that they, as full human beings, matter.
I think that’s how an organization can step out of an endless loop into something more like a thriving sustainable workplace culture.
Why the focus on workplace culture and communications (comms)?
On the most basic level, words have the power to give shape and form to the human experience. They connect us, helping us exchange ideas. They can inspire fear, uncertainty, and doubt, or they can comfort us, move us, and inspire us to change. This is a truth that needs to be considered and applied in any workplace that employs humans.
And we know how important language and behaviors are in any culture. Words convey information, meaning, and tone, while culture determines what kinds of words and actions are appropriate in a given group (or workplace).
I use “workplace culture” as an umbrella term to cover behaviors and norms as well as workplace policies and practices. I also include benefits, scheduling, job security, Employee Resource Groups, wellness initiatives, and more because they convey an organization’s understanding of, and care for, their employees’ overall living conditions. We need our workplace cultures to afford us dignity, safety, and respect so we can thrive and grow in and outside of work.
The Good Jobs Institute has done incredible work helping leaders take their teams to higher-level performance by looking at employee, customer, and organizational needs. “You know when we think about high-performance organizations, our first instinct is often to fix the people,” said Zeynep Ton in her TedTalk about the organization’s work. “But what really needs fixing is their work and their pay.” In her view, jobs that provide dignity, respect, and a decent living will lead to more engaged and productive workers.
This was clear in the Institute’s work with Sam’s Club, which resulted in a 40% increase in sales, 15% higher labor productivity, and a 25% drop in employee turnover. When a job provides employees with safety and security (as seen on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), those employees can make the business more successful.
This isn’t to say that all our growth happens in the workplace, but our growth in other parts of life will still benefit the workplace. If an employee is feeling safe and secure, then she will likely start ascending Maslow’s pyramid toward her “best self,” which is where she’ll feel the most meaning and connectedness to others. She might do this through her role with her family, church, volunteer work, going back to school, becoming a mentor at the Boys & Girls Club, or any number of things that make her feel alive.
If a person’s work provides a culture that encourages employees to be themselves (with their talents, quirks, family requirements, healthcare needs, religious observations, cultural backgrounds, and more), then I would argue that the employee’s growth as an overall human will still come back around to benefit the workplace.
I love seeing stories about business leaders who go on spiritual retreats, seeking clarity, creativity, and a deeper understanding of themselves and the world. That instinct to expand (to unlock potential, to break through limitations) is what drives innovation, growth, and leadership. Each person is seeking something that will propel them to a new level of being them. The expansion people are seeking in themselves (deeper insight, creative breakthroughs, and greater meaning) can be just as powerful when applied to an entire organization.
I’m not suggesting hallucinogens at work, but I am suggesting that leaders can find collective expansion, creativity, and deep insight inside their organizations if every employee is encouraged to think bigger and dream bolder in service of the company’s mission. What if everyone working together in this way created an extended type of “flow state” for the whole organization? A better workplace, and maybe even a revolutionary one? Healthy workplaces have the potential to be engines of growth, creativity, and transformation. For every person inside them.
I smile when I read about leaders (like Sam Altman, cofounder and CEO of OpenAI) searching for new perspectives, because there’s one profound thing that connects us all: our desire to keep growing, move beyond our pain and hardships, make things together, and feel like our time means something. I have no judgment for leaders who are under enormous pressure to lead during uncertain times, who are trying everything from ayahuasca retreats to major restructuring and change management initiatives.
Whatever approaches you take, if you have employees at the heart of your organization, then the way in which you implement your solutions will matter enormously to the human beings you employ. Your words, your company culture, and your managers’ behaviors all have a major impact. If you need to let people go, remember that the moment they hear the news is another precious moment in their life’s journey. The way you say “goodbye” can be infused with the dignity, kindness, and respect every human being deserves.
Imagine a company with executives and board members who support the idea of creating conditions for employees to move up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Imagine a company that’s concerned with its employees’ ability to thrive in life, beyond their engagement at work. Imagine measuring the relationship between increasing pay for your employees and the emotional investment you get from them in return (like Sam’s Club did) enabling their employees to work full-time with one job instead of two and resulting in a 40% increase in sales.
The most visionary business leaders (the big thinkers—the future-oriented among us) can see how to shape their workplaces to unlock human potential in ways that feed back into the organization, taking the business to another level as well. They can create conditions for their employees to grow as the self-directed unique humans they are, moving toward what will make them thrive the most.
Gallup’s research in Wellbeing at Work found that employees who are both engaged and thriving have 53% fewer missed days due to health issues, translating into significantly higher productivity. What could be accomplished at your workplace with more productivity?
This kind of thriving, engagement, and productivity has a ripple effect and could create wealth and abundance for the organization, extending to the employees’ local economies and beyond.
The most visionary leaders are thinking well beyond the next quarter. Well beyond adding and subtracting company perks and benefits. They’re zooming out and thinking about what their businesses can be over the next decade. The next generation.
This Substack is the space for leaders who see something bigger.
The ones who know work can be a force for growth, creativity, and transformation.
The ones who want to create workplaces that do more than extract labor. They want to unlock human potential. They want to create workplaces that are fueled by dignity and respect for every human in its orbit, from employees to customers to community members.
That’s what we’ll be exploring here: real stories, bold strategies, and powerful psychological insights to turn this vision into reality.
Here’s what you’ll find in this Substack:
More on how to recognize a “human doing” vs. “human being” workplace
Actionable strategies for evolving your comms and culture
Examples of human-centered business practices that lead to thriving
Firsthand stories from employees who felt seen, or overlooked, at work
Psychological insights on motivation, growth, and connection
Curated recommendations for deeper learning and inspiration
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Why Human Beings / Human Doings?
I use terms like “workplace for human beings,” “human being-orientation,” and “human doing vs. human being” interchangeably to describe human-centered, people-first workplaces (as opposed to transactional ones that often contribute to burnout and disconnection.)
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