Let’s face it, American employees are burned out.
Research from Aflac regarding the level of stress among employees in the USA showed that in 2023, over 50% of respondents experienced burnout, and almost 75% stated that the level of stress at work was moderate.
But organizational psychologist and best-selling creator Adam Grant, a renowned expert on organizational mindset and habits, says workplace leaders are guilty, not burned-out employees.
Adam Grant on stage during a panel at the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit 2022 (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
“I think of burnout as a feeling of emotional exhaustion that is both persistent and disabling, meaning it’s not just a moment in time – it lingers. It also interferes with your ability to function.” Grant he said Entrepreneur On BetterUp Growth conference last week. “If more than one person burns out, it is a structural and cultural problem. This is a challenge that must be faced in your organization and for which leaders must be accountable.”
As the problem of burnout continues to plague employees and their employers, Grant, a Wharton professor, said the solution is to focus on what he calls a “demand, control, support” leadership method that may help employees find meaning and motivation in their actions. work – and at the same time face burnout.
Grant described his strategy for us below using data from Return to Office Insights examined by BetterUp Labs.
Demand
Grant says leaders need to look at what demands cause burnout in the first place.
“It has to do with overload, too much work, work that has no clear expectations and is expected to be done 24/7,” says Grant. “These types of demands are very burdensome. We need to find out if there are groups of people who are burning out in similar work. For me, it’s a sign that the demands are too high.”
Reducing demands can mean anything from hiring more employees to delegating responsibilities, but the ultimate goal should always be to make employee demands “easier to accomplish.”
Control
However, sometimes demands cannot be eliminated. For example, if you work at a startup and customers place orders from all over the world, eliminating hours may not work. Instead, Grant says companies can give employees more control over their days.
“We can try to provide more choice and more freedom in how to deal with these demands,” explains Grant. “We want to present people control over what they work on, when they do it, who they do it with, how they do it. And these sources of autonomy normally make requirements easier to implement, e.g. general finding“
Grant also said that today’s employees prefer to have control over their work hours and want a more flexible work environment. Offering this control to employees can effectively alleviate burnout.
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Support
Grant says “support” is about “giving people the tools they need to satisfy the demands” of the workplace and prioritizing mental health.
“It’s also about building a culture in which [employees] they feel they can be honest about their emotional well-being and seek help if they need it,” he said.
But telling employees that mental health is a priority and making them feel comfortable talking about it are two various things, he says.
In his opinion, the handiest technique to counteract this phenomenon is for a leader to steer by example and be open to the have to take break day for mental health reasons and to support open dialogue between employees who are struggling.
“I think modeling makes it clear to people at all levels that it’s not just lip service, we’re not just saying you can take care of yourself, but we’re actually showing through our own behavior that it’s acceptable and encouraged here,” Grant says. “It’s been frustrating to see so many companies say, OK, we have a burnout problem, we’ll give you mindfulness training or teach you stress management skills, as if it wasn’t a psychological problem.”