28 Aug The Culture Corner: From Exhausted to Engaged: How to Combat Burnout and Boost Morale
Here in the Culture Corner, Shaara gives her expert advice on real-life workplace culture issues. Have a story worth sharing? Submit your situation with this form for a chance to get a response in the culture corner.
Issue:
I’m a manager at a large international company in the supply chain industry. After the pandemic, we had a lot of burnout in the teams. Because so many of my people are based in Europe, there are some very tricky employment laws to work around. For instance, if someone burns out, they are entitled to full pay for pretty much as long as they need it, and they don’t have to work at all. While I appreciate the fact that people need a break sometimes, this has caused a lot of issues for myself, the rest of our team, and our company. On average, I have about 15% of my team out on extended leave at any given time. When someone is out on extended medical/mental health leave, I don’t have additional resources to get their work covered, so the team has to absorb their responsibilities. This, in turn, results in other team members burning out because they are all overworked. It’s not fair to the team to do additional work, and it’s created a cycle that we can’t seem to break.
How can I motivate my team to work extra hard to compensate for those who are getting paid to do nothing? How can I avoid having more people burn out? As someone who isn’t in charge of the policies and labor laws, how can I make an impact in how we navigate finding the balance between treating people with understanding and fairness, but not having that negatively impact the rest of the team?
“Do more with less” has been the mantra for a number of years. When I first experienced this in the workplace, there was a focus on streamlining processes and making things more efficient. Over time, though, it has morphed into cutting resources – both financial and human. While I’m a fan of efficiency and leveraging technology and process improvement to streamline work, when we keep piling on work or don’t examine whether certain projects or processes are still necessary, we can create an untenable situation.
The issue of burnout and other mental health problems has grown exponentially since the pandemic, and frankly, organizations simply don’t know what to do about it. While this submission is somewhat centered on European workplace leave standards, it draws some parallels with the U.S. workforce, where the emphasis on health and wellness is growing rapidly. Many states in the U.S. (like California, Washington, and Connecticut, to name a few) are implementing laws that recognize the importance of mental health, making this issue relevant across both continents.
When issues like this arise, I advise people to think about the ‘Circle of Influence’ – What is in your control? What can you influence? And, What is completely out of your control? And, then focus on what you can control and influence, and acknowledge what you can’t – and let it go. Let’s start with what a manager can control.
Key Takeaways for Managers:
• Prioritize Communication: Open communication is essential for a thriving workplace. Encourage team members to share their challenges and workload concerns before burnout becomes a crisis. Proactive communication helps to manage expectations and workload effectively, plus it helps employees feel heard and supported.
• Cross-Train Team Members: Cross-training employees helps make it so that when someone is out on leave, others can step in without feeling too overwhelmed. This not only eases the burden but also builds a more resilient, capable, and versatile team.
• Help Employees Prioritize Tasks: Work with your team members to set realistic goals and prioritize the things that need to get done in order to reach them on time. By encouraging your team to manage their workload effectively, you can reduce the likelihood of burnout.
• Appreciate the Benefits of Leave: Employees returning from extended leave often come back refreshed and more productive. Protecting their right to take time off can lead to a stronger and more motivated team in the long run. While time off can be a burden if misused, it can also be a strategic boost when leveraged effectively.
• Encourage a Sustainable Pace: Build rest and recovery into your team’s routine by encouraging them to use their full vacation time and take sick days as needed. Preventing burnout before it happens is key to sustaining productivity in the long run.
• Motivate With Purpose: To prevent burnout and maintain morale, managers should connect their team to the organization’s vision and direction. When employees feel engaged and see the impact of their work, they are more likely to stay motivated. Passion and purpose are huge drivers of the modern workforce, so be sure to use that understanding to your advantage when trying to inspire your team.
Key Takeaways for Organizations:
• Running Lean vs. Filling the Gap: In lean organizations, balancing the need to fill gaps while respecting employees’ need for time off is a constant challenge. This is particularly true in states like California, where burnout leave is also prevalent. Organizations need to find a sustainable way to manage these situations without compromising on either productivity or employee well-being. Each organization is unique, so that balance will have to be found within. Invite your employees into the discussion – after all they’re the ones who are having to deal with the issues.
• Recognize the Systemic Issue: Burnout and the resulting extended leaves are symptoms of a larger systemic issue that needs to be addressed at the corporate level. Leadership must acknowledge that if a significant portion of their workforce is burning out, the underlying problem lies within the organization’s structure, culture, and workload distribution.
• Take Responsibility: It’s important for leadership to be aware of situations like these and take responsibility for fixing the broken system. This involves understanding the legal landscape across different regions and proactively creating strategies to manage the workforce and expectations, thwarting burnout before it escalates.
• Consider Regional Laws: Labor laws vary significantly across regions and countries, and understanding these nuances can be absolutely critical to the health of your organization. Organizations with a workforce crossing state or national borders must account for these differences when planning resources and workload distribution. Being caught off guard by legal obligations can lead to serious consequences, so make sure you cover your bases.
• Prepare for Absences: Proactivity is a major contributor to success and is especially true here as well. It’s incredibly helpful to plan for the possibility that multiple employees may be out simultaneously. Organizations should have additional resources or a contingency plan in place to avoid overburdening the remaining team members. Pushing your employees to the brink is counterproductive in the long run.
• Understand the Cost: Organizations should analyze the cost of burnout (including overtime, lost productivity, and turnover) to understand the financial impact within their company. Investing in additional resources to fill gaps can ultimately be more cost-effective than dealing with the repercussions of burnout’s ripple effect. You can’t cut costs everywhere, so be strategic about where you spend and where you don’t.
Key Takeaways for Employees:
• Communicate Your Needs: Don’t hesitate to make your workload and support needs known to your manager. They can’t help if they don’t know what’s happening. Let them know where you need some extra help, and how you’re being impacted by other peoples’ absence.
• Share Your Workload: If you’re starting to get overwhelmed, share what’s on your plate with your team. Collaboration can help ease the burden and prevent burnout, which would ultimately pose even more of a burden on your coworkers. And in order to support the function of the system, offer your support to others when you have extra bandwidth.
• Focus on Efficiency and Time Management: By focusing on your prioritization and time management skills, you can handle your workload more effectively. Sometimes it’s about working smarter in order to not have to work harder.
• Manage Stress and Set Boundaries: Be mindful of how you manage your stress and actively work to implement self-care into your routine. Setting clear boundaries is one way to maintain a healthy work-life balance, so consider where you need to draw the line and don’t be afraid to make that line known.
• Recognize the Give-and-Take: Remember, the system that allows you to take time off when needed also requires you to pitch in when others are on leave. The support you provide to your colleagues today is the same support you’ll appreciate when the roles are reversed.
Burnout at work is a complex challenge that we can start by tackling by getting to the root cause and redefining our organization systems more holistically. With the right strategies and mindset, organizations, managers, and employees can navigate these challenges effectively and minimize the risk. I firmly believe it’s possible to break the cycle of burnout and create a more sustainable work environment for everyone.
That’s all for now in the Culture Corner, but stay tuned for more advice to riveting real-life inquiries! If you have a story or question of your own, I’d love to hear from you (anonymously or not) — just fill out this short form!
