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By the Numbers: Employee Burnout, Workplace Discrimination, and the Great Resignation

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Sometimes research emerges that sets a new high-water mark on a troubling trend — and it’s well worth paying attention to. That’s the case with the recent Work and Well-Being Survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA) of 1,501 U.S. adult workers. Conducted in 2021, it remains extremely relevant to where we are now. 

The survey reveals a strong connection between stress, burnout, workplace discrimination, and the Great Resignation. If that sounds like a topic you should know more about, we heartily agree. We also think that the fact that the research was conducted outside an HR-centric organization actually makes it all the more valuable for those of us in HR — particularly leadership.

The Bottom Line of Burnout

Here’s the bottom line: employee burnout is undeniably high. It’s clearly a major factor in the Great Resignation. It’s also affecting employees unequally: discrimination is a thru-line there. We took a closer look at some of the survey’s most telling statistics to see how we’re doing. As you look for strategies to stave off employee departures and reduce workplace-related stress, these are numbers (and issues) you need to keep in mind.

Burnout is at an All-Time High, Regardless of Profession

  • 79% of employees across all professions reported work-related stress. 
  • Nearly 3 in 5 employees reported negative impacts of work-related stress, including lack of interest, motivation, or energy at work. 
  • 36% reported cognitive weariness.
  • 32% reported emotional exhaustion
  • 44% reported physical fatigue — a 38% increase since 2019.

Burnout is a Key Factor in the Great Resignation

There’s a clear association between day-to-day workplace stress and the likelihood they will look for a new job somewhere else, and soon:

  • 71% reported feeling typically stressed out or tense during their workday.
  • Only 20% reported they didn’t feel that way.
  • Those who report feeling tense or stressed out during the workday are over 3X more likely to seek employment somewhere else in the next year.

Workplace Discrimination

It’s not only stressful, but employees are also sick and tired of it — and it’s making them seek employment elsewhere:

  • 68% of those who say they have experienced or witnessed discrimination in their current workplace plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 
  • Only 33% of those who say they did not experience or witness discrimination in their current workplace plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 

The Breakdown is Telling

Black and Hispanic:

  • 31% of Black and Hispanic employees say they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace in the last year. 
  • 20% of White employees say they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace in the last year. 
  • 58% of Hispanic and 57% of Black employees plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 
  • 37% of White employees plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 

LGBTQ+:

  • 32% of LGBTQ+ employees say they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace in the last year.
  • 23% of non- LGBTQ+ employees say they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace in the last year.
  • 56% of LGBTQ+ employees plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 
  • 43% of non-LGBTQ+ employees plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 

People with Disabilities:

  • 47% of people with disabilities say they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace in the last year.
  • 19% of people without a disability say they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace in the last year.
  • 63% of people with disabilities plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 
  • 41% of people without a disability plan to look for a job outside of their organization in the next year. 

Women and Burnout

What’s not in here: how women are faring. Women’s experience with workplace burnout is its own topic, and we’ll be covering it. There are also plenty of other factors contributing to the soaring rates of workplace stress, from overwork to not enough paid leave, to low compensation to being left out of decision-making. Look for our coverage of those as well in the coming months. (In the meantime, please read here for more on the connection between employee responses to the pandemic and workplace stress — an uneasy and ongoing relationship. And for an interesting take on overcoming burnout pre-pandemic, check out this great #WorkTrends podcast we did with a public schools counselor turned go-to executive coach. — her wisdom still holds true.)

Final Thoughts

The numbers we’ve included here paint a clear picture — and as we look for a special sauce that will slow down voluntary quits, it’s time to get back to basics. The importance of an inclusive workplace where everyone feels like they belong is inarguable — and the APA’s stats should prompt a serious re-think. Once again, kudos to them for doing such a well-considered, diligent deep dive into this important workplace topic. 

How HR Professionals Can Provide Better Support to Single Parents

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A growing number of single parents make up today’s workforce. Besides the challenges of having adequate childcare, these employees are concerned with needs that impact their work time, including sick leave, unexpected school closures, and other emergencies. These pressures can distract them, affecting both productivity and work quality.

To address this issue, HR professionals should take measures to support these employees. Doing so will improve retention while boosting the reputation of your company.

Growing Numbers of Single Parents in The Workforce

According to a 2019 survey by Pew Research, 23 percent of children under age 18 are raised by a single parent. You likely have one or even several single parents in your firm.

HR professionals need to keep in mind that offering help to single parents does not just benefit the employees. It’s also a critical component of employee retention. In a 2020 survey of 1,500 working parents, 40 percent said they were considering resigning in order to better care for their children.

Providing adequate support for the needs of single parents is a must to ensure that your company remains competitive. Here are some options to consider.

Child Care Options

One option that some HR departments can consider is supporting the number one need of these workers—child care services. While some companies can provide child care on-premises, that is not a reality for most companies.

However, it may be possible to partner with a nearby child care facility and provide a discount if you have enough employees with this need. Another option is to subsidize some or all of your employees’ child care costs. However, this may impact the salaries you can offer.

Provide a Variety of Plans

Rather than paying for child care, consider offering your employees a flexible spending account. This allows employees to put aside funds before taxes to save money. Funds can be put towards child care or other needs they may have for their families.

Working parents also need to provide their families with quality health care. Be sure to offer a variety of options for families to help them choose a health plan that fits their needs and budget. HMOs, PPOs, and POSs are the most popular options depending on your budget.

Offer Flexible Work Options

A popular post-pandemic work trend today is continuing to offer remote work. While many employees are heading back to the office, others are opting to remain home. Remote workers may be more productive than those in the office. And that can eliminate the high cost of child care.

Flexible work options do not have to be fully remote. You can offer employees a variety of options:

  • Flexible start times
  • One day out of the office
  • Half days
  • Fully remote except for meetings and on-site required days
  • Job sharing

You must develop policies for remote work days or times. For example, set standard policies for video conferencing attendance, such as no outside noise, proper dress code, and professional-looking backgrounds.

Training in Budgeting and Finances

Another way to support employees who are single parents is to offer training in budgeting and finances. These workshops can benefit your entire staff since COVID-19 had a tremendous financial impact on many people.

Helping your team to become financially literate reduces their stress while improving their loyalty to the company. Additionally, financial wellness programs are attractive perks that improve the value of your company.

Some of the topics you can cover include:

  • Budgeting 101
  • Homebuying tips
  • Boosting your credit score
  • Training on retirement benefits that match what you offer them

It’s important that your department lays out the details of any plans and options you choose to offer, both in the employee handbook and to attract new talent. Discuss these with the legal department and IT to avoid any concerns that may come up, such as data security.

Preventing Employee Burnout

Employee burnout is a real issue, particularly for single parents who work full time. Fully remote staffers can suffer fatigue from too many Zoom calls or working from home. Some parents prefer to go into the office so they can better appreciate their families.

How can you help your remote employees to avoid these issues? First of all, avoid scheduling wall-to-wall zoom meetings. Limit the number you have per day, making sure to invite only those who need to be there for meetings of lesser importance.

Support your employees by checking in with them from time to time. Use emails, surveys, and even phone calls. You can also create remote co-working sessions so employees at home don’t feel isolated the whole day.

Finally, edify your remote employees. Create online team-building activities, offer virtual mentorship programs, and consider providing professional development options that can be accessed online.

Addressing the needs of working parents is the responsibility of every HR professional. Offer the right mix of options to help them to thrive in the workplace. This will help your company stand out as a superior employment choice for single-parent professionals.

 

Got Burned-Out Employees? Rethink Learning and Development

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As we transition to a post-pandemic working world, I need my team to ________.

How did you fill in the blank? 

Many organizations need employees to focus on a host of skills and tasks to help their business bounce back from the pandemic. Priorities include improving communication, building resilience, selling, cultivating digital dexterity, and more. All this is important, yet there’s a major problem: many employees aren’t in learning mode.

It’s not that employees are lazy, unmotivated, or dispassionate about their development. It’s simply that they’re experiencing employee burnout, and as they transition back to the office, they feel can’t take on more. Having to learn new skills on top of reintegrating with teams, settling into a “new” office, and readjusting their work schedule feels like an overwhelming proposition.

Regardless, there are skills that teams need to develop right now for businesses to achieve both short-term and long-term results. 

To resolve this, businesses must embrace the reality that as the concept of work has been disrupted, so has the concept of learning. Traditional approaches to development–like face-to-face instruction—need to be re-imagined to ensure that employees can build skills at the right pace. What’s more, new ways of thinking and working must be introduced gradually to ensure they can become sustainable habits.

To achieve this, employers must integrate learning into a professional’s day-to-day work life and streamline it. Here are four ways to make this happen.

Abandon classroom training. 

Not forever. Just for now. Employees have zero appetite for cramming into a small room with their teams to listen to a PowerPoint lecture for hours. And lengthy learning games and ice breakers? Forget about them. During the pandemic, we learned how important our time is. Even the idea of sitting in a classroom can be un-motivating. For employers and safety restrictions, it’s also an unnecessary extra hurdle to prepare a room for learning. We now know there are other ways to learn. You can learn virtually, independently, through asynchronous methods, and more. Right now is not the time for classroom learning. Maybe in the future. But not now.

Think hybrid. 

Just as we now have a new appreciation for what a hybrid work environment looks like, learning should take the same approach. By looking at their learning methods (in-person learning, virtual learning, live vs recorded instruction, self-led development, book clubs, etc.) employers can create a mashup. Identify the skills that need to be developed and the time it takes to develop each respective skill. Then, be creative with how you can build the skill in micro-learning sessions over a set period of time. In regard to micro-learning, think about a learning session that takes less than 90 minutes.

For example, you can partner with clients to deliver cohort training, which leverages group, virtual learning, and one-on-one coaching. Deliver the group learning in multiple micro-sessions. The coaching serves as a supplement to ensure that the knowledge shared is both retained and customized for each participant. Make each group learning session 60 t0 90 minutes. Allow each coaching call to be 30 to 45 minutes. Deliver content over the course of three months to support development, while ensuring that nothing is more than any participant can handle. Have each participant schedule their coaching session at a time that best suits their schedule. Cohort training is ideal for time-constrained managers.

Leverage technology. 

We’re all gifted at leveraging Zoom, Teams, and Google by now. There are still different platforms we can utilize to share knowledge, like Padlet, Quizlet, Mural, and more. Help employees learn at their own pace with LinkedIn Learning and other sites like Udemy and Coursera.

It’s not all on the shoulders of employers to create and distribute content. You can design a self-paced course, complete with accountability metrics, to provide your employees with the right amount of learning at the time that’s right for them. Don’t make learning a time-consuming affair. Spread it out over a longer period of time. It also doesn’t have to be expensive, especially if you’ve got the right partner with the right platform.

Share the responsibility.  

Professionals showed creativity in the “getting stuff done” department during the COVID-19 crisis. Allow them to apply their ingenuity around their skills development. Provide the expectation, share the options, and then allow them to find their time to learn. Forced-fed learning is rarely effective. Setting a high standard, allowing team members autonomy, and reinforcing with accountability is a great way to generate engagement. As an added bonus, this method helps encourage on-the-job learning. This is more valuable because professionals get to apply what they’re learning in real-time, ensuring that the habits they’re building become lasting. After all, real-life learning is always more impactful than learning done in a laboratory setting.

Re-imagine learning and development. An incremental, micro-learning approach to development has never been more on time and on target.

Image from Stokkete

Loneliness and Isolation: Fighting New Forms of Employee Burnout

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Employee burnout is real. According to a Gallup poll, a staggering 76% of employees experience some form of burnout in their careers. In a survey conducted here at TalentCulture, only 5% said they had not experienced any feelings of burnout since the pandemic began.

So, what’s causing this? The usual suspects like heavy workloads are, unreasonable deadlines exist, of course. The absence of direction and feedback from supervisors and lack of upward mobility remain near the top of the list.  But two other reasons for employee burnout surfaced during the pandemic: Isolation and loneliness. And here’s the thing: Feelings of loneliness and isolation can affect one’s health in the same way that smoking 15 cigarettes a day can. In a separate study, researcher Juliane Holt-Lundstad found that loneliness is worse for you than obesity.

It doesn’t get any more real than that. Let’s discuss…

Our Guest: Amy Durham, Certified Executive Coach and Corporate Mystic

This week, Amy Durham joined me on the #WorkTrends podcast. Amy is a U.C. Berkeley Certified Executive Coach, an Emotional Intelligence Practitioner, and is the author of Create Magic at Work. Amy has been studying the impact of loneliness and isolation in the pandemic workplace, and she’s here to understand how leadership and employees can work together towards a plan to overcome the overwhelming effects these factors have on the body and mind. When I asked Amy what is causing burnout today, she got right to the root cause and the solution:

“Harvard Business Review came out with an article about ‘America’s loneliest workers.’ What they found was that the lack of workplace social support had negative business outcomes. And what’s cool is that if you bring people together, even on Zoom, it increases job satisfaction and reduces burnout.”

“Bringing people together — providing social support — is so important. And it’s a win-win because it improves profitability and productivity, keeps retention high and helps employees stay engaged.”

Combating Employee Burnout Through Connections

I asked Amy what leaders can do to help eliminate the feelings of loneliness and isolation as they worked from home — or anywhere else — where social support wasn’t readily available or apparent. 

“I encourage every leader to take responsibility — to have the courage to facilitate a connecting activity. For example, ask a meaningful question to kick off a meeting like ‘When was the last time something gave you goosebumps?’ and then listen, really listen, to the answer.”

“People never forget that because you actually connect with someone,” Amy added as she stressed how important that social connection is to preventing, or defeating, loneliness and isolation.

Yes, employee burnout is real. And as we identify new forms and new causes, we must pay attention. As Amy says, we must have the courage to take responsibility. And we, as business leaders and HR professionals, must act. 

I hope you enjoy this episode of #WorkTrends — and I hope it inspires you to make meaningful connections and provide the social support that helps combat this new form of employee burnout. I also hope you’ll learn more about this issue by connecting with our guest, Amy Durham, on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

 

Andrew Neel

Employee Burnout: How Leaders Can Help Right Now

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I want you to look around at your employees — in person where possible, and on that Zoom call. Then, I want you to think about how they’re doing. 9 times out of 10, they’re at least a little burned out. One of the areas we’ve been focusing on a lot here at TalentCulture is employee wellness. What that means right now is we’re looking at an entire workforce that seems, well, exhausted. Employee burnout is on the rise. And chances are, dear reader, that may not be a surprise to you at all.

There are certainly many external factors playing a role in the growing wave of burned out employees. Those range from a scary economy to social turmoil. And from political upheavals to a terrifying health crisis. There are domestic factors: The disruptions and worries of parenting and caregiving through the pandemic. In addition, there are more pressures facing business and the workplace now than we’ve never seen before. Recently, Eagle Hill Consulting ran a survey of U.S employees. They discovered 45 percent reported suffering from burnout, whether they are essential workers or remote. 25 percent linked their stress to COVID-19 — and that was in April, when we were just weeks in.

By July, a study by FlexJobs and Mental Health America reported that 75% of employees were dealing with burnout at work.

For employees, it’s VUCA time. So what should leaders do?

It’s time to roll up our sleeves and take care of our people. And that doesn’t take grand gestures. We don’t need to invest in new software or major changes. There are simple strategies you can execute right now. Simple. But they may mean a lot:

Commit to Mental Health

The Eagle Hill study shows employees could use more help:

  • 36 percent feel their company is not taking action to combat employee burnout
  • A mere 20 percent feel they’re getting the mental and physical wellness resources they need

And in a July 2020 poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation, 53 percent of the adults surveyed reported that coronavirus-related stress and worries were eroding their mental health — up from 32 percent in March. 

A few months ago, I had a great conversation with a start up about how they’re supporting employees through COVID-19. Being young and lean, they had to optimize their offerings without rebuilding their entire benefits program. So they looked at their mental health benefits and made a tweak or two. It’s no secret that stress, anxiety and depression can wreak havoc on an employee’s ability to focus and work. So they provided remote employees access to professional counseling through tele-therapy. In short order, among all the benefits available to employees, tele-therapy became one the most utilized and popular programs.

Bringing the need for therapy out into the open took the taboo and the stigma away — at a time when many people need mental health support the most.

Improve What Already Exists

There’s an interesting pushback going on regarding flexibility and remote working. Some employers are still singing the “when we reopen” song. They are using it as a rationale for just letting their workforce get by. Again, I know a lot of companies are feeling the pandemic pinch. They may not have the spend for their wishlist of new HR technology right now. But the reality is we may ever get everyone back to the office — at least not in the same pre-pandemic way. After all, remote working and flexible schedules are enabling people to handle one of the hardest periods of time (barring wars, of course) this country has ever faced.

Given the importance of employee engagement, staving off burnout, and increasing performance and productivity why wouldn’t you maximize the best aspects of working remotely?

Perhaps you can’t invest in a new platform right now because the business environment has thrown off your plans. That’s a reality for many. People are already functioning and working remotely and have been for months. S0 chances are you don’t need more technology to get your people to work together better.

Focus on Weak Spots

So focus on those pesky weak spots. What’s causing friction? Where is trust the weakest? Around deliverables? Around hierarchies? Maybe around teams?

Have you crafted and shared a set of policies and expectations around how your people are supposed to work remotely? If not, do it now. Do some in-house remote training on best practices and etiquette. Be proactive about the problem of sexual harassment or bias showing up in virtual interactions. Write a set of simple policies around parenting and caregiving emergencies. 

Just as important, engineer some lightness into the workdays — because, in general, those days have gotten very long. Allot time for informal get-togethers and casual conversations. Find ways for employees to have a little fun. A giving challenge or a gratitude drive, for example. Or a meet-the-kids (or the pets) event.

Working remotely can’t all be about work all the time. Now that work has come home, let some of home come to work.

Ask People What They Need

Pandemic aside, employee burnout was alive and well in countless work cultures already — and the pandemic just compounded the problem. Blame hyper-tight production cycles, toxic levels of competition among coworkers and teams, and managers too spread thin to spend any time helping teams. The fact is a whole host of other subpar conditions existed before the pandemic hit. What I mean is this: Fundamentally, most organizations want to be great places to work. But things happen. Then came COVID-19, and that’s been a whole new level of “happen.”

The silver lining here is that now there’s no excuse for reaching out to employees to make sure they’re all right. Whether that’s a pulse survey, an informal check-in via text, or even a phone call — reach out. Burnout is often triggered when employees are completely tapped out — mentally, physically, emotionally — and feel like they’re not getting any acknowledgement or support. Extended periods of high stress, overly tight deadlines, disruptive shifts in the workflow — all can lead to the mounting frustration that can result in burnout.

The Best Way to Avoid Employee Burnout

The most important thing you can do to help your workforce avoid burnout? Find out how they are and where they are really struggling. It may be hard to do this individually and in confidence. So instead, solicit anonymous feedback and share the results in a way that doesn’t expose anyone, or anything. Further, share it with a transparent commitment to make things better. Then actually do it.  

None of these three strategies need fancy bells and whistles to get off the ground. All they really require is a heartfelt reality check. One that helps deals with the here and now. One that acknowledges that work during a pandemic — remote or not — is exposing our vulnerabilities as well as our strengths. 

A video conference hosted by the Wharton School of Business and U Penn focused on the prospect of getting back to “normal” whether for corporate and knowledge workers or for frontline and essential workers. Given everything, they determined that we’re not going to get there until November 2021. That’s more than a year away. So don’t be the employer remembered for overloading your people when life was already hard enough.

Don’t shelve employee wellness until all this is over. Work to improve your conditions for the present. Prevent the employee burnout happening now.

Protecting Your Workforce from the Burnout Epidemic

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Employee burnout is a problem that is affecting many businesses today. In our always-on, always-connected world, employees are reaching their breaking points quickly. In fact, according to the study in Employment Engagement Series by Kronos Incorporated, 95 percent of human resource leaders say that the employee burnout is sabotaging their workforce. It’s not only just mid level staff feeling overworked – the study shows that nearly half of HR leaders blame burnout for up to half of their aggregated staff quitting each year. Burnout costs companies millions a year in turnover, low productivity and healthcare costs. Even so, companies tend to treat burnout as a personal issue rather than recognizing it as a workplace cultural issue. Unless leaders advocate preventive measures, burnout will continue to be an epidemic that threatens the workforce. So what can you when you sense burnout? Here are some tips.

Limit Collaboration

Collaboration isn’t often cited as one of the underlying causes of burnout. However, feeling like every tiny movement at work is being monitored is a surefire way to stress out employees, leading to quick burnout. Millennials, who make up a large part of the workforce, think differently from previous generations. They are increasingly concerned with a workplace culture and environment when searching for jobs. They like to have some control and autonomy, especially when it comes to completing tasks. Automation is one way to run things in a smoother fashion, especially when it comes to employee scheduling and task assignment. By granting autonomy in scheduling, stress levels of both leaders and employees can be reduced. Excessive collaboration also leads to many meetings, conferences and more to make sure everyone is on the same page. This ends up taking away from working hours, and created a fragmented schedule that reduces productivity, forcing employees to work overtime to make up for lost time. It is thus important for leaders to recognize this, and limit unnecessary collaboration. Giving people back the time to do the actual work that drives the company will result in a healthier and happier workforce, as well as greater dividends.

Spread out responsibilities

Sometimes, due to hiring not matching company growth, employee workload tends to increase. Companies tend to overestimate the impact of digital technology in productivity. In turn the most capable employees are overloaded with work to meet deadlines and get things done. This cycle leads to burnout, often resulting in the loss of a company’s best talent. In one study the average manager was losing one day a week to email and other electronic communications and two days a week to meetings. It stands to reason that a highly talented manager would lose even more. This, companies must give bank this time by reducing workload so that managers can cope without overloading. Alongside this, instead of solely relying on the most capable, it helps to spread out responsibilities and leave some aspects of decision making to others, so as to balance workload.

Define communication expectations

Today, employees are always on. Studies show that Eighty-two percent of employees have responded to work-related emails while on vacation and 87 percent of employees think it is acceptable to call or text coworkers and clients regarding work-related matters outside the standard work hours. This continuous connectivity doesn’t allow for employees to ever feel like they aren’t at work, carving the path for burnout. Management can avoid burnout by utilizing resources effectively and thoughtfully putting together teams. As a part of this, it is prudent to develop a “communications” policy and set acceptable expectations when it comes to communicating. Employees’ freedom to disconnect should be respected, and even encouraged by leaders.

Encourage Breaks and Time Off

Even though most organizations give a set number of paid holidays every year, many employees don’t end up using them. Often, employees will let these add up with the intention of taking a long vacation at the end of the year, but when that time comes, something or the other prevents them from doing so and their leave lapses. Some employees even save up their leave in the eventuality they will need it if they fall ill or have a family emergency. While it makes sense to so with some amount of paid leave, employees should feel as though they are able to take time off even if it’s for a holiday, utilizing their paid time off the same. Going on a short vacation or simply having a little time away from work allows for much needed rejuvenation of the mind and body. Leaders should encourage breaks and utilizing time off, especially if they notice particular employees on the verge of burnout. Taking a step back may seem contrary to work ethic and instinct, but in the long term, it will keep employees more grounded and less likely to fall prey to anxiety.

Practice What You Preach

A company’s tone is set from top down. No matter the type of employees you hire, company culture is in part dictated by managerial decisions and behavior. With this in mind, leaders should encourage team members to communicate with one another, especially when it comes to setting expectations about personal boundaries and work availability. It’s important to promote activities that encourage team bonding, and provide personal development. Leaders need to take part in these activities too, not just watch from a distance. Similarly, when it comes to taking time off, employees should be able to see management taking breaks or going on vacation, so that they are encouraged to do the same. Leaders need to be the ones to constantly motivate employees to be more productive, whether this means sometimes working remotely, or taking walks through the day. The higher-ups must set the tone, so that employees feel comfortable enough to do what they need to do to maintain a good personal and work-life balance, thus avoiding frustrations.

Ultimately, managers should lead by example and inculcate a set of anti-burnout measures within the workplace. Yes, it’s easier said than done, especially when they are multiple deadlines to be met and external stakeholders to please. But with a few rules, transparent and reasonable expectation and an efficient division of labor, these changes will quickly become ingrained into company culture, extinguishing the tendencies towards employee burnout.

Photo Credit: WernerKappler Flickr via Compfight cc

This article was first published on FOW Media. 

Addressing Burnout: Protecting Employees for the Future

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Although some believe new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) will push humans out of the workforce in the future, the fact remains that humans are working more now than they ever have—due, in large part, to technology itself. With the rise of mobility comes the rise of accessibility—an “always-on” and “always-connected” culture that is pushing many Americans over the edge when it comes to work/life balance. In fact, Harvard Business Review recently published an article showing that psychological and physical conditions of burned out employees cost between $125 billion and $190 billion in healthcare spending each year. Nearly half of human resources (HR) professionals attribute up to 50 percent of employee turnover to burnout. In business terms, that’s not just a problem—it’s an epidemic.

I remember the first time—long ago—that I was given a business cell phone. Although it made me feel pretty important at the time, I later learned just how invasive it was to have anyone from work call me anywhere, at any time. That’s nothing compared to what employees in the digital landscape are experiencing.

Although mobility is offering an increasing number of employees the flexibility to work remotely, it’s also increasing expectations of how accessible employees need to be. Reports show that more than 80 percentof employees have responded to work emails while on vacation, and nearly 90 percent believe it’s OK to call or text someone outside of work hours. If your company is drowning in burnout and overwhelm, you’re not alone. But you’d do well to follow the recommendations below to reverse the trend before turnover and stress-related illness start robbing you of productivity and talent.

Evaluate Your Culture

I could argue that almost every issue in the digital workplace today is first and foremost an issue of culture. That is absolutely the case where burnout is concerned. Are there lots of last-minute, harried deadlines? Extensive approval processes? Do executives often work late hours and contact employees during the evenings and weekends? Would an employee feel awkward leaving work at a normal time—even though they weren’t specifically warned against it? If so, you’ve got a definite culture problem.

Model Healthful Behavior

Perhaps the easiest way to alleviate burn-out: stop burning out yourself. Employees will generally seek to model the behavior of those who lead them. If they see their bosses working all weekend or through the evening, they will often feel compelled to do it, too—even just for fear of losing their position. Help ease their concerns by taking regular breaks throughout the day, communicating hours of unavailability, and communicating about the importance of your own hobbies, family, and personal experiences in your own life.

Engage Employees in the Process

If you want a happy and engaged workforce, you need to actually engage them in the policies and processes that create your work environment. Talk to them about how deadlines are set, collaboration is performed, and the number of meetings and calls they have throughout the day. Those things are easy to fix, and are far easier to remedy than health issues or a mass employee exodus. Further, rather than assuming that 24/7 “on-time” is the norm, encourage employees to post “off times” when they will be completely unavailable—including vacation.

Know How Many is Too Many

One of my friends worked for a large electricity provider that was filled to the gills with collaborative projects, lengthy and complex review process, and a general issue of “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Once, she noted that a boss had asked five employees to work on a draft of one single email—an email that could have been handled in less than an hour if delegation and trust had been properly placed. As a manager, know how many employees, meetings—and opinions—are too many, and establish a culture of trust so that you can delegate effectively.

Making Health and Well-being Part of Your Daily To-Do List

It is a leader’s responsibility to make sure that employees know how to balance work and life. At one Fortune 500 company, employees engage in “homeroom meetings” every morning to gauge the individual work levels, discuss who needs help for the day, and discuss any other issues, including personal overwhelm. Getting those issues out in the open—and knowing employees will be supporting when expressing them—will go a long way in preventing burnout for your team.

Technology is here to help us—not hurt us. But we are the only ones that can set our own healthy limits to ensure that it is used safely. “Always on” isn’t always good—and it’s time we all start recognizing it.

Additional Articles on This Topic:
How Data is Driving Employee Burnout—And What to Do About It
Enterprise Mobility: Eliminating the Need for Traditional Offices
Tackling Collaborative Overload in Your Organization

Photo Credit: ericwilson2214 Flickr via Compfight cc

This article originally appeared on Future of Work.

How Data is Driving Employee Burnout—and What to Do About It

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Big data has gone from buzzword to business staple, affecting everything from how companies recruit and hire to how employees perform core functions in the workplace. It’s indisputable modern tech has infiltrated work habits and boosted the potential for team productivity; nowhere is this observation more evident than in employees’ usage of mobile devices both in and out of the office. However, it also has a negative side: This “always-on” generation of workers are increasingly burned out, largely citing too much work for too little pay—and, ironically, we’ve got the data to prove it. A bombshell study from Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace found 95 percent of HR leaders report employee burnout is “sabotaging workforce retention, yet there is no obvious solution on the horizon.” Let’s examine the state of employee burnout in 2017—and, more importantly, point out what you can do about it.

Employee Burnout in 2017: A Snapshot

In their survey, researchers from Kronos and Future Workplace polled over 600 HR leaders from organizations of various sizes, ranging from 100 to over 2,500 employees. Of those polled, 81 percent noted improving retention was a critically high priority, and nearly half pointed to employee burnout as the specific catalyst to their retention woes.

Here are some highlights from the report to give you a snapshot of employee burnout in 2017:

  • Larger organizations appear to suffer more employee burnout issues. Organizations with 100-500 employees indicated burnout was the cause of 10 percent or less of turnover. HR leaders at companies with more than 2,500 employees, though, attributed burnout to half—or more—of their annual turnover.
  • Respondents indicated the top contributor to employee burnout was unfair compensation (41 percent). Too much overtime or expected work after hours and unreasonable workloads—each gathering 32 percent of the vote—came in tied for the second highest contributor to burnout.
  • At organizations with more than 2,500 employees, 27 percent of respondents indicated insufficient employee technology was a primary cause of burnout.
  • One in five HR leaders indicated that although improving retention is a priority, it will not be addressed in 2017 thanks to competing interests. Why? Sixteen percent of respondents pointed to a lack of budget to fix the issue.
  • Many HR leaders reported they’re focusing more on recruiting than retention: Ninety-seven percent of respondents, in fact, plan to spend more on recruiting technology by 2020.

Besides lower pay and higher workloads, respondents also cited additional reasons for employee burnout including a lack of C-suite support and outdated HR technology. (For insight into the latest HR tech trends, read: Tech Trends: A Look at What’s Ahead for HR Tech.)

It’s important to note here the value of culture in retention—and, to that end, where companies are faltering. Fifteen percent of respondents, for example, indicated a lack of funding was the biggest roadblock to improving employee engagement, a key driver of a successful workplace culture. According to commentary from Fast Company, “. . . culture can make or break retention efforts—especially if a company’s core value (explicitly or otherwise) is rewarding working long hours or being on call all the time.” I agree.

That’s what burnout looks like in 2017—now, onto what you can do about it.

Solutions for Employee Burnout

Even your favorite food starts to get old if you eat it for every meal and obsess about it in between chewing—that’s precisely how I imagine employee burnout must feel for those afflicted. Luckily, there is hope—and there ought to be, frankly, because reports of the increasing numbers of Millennials in the workforce don’t bode well for retention. (Read: Why Millennials Quit: Understanding a New Workforce [Report].)

Here are some solutions for employee burnout:

  • Require employees to disconnect sometimes. A recent study, Exhausted but Unable to Disconnect, found that even if employees didn’t always answer after-house emails, they were thinking about their inboxes and developing anxiety around the expectation they’d always be “on.” While managers can’t follow employees around and knock the mobile devices out of their hands every time they hit “refresh inbox,” they can promote occasional disconnection by creating “on call” email schedules for after-hours situations. Some businesses, for example, prohibit correspondence on weekends and after a certain time each evening.
  • Use data points to prevent employee churn. Here’s a plus side of data: If HR teams have the budget, they can use available technology to preemptively pinpoint cases of employee burnout, remedying the retention problem before it becomes one. CFO, for example, recently pointed out “developing a churn model by using both types of data – an organization’s internal employee data as well as social network data – can enhance the model and improve its predictive accuracy, thus leading to even more savings through better information for decision-making.”
  • Give employees control. Managers can consider implementing programs that empower—not necessarily monitor—employees when it comes to time management. Absence management programs, for example, can allow managers to set expectations before stepping back and making room for engagement-driven tactics like gamification. HRBartender reports 78 percent of organizations with absence management processes in place see “below average turnover.”

What’s Next?

Kronos’ study points to data—and, by association, the technology it feeds—as both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, employees have access to so much tech that it’s difficult to “turn off” from work, one factor leading to a level of burnout so high it has created retention issues. On the other hand, a lack of technology in some cases—namely, HR solutions—was also identified as a contributing factor.

The way forward for organizations is to find what applications of tech and data best fit their culture and begin there on the path to reduce employee burnout avoid subsequent turnover. Has your organization experienced an uptick in employee burnout? What solutions have you found to reengage and destress your team? Tell me in the comments.

Photo Credit: orange-scribble Flickr via Compfight cc

This article was first published on FOW Media. 

Prevent Employee Burnout With These Five Tips

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Stress kills. And sadly, this is not hyperbole. Job-related pressures are among the biggest sources of stress for American adults, and it’s getting progressively worse, year over year. Chronic, high levels of job stress can lead to increased rates of heart attack, hypertension, chronic pain, as well as other disorders.

Every industry has its unique stressors. But, whether you’re a doctor or a delivery person, work-related stress shares “across the board” common factors—a check list, if you will—of work related triggers. The World Health Organization describes it like this:

  • Work-related 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.
  • Stress occurs in a wide range of work circumstances but is often made worse when employees feel they have little support from supervisors and colleagues, as well as little control over work processes.
  • There is often confusion between pressure or challenge and stress and sometimes it is used to excuse bad management practice.

Employee Stress Leads to Employee Burnout

Beyond the potential for some serious health issues, unaddressed stress in the workplace can quickly lead to employee burnout, something you want to avoid, unless you enjoy being on the very expensive hiring and on-boarding hamster wheel. And I doubt you do.

Americans are known to be workaholics, and according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, American workers get, on average, fewer than eight paid vacation days a year, with only about three-quarters of U.S employees getting any paid time off at all. But there are things you can do as an employer, besides offering paid vacation time, to help your teams avoid employee burnout. Let’s take a look at five of my favorites.

Five Tips to Help Avoid Employee Burnout

Play fair. Like the classic “Mom always liked you best” line, as human beings, it’s okay to “have favorites.” The key here is to avoid showing that favoritism within the confines of the workplace. There’s nothing more demoralizing for a fellow team member than to watch an underperforming and under-qualified peer get that sweet promotion because they are buddies with the boss. Be conscious of any personal friendships you develop with staffers and make sure those connections don’t influence your decision making when it comes to pay scales or work assignments, either.

Don’t overload people. We all know the super-achiever who is so good at what they do that they inadvertently become the “go-to person” when extra work pops up, or emergencies occur. While this usually happens with the best of intentions, it can create problems in two ways: The overloaded person can become frustrated and fatigued, and their colleague can also feel frustrated if they haven’t been given a chance to shine. Employees who have been passed-over may never gain the experience they need to be able to rise if they aren’t allowed to shoulder some extra weight. Keep people challenged, but not panicked.

Let employees do what they do best. Nothing is more soul-destroying than being in a role you hate. Or aren’t even very good at! Your job as boss is to make sure your employees love what they do (most of the time). Talk to your staff, get to know them, find out where their strengths lie (and don’t), and then, if you find some people “mismatched,” be bold enough to switch things up and move people into roles they are most passionate about. If you can’t move someone, then consider adjusting their current workload to reflect what they love to do. Or consider retraining. The costs incurred will be far outweighed by the highly engaged, loyal, and productive employee you end up with in the end.

Provide the right resources, human and otherwise. It’s fantastic to have strategically hired the perfect teams, who are all highly skilled and work well together. But that’s only step one. “Do more with less!” has been the rallying cry of many an organization since the economy took a nose dive a few years ago. But by not providing the resources your teams need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, you are paving the way for unmotivated, unhappy, and burnt-out employees. Where does that “way” lead? The door. If you can’t give staff with what they need, scale back your expectations.

Create guidelines and set working hours – and stick to them! I’ve written before about the benefits of a digital detox—and some of those same guidelines apply here. The most important one? Make sure your teams aren’t working 24/7. If your organization requires people to be reachable at all hours (in case of emergency, let’s say), consider creating a rotating “on-call” schedule, so the same people aren’t always being tasked with being available.

This past decade or so has seen a massive shift in the way Americans work. Virtual teams, job sharing, flex-time, freelance, work-from-home (or Starbucks!), and more are all slowly becoming mainstream choices when it comes to employment. And that’s a good thing: Research has found that workers who have control over their schedules report lower levels of stress, burnout, and higher job satisfaction.

But even if you can’t have remote staff, or if your industry requires your teams stick to set hours or work odd shifts, by putting processes like the above in place you will be well on your way toward reducing (or even avoiding altogether) the work-related stressors that lead to costly employee burnout.

What do you think? Do you agree that workplace stress is an issue that needs to be addressed? Have you seen movement to do so in your organization? Or are we just a bunch of whiners that need to toughen up and get back to work? I would love to hear your thoughts on this crucial topic.

A version of this was first posted on Huffington Post.

Photo Credit: Skley via Compfight cc

Your Digital Domain: Who's The Boss? #TChat Recap

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“With great power comes great responsibility.” -Voltaire

Do you suppose this is what it felt like back in 1967, during the “Summer of Love?” Our country was weary from years of war and civil unrest, and people were searching to reconnect with their humanity. That’s when “peace” took on new meaning as a symbol of promise for individuals and a new world order.

Flash-forward to today, when many among us are weary and searching to rediscover our humanity — but in a different way. This time, it’s fueled by the digital revolution. Why? We’ve been deeply engaged for so long with so many forms of networked communication that it seems we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns. Even the most intrepid “wired” geeks openly yearn for a certain kind of peace. And now, that discomfort is leading many to pursue serenity — either by dialing back on social channels or temporarily unplugging altogether.

Defining A Digital Destiny: To Each His Own

Grand as it may be, today’s “always on” social business experiment is taking a toll. And if this week’s #TChat forums are any indicator, workplace leaders are just starting to understand and respond to the consequences of an over-extended 24×7 workforce.

When do the productivity benefits of digital connections cross the line from the sublime to the ridiculous? When does hyper-connectivity become a drain on employee engagement and performance? How can workers maintain a healthy mindset in a world of nonstop demands? And how can leaders develop and sustain a healthy “connected” organization?

The TalentCulture community has only begun to crack the code on this issue. However, this week’s discussions revealed three key considerations:

1) Employers can no longer afford to ignore the cultural aspects of unrelenting hyper-connectivity. It’s actually a big-ticket business issue with implications that reach far beyond obvious security and privacy risks. Employee health costs, productivity and turnover are all expensive factors in this complex equation.

2) There are no single silver-bullet answers. However, there are a multitude of choices. The best solution for each organization will be different. But to find that solution, decision makers must take a mindful, active part in the process. As the digital realm unfolds before us, and choices expand, that responsibility becomes increasingly important.

3) This isn’t just about employers. Certainly companies must create processes and policies that address business interests and respect employee well-being. But at the end of the day, each of us is responsible for our own productivity, performance and peace of mind. The fundamental question rests with every individual: When and how should I leverage digital connectivity to improve my professional and personal life?

With so much at stake, #TChat-ters were grateful to welcome two work-life management experts to lead the way this week:

Their insights helped us frame the issues and expose new ideas, as we engaged the community in our weekly “world of work” dialogue. Below, we’ve captured event highlights (including a tweet-by-tweet Storify slideshow from Twitter) and other resource links.

We hope this inspires further discussion within your organization and professional circles. As ideas emerge, don’t be shy! Let us know what’s on your mind. For those at the forefront of work-life integration, the responsibilities may be great — but together, this journey of digital discovery is always better!

#TChat Week in Review: Connected Work-Life Reality Check

SAT 7/6

JudyMartin2JPG

Watch the G+ Hangout with Judy Martin

#TChat Preview: On the eve of his own one-week digital sabbatical, Community Manager, Tim McDonald, asked Judy Martin to frame this week’s topic in a G+ Hangout. See “Digital Breaks: Rethinking Connectivity”

SUN 7/7

Forbes.com Post: In her weekly Forbes column, TalentCulture CEO, Meghan M. Biro, opened up about her own attempt to disconnect. Read “The Digital Realities Of Work/Life Blending.”

MON 7/8

Related Post: While preparing for her #TChat appearance, Judy offered helpful guidance about how to frame this work-life integration issue and gain a sense of control. Read “Digital Detox vs Digital Redux in the Work-Life Merge.”

WED 7/10

TChatRadio_logo_020813

Listen to the #TChat Radio show now

#TChat Radio: 30 minutes prior to #TChat Twitter, radio hosts Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman sat down with Judy and Heidi for a lively discussion about work-life integration — what it means for individuals, as well as employers, in today’s digitally dependent world. Fascinating stuff! If you missed the session, listen now to the recording.

#TChat Twitter: Immediately following the radio show, our entire community came together on the Twitter stream to share ideas in real-time about the pros and cons of digital connections at the core of professional and personal life. Thanks to everyone who contributed opinions and ideas! To review highlights, watch the slideshow below:

#TChat Twitter Highlights: “Digital Breaks: Rethinking Connectivity”

[javascript src=”//storify.com/TalentCulture/tchat-insights-digital-breaks-rethinking-connecti.js?template=slideshow”]

Closing Notes & What’s Ahead

GRATITUDE: Thanks again to Judy and Heidi for helping our community think more carefully about how to manage the demands of digital life in more productive and personally satisfying ways. Your passion and perspectives are inspiring!

NOTE TO BLOGGERS: Did this week’s events prompt you to write about work/life integration issues? We’d love to share your thoughts. Post a link on Twitter (include #TChat or @TalentCulture), or insert a comment below, and we’ll pass it along.

WHAT’S AHEAD: Next week at #TChat events, we’ll continue our summer “professional reality check,” as personal branding expert and author, Dorie Clark, helps us look at how to “Reinvent Your Personal Brand.”

In the meantime, the World of Work conversation continues each day. So join us on the #TChat Twitter stream, or on our new LinkedIn discussion group. And feel free to explore other areas of our redesigned website. The gears are always turning at TalentCulture, and your ideas and opinions are always welcome.

See you on the stream!

Image Credit: Stock.xchng

Your Digital Domain: Who’s The Boss? #TChat Recap

/3 Comments/ /by

“With great power comes great responsibility.” -Voltaire

Do you suppose this is what it felt like back in 1967, during the “Summer of Love?” Our country was weary from years of war and civil unrest, and people were searching to reconnect with their humanity. That’s when “peace” took on new meaning as a symbol of promise for individuals and a new world order.

Flash-forward to today, when many among us are weary and searching to rediscover our humanity — but in a different way. This time, it’s fueled by the digital revolution. Why? We’ve been deeply engaged for so long with so many forms of networked communication that it seems we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns. Even the most intrepid “wired” geeks openly yearn for a certain kind of peace. And now, that discomfort is leading many to pursue serenity — either by dialing back on social channels or temporarily unplugging altogether.

Defining A Digital Destiny: To Each His Own

Grand as it may be, today’s “always on” social business experiment is taking a toll. And if this week’s #TChat forums are any indicator, workplace leaders are just starting to understand and respond to the consequences of an over-extended 24×7 workforce.

When do the productivity benefits of digital connections cross the line from the sublime to the ridiculous? When does hyper-connectivity become a drain on employee engagement and performance? How can workers maintain a healthy mindset in a world of nonstop demands? And how can leaders develop and sustain a healthy “connected” organization?

The TalentCulture community has only begun to crack the code on this issue. However, this week’s discussions revealed three key considerations:

1) Employers can no longer afford to ignore the cultural aspects of unrelenting hyper-connectivity. It’s actually a big-ticket business issue with implications that reach far beyond obvious security and privacy risks. Employee health costs, productivity and turnover are all expensive factors in this complex equation.

2) There are no single silver-bullet answers. However, there are a multitude of choices. The best solution for each organization will be different. But to find that solution, decision makers must take a mindful, active part in the process. As the digital realm unfolds before us, and choices expand, that responsibility becomes increasingly important.

3) This isn’t just about employers. Certainly companies must create processes and policies that address business interests and respect employee well-being. But at the end of the day, each of us is responsible for our own productivity, performance and peace of mind. The fundamental question rests with every individual: When and how should I leverage digital connectivity to improve my professional and personal life?

With so much at stake, #TChat-ters were grateful to welcome two work-life management experts to lead the way this week:

Their insights helped us frame the issues and expose new ideas, as we engaged the community in our weekly “world of work” dialogue. Below, we’ve captured event highlights (including a tweet-by-tweet Storify slideshow from Twitter) and other resource links.

We hope this inspires further discussion within your organization and professional circles. As ideas emerge, don’t be shy! Let us know what’s on your mind. For those at the forefront of work-life integration, the responsibilities may be great — but together, this journey of digital discovery is always better!

#TChat Week in Review: Connected Work-Life Reality Check

SAT 7/6

JudyMartin2JPG

Watch the G+ Hangout with Judy Martin

#TChat Preview: On the eve of his own one-week digital sabbatical, Community Manager, Tim McDonald, asked Judy Martin to frame this week’s topic in a G+ Hangout. See “Digital Breaks: Rethinking Connectivity”

SUN 7/7

Forbes.com Post: In her weekly Forbes column, TalentCulture CEO, Meghan M. Biro, opened up about her own attempt to disconnect. Read “The Digital Realities Of Work/Life Blending.”

MON 7/8

Related Post: While preparing for her #TChat appearance, Judy offered helpful guidance about how to frame this work-life integration issue and gain a sense of control. Read “Digital Detox vs Digital Redux in the Work-Life Merge.”

WED 7/10

TChatRadio_logo_020813

Listen to the #TChat Radio show now

#TChat Radio: 30 minutes prior to #TChat Twitter, radio hosts Meghan M. Biro and Kevin W. Grossman sat down with Judy and Heidi for a lively discussion about work-life integration — what it means for individuals, as well as employers, in today’s digitally dependent world. Fascinating stuff! If you missed the session, listen now to the recording.

#TChat Twitter: Immediately following the radio show, our entire community came together on the Twitter stream to share ideas in real-time about the pros and cons of digital connections at the core of professional and personal life. Thanks to everyone who contributed opinions and ideas! To review highlights, watch the slideshow below:

#TChat Twitter Highlights: “Digital Breaks: Rethinking Connectivity”

[javascript src=”//storify.com/TalentCulture/tchat-insights-digital-breaks-rethinking-connecti.js?template=slideshow”]

Closing Notes & What’s Ahead

GRATITUDE: Thanks again to Judy and Heidi for helping our community think more carefully about how to manage the demands of digital life in more productive and personally satisfying ways. Your passion and perspectives are inspiring!

NOTE TO BLOGGERS: Did this week’s events prompt you to write about work/life integration issues? We’d love to share your thoughts. Post a link on Twitter (include #TChat or @TalentCulture), or insert a comment below, and we’ll pass it along.

WHAT’S AHEAD: Next week at #TChat events, we’ll continue our summer “professional reality check,” as personal branding expert and author, Dorie Clark, helps us look at how to “Reinvent Your Personal Brand.”

In the meantime, the World of Work conversation continues each day. So join us on the #TChat Twitter stream, or on our new LinkedIn discussion group. And feel free to explore other areas of our redesigned website. The gears are always turning at TalentCulture, and your ideas and opinions are always welcome.

See you on the stream!

Image Credit: Stock.xchng

Keep the Engagement Lights on in Rolling Economic Blackout

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While the global economy continues its rolling blackout – and who knows what will happen this week with the US at AA+ – we keep talking by candlelight about employee retention, employee engagement and all workplace things touchy-feely as if they’re inspirational anecdotes of an alternate universe we should all be living in.

There are some exceptions of course, but we usually don’t live in that electrified looking glass.

For example, are you employees doing a lot more with a lot less? Are they burned out? Do they tell you they are? Are they looking for a way out? Are you recognizing all their hard work? Are they struggling to keep their families afloat?

And what about you and your business? Is your management not sleeping at night? Are sales flat and revenues in the tank? Are you burned out? Are you investing your own savings and/or playing credit card roulette to make payroll every month and just to keep your own family afloat?

Whether you’re a consultant, a business owner, executive management, or HR and people management professionals in larger companies, hopefully you’re tuned in to your people and are aware of their stress as well as your own, and are trying to do something to alleviate it. You may not be hiring right now, but you’re probably doing everything you can to keep what you have and who you have until the power grids are fully firing.

Listen, I’m sure you’ve seen enough survey research recently to make you pass out from the stressed out and unhappy workers you manage everyday. But here’s another one:

According to a recent study referenced in an HR Executive article, the University of Zaragosa in Spain found that two key factors — workplace stress (mainly monotony and feeling overburdened) and a perceived lack of recognition — are the prime factors in employee burnout.

Regardless of the type of burnout, however, the result is emotional exhaustion, cynicism and a lack of productivity, the researchers concluded.

You and the rest of your management team may not think about these things, or even care much right now as you try to stay afloat, but the reality is you should care a little if staying in business with top talent means anything to you. It’s comes from the top down, and if you’re struggling to keep your business relevant and viable, as well as your very professional existence, then you’ll practice what you should be preaching with the smart meters on.

Here are some suggestions you should consider from the experts in the article:

  • Encourage authentic communication that fosters a sense of belonging between employee and employer.
  • Periodically take the pulse of your employees to identify their specific areas of concern and link employee opinion to outcomes such as productivity and retention.
  • Ensure your employees that their opinions make a difference, and mean it. Practice what you should be preaching.
  • Offer effective training, either within or outside of the company, to enable advancement opportunities and give employees a sense that it’s possible change their environments.
  • Create “influence teams” who can look at ways to improve employee situations, including offering a paid month, 3-month, or 6-month sabbatical for long-term employees.

This list can go on and on. One final sentiment from the experts (and from me for what it’s worth): listen to your employees (as well as yourself), appreciate them, recognize and share in their successes (and yours as a business), reward their hard work (and your own), and never underestimate the power of touchy-feely, whether in full wattage or by candlelight.

It’s only when you’ve lived the rolling business blackouts and survived the economic changes in and around you and your people, can you truly know the difference between what’s real and what’s a sweet employee engagement bedtime story.

Hey, we’re just trying to keep the lights on here.

Balance: Reconciling Work and Life: #TChat Preview

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Originally posted by Matt Charney, one of #TChat’s moderators, on Monster Thinking Blog

It’s interesting that the genesis of work-life balance really started, with, well, Genesis: somewhere, between creating the heaven, the earth and all things in between, even God needed a day off to rest.

We’ll leave interpretations up to the theologians, but there’s a pretty firm, historical precedent that’s been followed for millennia: everyone deserves a break now and then.

In our increasingly interconnected age, however, omniscience and omnipresence aren’t Biblical constructs, but the burden of having a Blackberry.

The real price of real business in real time is that real time is rarely one’s own. The movie 9-5 (“It’s a way to make a livin“) seems a historical anachronism for more than its polyester pant-suits. In a blink of an eye, the 8 hour day that the title (and oh so catchy theme song) suggest seem to have all but disappeared.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Increasingly, employers are realizing that the key to attracting and retaining top talent, and getting the most out of employees, requires creating a work-life balance that’s actually balanced. And workers are starting to realize meaningful work, and by extension, a meaningful career, aren’t mutually exclusive from having a life outside the office.

Tonight’s #TChat will explore work-life balance and it’s far ranging implications on the world of work (and life). Join the conversation at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT as we look at ways that work and life can coexist, and even thrive, in today’s business environment.

#TChat Questions and Recommended Reading (5.10.11)

Here are tonight’s #TChat questions as well as some recommended reading designed to inform, and inspire, tonight’s conversation about work-life balance:

1. Who’s ultimately responsible for managing work-life balance: the employer or the employee?

Read: The Case for Work/Life Programs by Freek Vernermeulen.

2. What are the benefits/drawbacks of being salaried/exempt vs. hourly/non-exempt? Which would you prefer?

Read: Family Friendly Employee Benefits: Create A Win-Win For Hourly Workers by Donna Fenn.

3. How does company culture effect work-life balance?

Read: 5 Great Ways To Create A Winning Company Culture by Carmine Gallo.

4. What role does technology and social media play in the work-life mix? Is connectivity a blessing or a curse?

Read: Technology at Work: The Creation of the Anywhere Worker by Connie Blaszczyk.

5. What are some things employers and managers can do to improve work-life balance?

Read: 5 Keys to Staying Civil When Work Calls On Your Off Time by Judy Martin.

6. How important is work life balance to top talent when assessing new opportunities?

Read: It’s All About Engagement by Jayson Saba.

7. What are some of the most effective or creative “perks” your company offers for work-life balance? Which do you wish they’d offer?

Read: Do You Have Work Life Balance? by Thad Peterson.

NOTE: We’ll be extending this conversation at Care.com’s Care@Work event series, Focus Forward at the Times Center in New York City on June 1st and we want you to join us. Tonight after #TChat, we’ll be giving away one ticket to this invitation and innovation only event focused on shaping the future of work. We will randomly select someone from tonight’s #TChat to attend.

Tune in tonight to find out how and learn more about the Care@Work event at http://www.icareatwork.com/

Our Monster social media team supports the effort behind #TChat and its mission of sharing “ideas to help your business and your career accelerate – the right people, the right ideas, at the right time.”

We’ll be joining the conversation live every Tuesday night as co-hosts with Kevin Grossman and Meghan M. Biro from 8-9 PM E.T. via @monster_works and @MonsterWW. Hope to see you tonight at 8 PM ET for #TChat!