Often times, organizations spend time on helping their people with better leadership, communication, or sales skills, which are needed, but they overlook the biggest risk to their organization…burnout.
If you’re like most companies, you’re not auditing for it, recognizing its massive impact, or implementing strategies to help with it.
Why is burnout a big risk?
Here are a few things to think about when you’re asking yourself why burnout is such a huge risk to your organization:
√ 79% of the workforce is in burnout
√ It doesn’t discriminate—it hits every company, job, and position title
√ Monster.com recently reported 95% of the workforce is thinking of leaving their job. The #1 reason citied? Burnout
√ Burnout trickles into every area of your work and home lives
√ Most companies have workplace wellness programs but 97% of them don’t help to address or prevent burnout
Both organizations and individuals are responsible for preventing and addressing burnout and many times they think the other is solely responsible. You must work together to eradicate burnout.
Where to Begin
There are three starting points for your organization.
1. Start talking about burnout. Use the word “burnout,” making sure you don’t shy away from it. You’re not planting a seed in them that they aren’t already aware of.
When you use the term, it allows them to self-identify, and it takes any stigma out of it. You can love, love, love your job and still feel burned out.
Share your burnout story. When you got burnout, why it happened, and what you did to work through it. It lets others know they aren’t alone, and that someone else gets it, which makes a huge impact.
When you have conversations around this topic, you’re creating an open forum and culture, allowing others to discuss how they feel, while giving them the space to be authentic and vulnerable and knowing they will be met with compassion, empathy, and understanding. A culture where people want to work and will remain loyal.
When you shy away from mentioning burnout, you’re developing a fear-based culture, where they will become scared to talk about how they feel, creating isolation. This will ultimately lead to more people leaving your company.
2. Send out a survey. In a time where people are more plugged in than ever, you might think they won’t fill out a survey. Yet when the survey is designed to help them, and they know you’ll take action on the information, they will love doing a survey. Hint: You must take action on the things they share in the survey. Their answers are gold.
→ In the survey, ask four vital questions:
a. What are we, as an organization, doing that’s working well in terms of helping prevent and address burnout?
b. What are we, as an organization, doing that’s isn’t working in terms of helping prevent and address burnout?
c. What do we need to do differently or new to help prevent and address burnout?
d. Where are there opportunities for improvement?
Your people will give you valuable insight, feedback and ideas on how to do better and help them combat burnout more.
3. Finally, partner with someone, like me, to bring in a burnout program to your group. When my organization works with companies on a burnout program, we customize it to meet your needs and objectives. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Some teams need more support, guidance, and accountability, while others want an online course and Q&A time.
You must be intentional and strategic in preventing and addressing burnout. It can’t be an afterthought or taking on the approach of “ignoring it and it will go away.” Burnout will never go away on its own.
It’s vital to have a burnout program for your workforce, because almost all workplace wellness initiatives don’t specifically address burnout. Yet most leaders think they do, so there is a big gap (and opportunity) that’s not being met in helping your people with what they need most.
This is huge risk to your organization, leaders, and teams, while leading to others risks too. For instance, when someone is burned out, they are less energized and focused, which creates more errors and more opportunity for cybersecurity issues (often costing companies millions of dollars).
A beneficial burnout program helps with the day-to-day, providing tactics that are easy to implement but create massive results.
With what’s deemed as The Great Resignation being here, in order to ensure you’re not part of it or finding you’re experiencing high turnover, you MUST implement a burnout program.
Now What?
Burnout is the #1 epidemic hitting the workforce, and it’s impacting your company, leaders, and teams.
You can’t afford to ignore it anymore or put it off any longer.
The real question is…what will you do about it now?
Contact me HERE if you want to reduce turnover, increase productivity, enhance engagement and create a happy, healthy, thriving workforce and culture.
I’m here to help!
