Don’t Be a Darwin Award Winning Employer

In the mid-1980s, the “Darwin Awards” were created as a tongue-in-cheek report recognizing individuals who died in stupid ways, ostensibly benefiting the human gene pool. Although it was a bit gruesome, it documented the infinite number of ways human beings can be their own worst enemy when they don’t think through the consequences of their actions. As an example, the 2017 Darwin Award winner was an employee of a Japanese warehouse who, when faced with changing a lightbulb ten meters overhead, stacked thirty-seven pallets on a forklift platform to reach the bulb. As you can imagine, pallets being what they are, this created a very unstable platform, ultimately collapsing on top of the hapless employee, causing his demise.

When applying a similar principle to work, there are common themes as to why companies “die” or cause severe damage to themselves based on their activities. There are notoriously bad business decisions (see Blockbuster's refusal to purchase Netflix), but many times, businesses die a slow death or fail to reach their full potential when they are unable to attract and retain great talent. Research using the term “employers noted for treating employees poorly” returns a litany of company names, large and small, covering businesses such as e-retailers, restaurants and food service companies, airlines, and several technology companies. Not limited to pay and benefits, common themes for employee dissatisfaction and disengagement point to burnout, understaffing, long hours with mandatory overtime, unrealistic productivity targets, toxic management, limited advancement opportunities, high levels of bureaucracy, lack of work-life balance, and a dearth of clear communication.

Contrast these employee concerns against the results from “Most Loved Workplaces,” whose 2025 findings indicate that when an employer invests in employees’ growth and sense of purpose, the employees invest back into the organization through increased productivity and longer retention. Additional factors include providing employee training that results in transferable skills, including the use of technology, and preparing employees for their next role. While we often hear the lament that companies train employees for their next job, survey results indicate that these companies are confident that their investment in growth creates a level of loyalty that compensation alone does not.

Darwin’s theory has been described as the “survival of the fittest.” Don’t be the business equivalent of a “Darwin Award” winner. Keep your organization fit by being attentive to those factors that motivate and engage employees, a significant key to your company’s survival.