Studies show that leaders who form healthy relationships with their direct reports, based on trust, mutual respect, authenticity and fairness, can actually lower employees' susceptibility to stress-related diseases.
For HR leaders, the next epidemic is already here.
The American workforce, ever the overachievers, was on the verge of burnout before the pandemic. And then things got worse. Covid accelerated burnout so much that HR is now facing another epidemic. Nearly 60% of millennials and Gen Z, 54% of Gen X and 31% of Baby Boomers are burned out. For anyone trying to hold a team together, it will come as no surprise that burnout is the number one reason people look for a new job.
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What happened?
Our work lives spun out of control during the pandemic. Essential workers, like those on the frontlines of health care and customer service, faced grinding, unprecedented levels of stress. For those who could work remotely, it became increasingly harder to unplug, increasingly more acceptable to answer just one more email. The aftermath looks pretty bad: 45% of employees don't believe their employer cares about their wellbeing. Only 1 in 3 trust the leadership of their company.
To address burnout, invest in your leaders.
Leaders play an outsized role in their employees' job satisfaction and overall quality of life. Studies show that leaders who form healthy relationships with their direct reports, based on trust, mutual respect, authenticity and fairness, can actually lower employees' susceptibility to stress-related disease and even the health care costs of the organization.
Here are four ways leaders can create a burnout-resistant culture.
1. It all starts at the top.
Are your employees taking paid time off? Are your managers? Leaders define what is acceptable and encouraged behavior at work, whether they want to or not. I've seen hard-charging managers—ones who email at all hours of the day—shocked by rampant turnover and dismal employee satisfaction surveys. If your organization is suffering from burnout, look first to the everyday habits and behaviors of your leaders.
2. Leaders who show vulnerability inspire trust and psychological safety.
Reporting to a boss you don't trust is exhausting. Alternatively, managers who foster a sense of psychological safety energize their teams. I've seen this firsthand as my company transitioned to remote work. The managers who felt comfortable enough to share their own worries and concerns, who admitted to feeling less than rosy about the state of the world, were often more successful at maintaining a sense of community and comradery on their teams. It's much easier to avoid burnout when you feel like it's okay to have a bad day.
3. In stressful times, people want more feedback, not less.
That's counter-intuitive, but only because so many bosses don't get "feedback." The truth is, a big contributor to the "great resignation" is that people don't want to go back to the hamster wheels of dead-end jobs. Nothing cures burnout faster than a sense of momentum, of career progression and possibility. It's a shame then, when managers miss the opportunity to give people that energy boost because they have an old school notion that "feedback" means "telling employees what they did wrong." Think of it this way: people pay good money for executive career coaching. But you can offer employees potentially life-changing insights about who they are and how they can achieve their potential for free. Feedback is good for your business and a great benefit to your employees.
4. Leaders are rethinking the role of benefits.
Pre-pandemic, 61% of workers said they'd take a job with a lower salary for better benefits. Expect that number to increase as benefits take on new importance. Ninety-eight percent of HR leaders and C-suite execs plan to offer at least one new benefit due to lessons learned during the pandemic. Along with pay equity and expanded leave, childcare and wellbeing benefits may be the best tools employers have to create an energized, burnout-resistant culture.
Organizations that find ways to achieve excellence without burning out their employees will become the "great places to work" that talented people flock to. Covid has reshuffled the deck, but the basics of leadership still apply. We're all figuring out what the post-pandemic world of work looks like and now, more than ever, we need great people leaders to show us the way.
Nathan Peirson is CHRO at Paycor.
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