3 Research-Backed Actions To Address Why Burnout Is Becoming More Common
Why is burnout so common despite awareness and a heightened focus on well-being? It costs corporations big money and the health of many high achievers. These circumstances usually light a fire under people to get things done. Yet, we need to make more progress. Some of the organizational reasons I speak on are findings in new research from Deloitte in collaboration with the independent research firm Workplace Intelligence. The study features 3,150 voices across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Let's dive into actions.
Focus on context switching
Eight in 10 respondents struggle to improve their mental, physical and social well-being, with most obstacles centering around work. Topping the list of obstacles are a heavy workload, stressful job and long work hours. An overlooked solution with a domino effect is to reduce context switching. Excessive switching increases our brain's production of the primary stress hormone, cortisol, making it harder to focus.
The Anatomy of Work Global Index 2023 by Asana found that company leaders are using ten apps on average and say they could save nearly six hours a week with improved processes. Knowledge workers find that time on duplicated work, unnecessary meetings and juggling too many apps takes up 58% of the workday, with skilled work taking up 33% and strategic work only 9%. Our favorite consumer brands invest millions of dollars and human resources on consumer journeys and personalization to enhance experiences. There's much to learn and apply from this to reduce context switching; people are a company's most productive asset.
Empower and equip
The people group usually at the forefront of the engagement discussion are our beloved managers. They are often the closest leaders to the front lines and wear many hats. In addition to their designated roles as planners, organizers and overseers, they usually find themselves in the role of coach. Yet, many feel unequipped to maximize their coaching roles because they need more specialized training. There's an art and science to coaching with well-being and employee experience in mind. Deloitte's data shows that only 42% of managers feel "completely" empowered and capable of helping their company achieve its well-being commitments.
A GoodHire survey of 3,000 workers looking at the relationship between managers and employees found that 56% of legal employees enjoy working for their managers, and 88% of healthcare workers are the most likely professionals to quit their jobs because of bad management. Micromanagement and asking employees to work outside working hours cause the biggest annoyances and frustrations. Learning and development teams would be wise to address these frustrations with training and support.
Increase accountability with publicity
We also have a workplace accountability problem, and I hear about it in some shape or form almost every week. Last week, a healthcare leader at a major company shared frustrations around inefficiencies with technology despite new system rollouts and the lack of accountability for the actions. It's no different with well-being. For some, accountability feels scary.
Who does the data reveal is stepping out and making public well-being commitments, and who is hesitant?
91% of Generation Z and Millennial executives
74% of Generation X leaders
31% of Baby boomer leaders
Why are leaders hesitant?
34% are awaiting government advice or frameworks.
21% say they don't have the right team members to monitor commitments.
19% don't have buy-in from all of their leaders or managers.
So, besides the solutions that lie in the hesitancies, how do we make further progress?
Measure and monitor workforce well-being (76% of the C-suite agreed)
Discuss it at the board level (83% say so)
Make it a requirement to publicly report workforce well-being metrics for better health outcomes, to build trust and attract talent (85% of executives concur).
With employee well-being worsening, it's clear that we need to go way deeper. I call it the mindset shift from workaholism to well-being. Let me say it bluntly in my polite British tone, get moving or move out. You can't take that lightly because 78% feel leaders should be on the job market if they can't maintain an acceptable level of workforce well-being.
This article was first published on Forbes.com.