Managing Workplace Burnout: Building an Action Plan
Employee experiencing workplace burnout
Workplaces around the globe have proposed their own 1-stop solutions, like annual health workshops or 5-step checklists, to beat employee burnout in the workplace - but all of these organizations are missing the mark if they can’t understand that bettering employee experience by limiting workplace stress and burnout takes a sustainable and long-term strategy.
Workplace burnout is not a new phenomenon, but the values of employees and workers have changed to prioritize health, experience, and relationships over unhealthy or toxic occupational careers.
Burnout is defined as “... a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,”
But what qualifies as workplace stress?
Workplace stress is, “the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope” (The World Health Organization )
What are the Symptoms of Employee Burnout in the Workplace?
Burnout shows up differently for everyone, and it impacts employees in different ways. However, there are still a few signs of burnout in the workplace that employers and managers should be aware of:
Your workers may be spending less time collaborating or finding difficulty in working and sharing ideas together
Employees may be socializing and communicating less in the workplace, sharing less humor than previously
Workers may feel resistance to building relationships with one another
Employees and work teams may start having difficulty navigating conflict and conflict resolution within the workplace - and avoidant and irritable behavior leads to a toxic workplace
Stress is our body’s physical reaction to the overwhelming and extreme labor of our mental and emotional states. In the context of the workplace, the work-related stress working people face is varied and based on the individual experience of the worker.
Workplace burnout and stress are human experiences. So, as long as workplaces continue to be powered by humans, there is no future for workplaces without employee burnout and stress.
So what’s the solution to workplace burnout?
Organizations need to acknowledge and utilize how the employee experience and ‘the real world’ are intertwined and work with their employees to find the best combination of tools, resources, and strategies that recognize and address the unique stressors, challenges, and barriers their employees face in the workplace, and sometimes outside of the workplace, as individuals.
Now, we’re not saying that workplaces need to reinvent the wheel to provide burnout and health solutions for each and every employee. Instead, we encourage workplaces to provide a variety of adaptable resources and resource channels to allow their employees to personalize these tools to their independent needs.
How Disability, Chronic Illness and Stress, and Long COVID-19 should Redefine how we treat Workplace Burnout and Employee Health
Many workplaces fail to realize that employee burnout is not specifically a workplace issue - but a general health issue.
The effects and triggers of employee burnout don’t exist solely in the office or between work hours - but it accumulates from a multitude of unique experiences and stressors that spill into employees' day-to-day life and health.
A major facet of building workplaces preventative to employee burnout is disability inclusion and acceptance. In today's world, disability inclusion includes: ‘Neurodiversity, Differences in physical abilities and senses such as vision, hearing, remembering, or movement, Impairments that impact communication and social interactions or relations, Invisible disabilities, Mental health diagnoses, and Chronic illnesses (including Long COVID symptoms)’
Since the global pandemic and many major subsequent social events and changes in 2020:
Over 65 million people worldwide have identified as living with some form of more than 200 long Covid symptoms
More than 1 in 4 adults identify as living with some form of disability (which we can actually assume the number is even higher when considering factors like the lack of diagnosis, and stigma preventing individuals from feeling safe to reveal this information)
Accommodation requests for employees at work have increased by 61%
Additionally, when we acknowledge the unfair systems that exist in the workplace, it is evident in everything from wage gaps, workload, hiring practices, and daily workplace communication or relationships, that specific groups, specifically of marginalized identities, are required to work harder than others to reach organizational success. Meaning that certain employees sacrifice more of their well-being to pursue occupational advancement. For example:
Women are more likely to feel work burnout than male coworkers ( 34% women vs. 26% of men), with over one-third of respondents surveying that they feel burned out at work either ‘very often’ or ‘always’
A study found that up to 88% of Black women respondents reported that they ‘sometimes have, often, or always’ experience burnout
Professionals and workers of marginalized identities experience workplace burnout and exhaustion more than White professionals. (With 44% of BIPOC, 47% of Hispanics and East Asian/Pacific Islanders, and 41% of African Americans in the workplace experiencing work-related burnout) Business Wire
And people who live with physical disabilities are over 3X more likely to experience depression compared to the general population
So where’s a good place for businesses to start?
Firstly, don’t make the mistake of treating your workplace burnout risks as a business problem when it’s a human problem.
Quote from Mona Eshaiker, LMKT
The Long-Term Strategy for Combating Workplace Burnout: Personalization and Flexible Aid
8 Strategies that Target Personalized Employee Experience
Explore Practices based in DEIBA. One of the main benefits of workplace DEIBA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Accessibility) initiatives is the improvement of the personal workplace experience for ALL employees while reducing factors that can lead to workplace burnout and stress. These practices typically include efforts like building safe workplaces that encourage workers to show up as their most authentic selves, helping employees find/build community within the organization (such as Employee Resource Groups - ERGs), and active efforts to establish a culture of fairness and equity.
Invest in Learning and Development. Providing employees and workplace leaders with new tools, resources, and learning/educational opportunities with the help of subject matter experts and external or 3rd party resources not only creates a more responsibly informed workplace, but these resources communicate how an organization values, cares for, and prepares its workforce to navigate some of the more challenging aspects of work. Investing in employee L&D encourages a culture that is open to growth and innovation from all levels of an organization, improves retention, and helps with individual and collective skills development and long-term growth - which benefits the well-being of employees.
Prioritize Equitable Leadership Coaching and Training. According to a study by EY Consulting, 79% of U.S. employees believe that empathetic leadership majorly impacts a company’s turnover rate, a survey conducted by Good Hire found that up to 82 % of U.S. employees would also leave their roles due to bad management and leadership. By prioritizing a framework of equitable training and performance coaching, organizations can ensure that their leaders and managers are equipped and feel empowered when leading a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace culture, while also providing them the tools that communicate to their work staff how they are invested in their individual development and roles within an organization.
Establish Equitable Practices and Policies. Take the heavy load off of your team to not have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to how to navigate best conversations and practices that are equitable and accessible. Take time to re-evaluate and organize present workplace policies, see what requires further clarification, what topics need new original policies altogether, and make other important updates.
We encourage you to reach out to your employees and workplace members to learn if there are any existent gaps or any underlying issues that may have gone unresolved.
Support the development of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Employee resource groups (ERGs) play an important role in shaping an inclusive, supportive workplace culture that benefits both employees and the company as a whole. By promoting psychological safety and community, ERGs contribute to a positive employee experience that can reduce workplace burnout, increase productivity, and foster a sense of belonging in the workplace. This, in turn, can lead to better retention rates, more diverse leadership opportunities, and the development of innovative solutions that help organizations reach new success.
Schedule flexibility (4-day workweek & hybrid) Workplaces have found that providing employees more time away from the office to rest and tend to their home lives has encouraged higher levels of productivity and performance. Research on the four-day workweek and hybrid work model has shown that by reducing work hours, employees adopt better sleep habits, and experience lower levels of stress, and how these initiatives improve the overall work-life experience at an organization.
What can employees do with this time?
Families have more time together, people/ employees have more time to connect with folks in their communities, people have more time to focus on their health needs and can find support and resources, and the list goes on. The goal of flexible work is to support employees as individuals and professionals (which means within and outside of the workplace) to facilitate an innovative and productive workplace.
Workplace Boundaries Boundaries serve as markers between an employee's personal and professional life to identify important needs or availability in order to establish a healthy work-life balance. Weak boundaries often lead to employee burnout, as workers over-prioritize their professional responsibilities at the expense of their health, relationships, and well-being. It takes time and practice to recognize your personal needs, define your boundaries, and later advocate for them in the workplace.
Setting boundaries is not an easy skill for many, and it may be worth educating your work staff on the benefits and best practices of workplace boundary setting and communication to encourage empathy and consideration.
Opportunity for feedback and reflection and restrategizing. Feedback and opportunities for reflection are essential steps for organizations committed to progressive change and employee loyalty - but they also help alleviate sources of burnout! By providing channels for employees to voice their concerns, suggestions, and feedback, organizations can identify underlying issues and areas for improvement, while increasing employee engagement, encouraging organizational trust, and reducing levels of stress and burnout in the workplace.
Opportunities for feedback also provide employees with an outlet for their concerns and suggestions, which can help address workplace burnout and foster a sense of engagement and trust.
It may help to invest in a 3rd party or agency resource to work with experts to conduct thorough audits and assessments, to best understand the data and reports, and to build a long-lasting strategy.
Companies will struggle if they continue to miscommunicate or mishandle the burnout of their employees with collective or generalized department-wide solutions. Not all employees or people have the same needs or experience symptoms of burnout in the same ways or with the same consequences.
Now in an age where diverse workplaces hold impactful value and are necessary, it’s of growing importance that employers and companies put in the extra work to educate themselves and their teams to create the accessible and inclusive workplace that will drive their success. Nowadays to facilitate innovation and employee engagement, employers must learn to be considerate of their teams, how they can support their work needs, and encourage workplace belonging.
In the end, there is no single solution to combating burnout since the way it develops and its influences on one’s life affect no 2 people alike. The workplace consists of living, fluctuating human beings- the answer can be no less ambiguous or flexible. Practicing a daily commitment to learning and doing more to better the workplace, empathy, and openness to flexibility are good ways to begin adapting your workplace to support your workers.
But what does this look like in action? The Rise Journey has researched, trialed, errored, and developed a team of passionate professionals who’ve helped us compile this list of company best practices that help our team stay accountable in our long-term mission to create a workplace that is supportive of our workers and battle our own workplace burnout.
The Battle of Workplace Burnout is the Battle for Improved Employee Experience
‘Burnout’ is only a symptom of a long history of common workplace malpractices. No matter how much an organization talks about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in its mission statement, without daily action and proactive change within the company - the business continues to fail its workers. There is no option to wait until next year or later to implement changes that protect the workforce.
Battling burnout is battling the former corporate-centric exclusive system of work. Battling workplace burnout is acknowledging the individualistic needs of the individual employees who make up your team and working force and creating space for flexibility in work to serve our teams with empathy and equity.
Battling work burnout will take time, learning, unlearning, and empathy- it’ll take restructuring the way we communicate, understanding the complexity of language and the power dynamics and systems in place, and deconstructing what it means to really create space for representation that will facilitate workspaces that are progressive and healthy.
We encourage you to browse our list of 80+ expert-led Lunch & Learn sessions on mental health, wellness, and burnout that can help your work leaders and team understand and learn best practices for burnout prevention and managing a healthy work-life balance.
Book a chat with our team to learn more about our Lunch & Learn sessions, workshops, our subject matter experts, and which sessions may be most compatible with the needs of your workplace!
