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July 8th in Texas. June 20th in New York. March 19th in Delaware.
These are, unfortunately, not surprise bonus dates for Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. In fact, they are the average dates that workers in each state will burn out in 2024, according to a study from Software Connect.
Of course, the burnout clock does not magically reset at the turn of the year, and countless employees are already struggling with burnout and mental health difficulties.
The issue is widespread. International SOS’s Risk Outlook Report 2024 finds that 80% of surveyed global senior risk professionals predict burnout will have a significant impact on businesses in the next year, whilst only 41% feel their organizations are equipped to deal with this crisis.
Employees are exhausted by the mounting expectations at work, inflationary pressure, and conflicts across the globe. The list of major layoffs grows each week, including due to AI disruption. Climate chaos, DE&I debates, and political disagreements all play their part in rising anxiety and stress.
HR leaders must act to tackle the burnout perma-crisis in the U.S. But what can be done in the face of continuously changing – in many cases, worsening – socioeconomic landscape.
1. Improve work allocation
Yes, external crises are compounding the stress and burnout employees face. And improving support when burnout does occur is naturally a vital step, as we will come on to discuss. But prevention is better than cure, and HR must also address the cause of burnout rather than just treating its symptoms. Bryan Vermes, Director of Employee Experience and Communications, Mimecast, says employers must prioritize flexibility. “Organizations may often want to focus on things like workout classes or wellbeing webinars when giving employees the time to decide what recharges them is most impactful,” he explains.
The data supports this view. The U.S. is the most overworked developed nation in the world. HR must therefore work to improve work allocation to prevent employees from being overloaded. “Frameworks like the HEC's six management standards – the three that stand out are the demands of the role, the level of autonomy, and whether their job is secure - are key to managing work-related stress,” says Ruth Pott, Head of Workplace Wellbeing, and former Global Director of Workplace Wellbeing, BAM.
This also includes creating a culture where it's ok to not be ok. “Part of that is to be able to say no, and that's the conversation we're having within our business,” shares Pott. “People are always asked to do more and more, and there comes a point where people have just got to be able to say ‘I can only do so much.’ Instead, have a conversation with managers to have them consider what doesn't need to be done or doesn't need to be done now.”
Organizational development leaders should also push to explore operating models and company structures that avoid teams becoming understaffed. Upgrading succession planning practices, exploring avenues to reduce time-to-hire, and improving internal mobility through a skills-based approach are all viable options.
2. Provide better training for managers
Managers play a critical role in spotting, easing, and preventing burnout. But they are woefully ill-equipped with the skills and resources to do so.
“Make sure leaders are trained and it's part of management processes, particularly with review schemes and any conversation performance,” explains Pott. “They should know how to ask people how they’re doing, how they’re feeling, how we can help, and how to manage workloads. Encourage asking if everything’s OK as part of a normal conversation. We’re building it into our review scheme to ask how our manager look after the wellbeing of their team.”
Training managers on burnout employees can help them identify when employees are exhausted, disengaged from work, and dealing with burnout-associated illnesses such as anxiety or depression.
It can also help managers to know how to handle these situations. Getting employees the support they need is a huge responsibility that can have knock-on effects with mental health, productivity, and performance. Without the right knowledge, managers are simply unable to offer the right type of support. The proper training can also help managers to act on feedback from employees, directly tackling sources of burnout.
Empower managers with the authority and budget to make the right adjustments for their teams, be it sanctioning much-needed time off or increasing recognition.
3. Improve your remuneration
Inflation is outstripping wage growth for millions of workers. As CEOs tie down multi-million dollar compensation packages, employees increasingly experience frustration with pay equity and seeing their wages decrease in real terms.
This type of financial stress can cause emotional exhaustion and burnout. By appropriately compensating employees including salary increases in line with frustration, addressing pay inequities, and improving total reward packages, organizations can prevent financial worries from becoming another burden on employees.
Whilst this does come at a cost to the business, lost productivity to depression and anxiety disorders, which are closely tied to burnout, costs the global economy $1 trillion every year. Moreover, burned-out employees may combat financial stress by moving to a company that offers better pay. The financial risks of ignoring the role of remuneration in tackling burnout are high.
4. Provide meaningful wellbeing support
Offering employees a suite of wellbeing initiatives is an increasingly common part of benefits packages. Dedicated resources that improve the mental and physical health of workers can help protect employees both before and after burnout occurs.
From offering subscriptions to therapy providers to coaching from mental health first aiders, and wearables that harness health data to support with financial wellbeing, HR leaders should balance industry standard initiatives with feedback from employees on the support that would help address their burnout.
There are also plenty of commercial wellbeing providers that offer everything from comprehensive company plans to one-off programs.
“Most organizations will be doing things like employee assistance programs, clinical support, and mental health first aid,” says Pott. “They’re a reactive sticking plaster when people are hurt. They can help people when they are struggling.” The other steps above, and the next point, are more preventative in nature.
5. Lead by example!
Sage’s Changing Face of HR report finds that 81% of HR leaders admit to being burnt out. It’s no surprise. From widespread layoffs to budget cuts, the past few years have been tough on HR leaders.
As the saying goes, you can’t help others until you’ve learned to help yourself. HR must address its own burnout crisis by following the steps above to both set an example for employees and ensure HR teams have the bandwidth to support employees who are struggling.
“Setting a leadership example is hugely important and this is something we've been working on for the last 12 months,” shares Pott. “We’re advising our leaders to obviously not work when they're on leave, to obviously not work when they're not well, and to obviously not work when it's a weekend or out of hours.” This isn’t a rule per say, but Pott feels its crucial to avoid cases where a leader is clearly not well or on holiday and are online at work. “It’s sending that subliminal message that everybody else in the team is expected to do that,” she adds.
Taking advantage of benefits programs and wellbeing support as detailed above can remove the stigma around issues such as burnout or mental health difficulties.
Creating stability, improving work allocation, negotiating increased budgets and pay, reducing turnover, and reducing workloads will all solve major frustrations for HR professionals.
Burnout is costing employees their wellbeing, businesses their productivity, countries their economic growth, and HR leaders their desire to stay in the profession. HR must tackle this perma-crisis seriously and quickly to prevent further damage.
