As employers welcome staff back into the office, many are finding themselves at war with workplace fatigue. After a couple of years of remote work and working from home, many are struggling with adjusting back to being in the office every day, while others are tired of being accessible at all times through remote work technology. That struggle is being compounded by low unemployment and worker shortages in nearly every industry, and most employees know they could probably find another job elsewhere.
While the grass might not always be greener elsewhere, employers are still making efforts to keep their employees satisfied, engaged, and most importantly, not burned out.
BrainHealth Presents, a virtual series produced by the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas, hosted a panel of industry professionals to discuss the ways in which bosses can reengage employees and win the battle against chronic stress. Panelists included John Ryan, CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership, Tony Bridwell, chief talent officer at The Encompass Group, and Dr. Upali Nanda, director of global research at HKS Architecture.
- Reduce Staticism
Create room for lateral growth in your company.
One of the main causes of corporate burnout is the feeling of stagnancy, says John Ryan, CEO of the Center for Creative Leadership. After losing members of his team, Ryan realized that his former employees felt stuck in their positions.
By expanding growth opportunities for your employees you can incentivize them. Your workers need something to work for.
- Toxicity Always Tanks
You get what you give.
In professional environments, the mood of the boss dictates the work culture, says Tony Bridwell, chief talent officer at The Encompass Group. Following the Golden Rule as an employer can be an invaluable way to decrease toxicity in the workplace.
In the words of Bridwell, culture drives results.
- 24/7 Contact is Diminishing Warrior Mentality
Being on call all the time manifests misery.
The pandemic is not actually the cause of burnout, says Dr. Upali Nanda, director of Global Research at HKS Architecture. The alarming rates of burnout measured across the nation are the result of the new accessibility granted by the digital age. Both employers and employees feel a pressure to always remain reachable, and the speed and ease of modern technology allows for 24/7 communication.
Dr. Nanda urges employers to respect not only their employees’ time, but also their own. As an employer, allowing yourself, and others, to turn off the phone is crucial to reduce burnout.
- Email is not Enough
The level of engagement has profound effects on the overall happiness and work culture that exists.
Billions of emails are sent each day. Oftentimes colleagues will only communicate via typed words. But these billions of emails, billions of communication points lack tone and emotion, easily creating miscommunication. Bridwell believes this impersonal communication style significantly contributes to burnout.
Bridwell urges bosses to communicate with their employees with their voice. By eliminating emotionless contact, bosses can reenage their employees and create a space where free and constructive speech can safely flow.
- Learning and Development Opportunities
Employees need accessibility to learning opportunities in a way that allows them to advance.
The biggest pitfall of the pandemic was the loss of learning opportunities, says Ryan. He believes that development opportunities are the secret to retention and positive work culture.
Without offering opportunities to hone new skills and advance existing ones, employees can feel like they are at a dead end and may seek new and different opportunities.
The BrainHealth Presents is a monthly hybrid series that organizes esteemed panels to discuss issues facing professional industries. The latest panels have covered the science of proper sleep, adversity, reaching peak performance.
