Zombie professionals: how can HR improve team performance?

We live in a world of excessive digital stimuli. Simply turning on our computers or mobile devices exposes us to a barrage of news, information, and activities that are fostering significant screen addiction. This high number of hours spent online, especially for those working remotely, severely impairs the focus and mental health of brilliant talents, who often end up operating on autopilot, akin to professional zombies.

In this scenario, the Human Resources (HR) department plays a crucial role in ensuring technology is leveraged to our advantage—by creating connections and maintaining the quality of life for each of us, even from a distance.

The amount of time Brazilians spend connected is staggering. According to data from the IBGE, they spend over 90 hours per week immersed in the online universe, a trend strongly linked to the growth of remote work, which has led to significantly more time in front of computers completing tasks. The result, however, is quite negative for our health, increasing cases of anxiety and overload, and, to make matters worse, diminishing genuine daily connections among teams.

Capturing people's focus is becoming increasingly difficult, making this attention economy a highly scarce and valuable resource in our society. This is precisely where HR steps in as the guardian of the balance between personal and professional life within environments naturally disrupted by technological advancements—by promoting healthy disconnection practices and advocating for boundaries that must be respected in this digital landscape.

Whether through workshops, lectures, mentoring, or other activities, HR must educate leaders about these online boundaries, facilitating ongoing conversations about topics such as the importance of not sending work-related messages outside business hours, scheduling meetings in advance to allow everyone to prepare, encouraging breaks during the workday, and promoting internal marketing initiatives that create opportunities to discuss topics other than work.

These issues must be integrated into company policies, not merely remain as "lip service." After all, digital platforms are designed to capture our eyes and minds, and when this happens at work, we lose what is most essential for creating value for companies: focus.

We cannot create zombie professionals, exhausted by their routines due to the daily information overload they receive, and consequently unable to produce quality results. They will always be online but never truly present, making attention the most valuable currency in the market today—even a competitive advantage, given how rare such an asset has become.

The human resources department plays an essential role in promoting a more humanized and connected people management approach. It must act as a curator of attention, creating initiatives that foster and improve team relationships while filtering out noise that detracts from this greater objective. Helping people understand where to direct their energy more intelligently in their work routines improves not only their performance but also their quality of life and work-life balance.