Zurich: demanding quality without creating fear of mistakes
In Zurich’s financial services, insurance, tech and European headquarters of international groups, some mistakes can have significant consequences. The management question is specific: how can high standards be maintained without turning every imperfection into a threat to someone’s professional worth?
What the literature establishes
Andrew P. Hill and Thomas Curran (2016, Personality and Social Psychology Review) distinguish, in their meta-analysis, the pursuit of high standards from perfectionistic concerns, including fear of mistakes and negative evaluations. These concerns show clearer positive associations with burnout than the pursuit of high standards alone. Describing perfectionism as uniformly protective or harmful therefore obscures an important distinction.
When quality becomes persistent doubt
Randy O. Frost, Patricia Marten, Cathleen Lahart and Robin Rosenblate (1990, Cognitive Therapy and Research) proposed a multidimensional measure distinguishing, among other things, personal standards, concern over mistakes and doubts about actions. Their study does not establish a causal mechanism at work, but provides useful language for distinguishing ambition from anxious self-evaluation. An additional check may therefore reflect a technical necessity or an inability to regard the work as finished: the observable action alone cannot distinguish between them.
The premature conclusion
One conclusion would be to ask teams to lower their standards. These studies justify neither reducing regulatory checks nor assuming that high standards automatically protect against burnout. A more specific management hypothesis is to clarify the expected quality criteria and avoid turning corrections to a deliverable into an overall judgement of its author. (our executive and employee training programmes)
What the evidence cannot determine
The meta-analysis brings together research from several domains, not just work; its associations do not prove that a management style causes burnout. The study on the dimensions of perfectionism does not evaluate a workplace intervention either. These limitations rule out diagnosing employees from their checking habits or making them responsible for an ill-defined approval process.
A practical check in Zurich
As part of SHR’s “Psychosocial Risks” programme, a Zurich team can test an explicit sign-off rule for one month on a category of recurring deliverables: mandatory criteria met, a named decision owner and specific conditions for reopening approval. It can record the proportion of deliverables reopened without an identified non-conformity or a documented new requirement, before and during the test, while also tracking defects detected after sign-off. Fewer reopenings without an increase in defects would indicate a possible process improvement, not prove a reduction in burnout. To go further: explore the Psychosocial Risks training in Zurich in the canton of Zurich, or browse our executive and employee training programmes in Switzerland.
In pictures: Psychosocial Risks in Zurich
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