During the long stretch of the Pandemic, there has been an increase in the problem of burnout at work.
39% of employees said they felt overwhelmed at work in a survey. Only 64% of people said they felt their company cared about burnout.
We are not talking about run-of-the-mill places to work. Many of these employees are employed by Top Workplaces. Greg Barnett said there was a lot of room for improvement.
The Pandemic has turned up stress on workers. New challenges and high expectations have been present. Work and personal time were blurred by remote work. Think of people working remotely who are also dealing with elder care issues.
Think of health care workers, who have faced incredible pressure due to the challenging circumstances of their work, plus the training, and the hours.
Work isn’t always easy. There is a difference between high expectations and unreasonable expectations. There are different types of stresses that come with working.
Positive stress is when you think of things like a big project. Skills should be put to the test. Working with a group. A goal for the organization is met. It is exciting in a positive way but can be stressed out.
Acute stress and short-term stress happen all the time. It happens when someone says “Hey, I need this tomorrow” Maybe it triggered dealing with a customer. Shortterm emotional stress can be caused by situations.
Chronic stress is related to burnout. People work without enough resources or under expectations.
Chronic stress can affect people’s mental and physical health. More time off work, retention gaps, longer response times for customers, and production delays are caused by burnout.
In the early months of the Pandemic, workers rolled up their sleeves to do whatever it took. In some cases, the challenges did not go away and neither did the expectations.
Kinsey Smith, senior data analyst at Energage, said you can’t set expectations well above where they were before. Employees will not be able to deliver at that level forever without a break.
Here are what employers are doing to prevent burnout.
Asking employees how they are doing is the first step to acknowledging the issue.
Make sure the work is shared and that the expectations are reasonable.
Flexible schedules and flexible hours can be offered. It’s possible to do remote work to help.
Don’t jump from project to project, or crisis to crisis, be sure to celebrate achievements and goals.
Get innovative. No-meeting days can be used to give workers a chance to think, create and catch up.
Mental health resources are offered by more companies.
People should be allowed time to balance their work and their lives.
Smith said that companies want to help employees create a foundation for success.
She said it will feed their bottom line because if employees burn out, people are going to quit and the harder it is to replace them.
Bob is the media partnerships director at Energage. A survey partner for Top Workplaces is Energage.
