Stretched, but not broken...

Why teams are closer to burn out than ever and what we can do about it

Burn out. It’s a powerful phrase and a life-changing one for many. Described by Mental Health UK as “a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can occur when you experience long-term stress in your job, or when you have worked in a physically or emotionally draining role for a long time.”

In today’s newsletter, we’re diving headfirst into the challenges affecting so many people at work at the moment - from low levels of engagement (and where they might stem from) to the flexible working debate to toxic work cultures. Throw in the macro economic and societal challenges we’re all experiencing and it’s no wonder we’re all so tired and stressed out. All the time.

But as I explain today, crucially, we are “stretched, but not broken.” And there’s a lot we can do to create an environment at work where we can all thrive. As leaders, this is your most important job.

Are we at peak burn out?

As someone that has experienced burn out (that took me a year to recover from), it worries me that I’m seeing and hearing so many with similar experiences at the moment. We are living in the most challenging times many of us have ever experienced and as the economic headwinds continue to swirl, life at work is hard.

We’re also expected to be “always on”, respond instantly and not make a fuss for fear of being laid off or replaced. And no amount of mental health awareness campaigns (useful and well meaning though they are), will compensate for working with toxic leaders and a culture that doesn’t value growth and development.

I’ve learnt the hard way to respect my boundaries (and those of the people that work with me) and manage my energy, not my time. (I’ve included a fantastic HBR article on this topic in my summer leadership reading list by the way). And I now work differently. I’m open about the way that I work, as I wish there had been more visible role models for me when I was struggling.

And with stats that 76% of workers have experienced some form of burn out (Gallup), it’s clear that we need to step up as leaders and role model the change we want to see.

Employee engagement is waning

Are you familiar with the Gallup Workplace Report? It’s a useful bellwether for employee engagement and if you’re looking at ways to identify engagement levels in your own organisation, the Gallup survey questions are a great place to start.

Here’s the hard truth from the latest report published recently.

“Quiet quitting” - aka not feeling engaged at work - is at levels of 59% globally.

With just 23% thriving at work and 18% being actively (and loudly) disengaged.

This should worry any organisation or company. It means that nearly two thirds of your people might be watching the clock. Wishing away the day. And not feeling connected to your organisation and its mission and goals. They feel lost and disconnected. And that is stressful for them as individuals and potentially catastrophic for your organisation.

There is a significant correlation between employee engagement and productivity levels. In healthcare (the NHS) we always drew the direct line from employee engagement to patient safety and you can see why. Imagine a disengaged clinician, stressed out and not feeling connected to their work. Would you feel as safe as you wanted to be in their care? And yes, this is a huge issue that the NHS is yet to solve en masse, although there are pockets of fantastic work and culture. (For more on this, read Michael West - I’ve included one of his articles in the summer reading list).

Gallup estimates that low engagement costs the global economy US$8.8 trillion and accounts for 9% of global GDP.

Wow.

The great news is that there is a lot we can do to influence employee engagement at the team level. So wherever you are on your leadership journey, you can shape the culture on your team and with the people you work with every day. The harder truth is that it’s more challenging to do this at an organisational level - it really does stem from the environment and culture set by senior leaders. This is why my coaching focuses on new leaders. It’s a fantastic opportunity to be the leader you always wanted to have for yourself.

Is it game over for working from home?

With so many organisations now mandating a back to the office routine, it’s hard to imagine that so many of us were so productive when we were trusted with working from home during the pandemic. And I know this topic continues to cause all of us serious and challenging issues as leaders of teams.

How can we respect people’s wish for flexibility within strict corporate policies?

Is equality the be all and end all when it comes to working from home? I used to work in logistics, where the majority of our people were not able to work from home due to the nature of their role. They had to be in the warehouse, or out on the road, driving. Did this mean that our professional services teams couldn’t work from home? (let me know your own thoughts in the comments!)

Does working from home help or hinder team and organisational culture? There’s so much wrapped up in here, from personal preference to the issue of trust (a huge factor in employee engagement) to productivity and team bonding.

It’s no wonder we’re all struggling to figure this out.

Toxic environments lead to “conflict exhaustion”

I’ve written about toxic cultures before and what we can do to manage, lead and thrive within them.

One additional thought here is that they can be a real driver for burnout. I’ve started to think of a facet of burnout that I will call “conflict exhaustion”.

Think about it. When you’re constantly being judged, appraised, passed over, told your face doesn’t fit, or that you suck at your job, you’ll probably do anything to avoid getting into another situation where these things might get thrown at you. You live in a constant state of “conflict exhaustion” where you just can’t face another “lively” discussion about your shortcomings.

Is it any wonder so many of us emerge from those environments at the tail end of our tether?

Stretched but not (yet) broken…

Here’s the good news. And you know it already don’t you?

As human beings, we have a huge capacity for regeneration and recovery. For rebirth. For new ideas. For human connection.

Providing we have enough rest and time for self-reflection, there aren’t many problems we can’t face. As the great American writer James Baldwin said:

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

We might be stretched. But we are not broken.

If we want to improve our own working life, and that of others, we start with facing up to the facts. And to ourselves as leaders. Look in the mirror and think about how you show up as a leader. For yourself and for others.

What’s it like to be led by you? And where might you need to make changes, adjust course?

How can you show yourself and others that you value rest and recovery? That you trust rather than control your team?

How can you lead with compassion and empathy if you don’t extend that to your own needs?

There’s a lot to think about in this article and I hope it a) gets you thinking and b) inspires you to consider what you can do as a leader in your own right to influence our collective happiness at work.

Let’s get to it!

(I run leadership coaching, so get in touch if now is the right time to invest in your own development. Contact me via email or through the website if you fancy a chat about how it all works.)

And please share this post if it resonates!