More than half of employees (54%) say they are experiencing burnout, according to research published ahead of this week’s National Stress Awareness Day, with a fifth (11%) reporting their stress as being “significant”, according to research.
The poll of 1,000 UK employees for people management platform Lattice also found two-thirds of people managing a department or team reported burnout in their current role, with 23% again describing this as “significant.”
National Stress Awareness Day takes place this week, on Thursday 2 November, making the findings all the more timely.
Under-35s reported the most burnout, the Lattice poll concluded, with only a third (32%) reporting no burnout in their current role. Under-35s were also twice as likely to report “significant” burnout compared with over-55s (14% versus 6%).
Nearly four out of 10 (38%) of those experiencing burnout did not believe their employer cared about their wellbeing. A similar percentage of employees (42%) experiencing burnout did not believe their employer understood the impact their wellness will have on their performance at work.
Employees experiencing burnout felt the most important factors to perform at their best were: flexible working policies (44%), feeling trusted by managers/superiors (40%), regular praise and recognition (31%), clearly defined responsibilities (28%), and and a positive and inclusive company culture (26%).
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Mollie West-Duffy, head of L&D at Lattice, said: “The higher rates of burnout among employees in management positions do not surprise me. In moments of continual change and economic uncertainty like the ones we are experiencing now, managers need to help their teams continue to work even through the often-powerful emotions that those teams are experiencing; change, exhaustion and uncertainty.
“This takes a lot of emotional effort from the manager who is experiencing that same change fatigue and uncertainty themselves! Managers need to not only manage their own emotions but also create space for their reports to process their feelings, all while continuing to handle all their other work outside of management. When this goes on for months, it can lead to burnout,” she added.
Organisations can better identify and address burnout among managers by providing forums for managers to talk openly about burnout, West-Duffy advised.
They can also work to incorporate more structured training as well as open discussion sessions. Managers should be educated on the three types of burnout that make up the clinical definition: feeling over-extended, disengaged or ineffective, she argued.
“It’s also important to identify the early signs of burnout. The pernicious thing about burnout is that it affects our own self-awareness. You can be feeling great, running on adrenaline, checking things off your list and be on the verge of burning out,” said West-Duffy.
“Then you or a family member gets sick, or you get assigned an extra project and that suddenly tips you over into burnout,” she added.
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