Why leadership should care about burnout, even when they’re burnt out, too
Proactively managing employee fatigue may sometimes create temporary stressors, but the long-term gains will make every executive’s and manager’s life easier.
Likely you have heard that the biggest issue that HR foresees in 2021 is employee fatigue. The crush of the peak pandemic has thankfully crested in many parts of the world, but it has left its mark on the workforce. Teams across the globe were asked to do more with less, in circumstances that saw many co-workers laid off or furloughed, budgets cuts, and business continuity unknown. A workforce shifted remotely and days loomed longer now that emails and Zoom meetings dominated even more hours of the day. Add to that the precarious balancing of caregiving, protecting physical health, and a near-constant worry about the future in their own personal lives… no wonder folks are exhausted.
And you probably are, too.
The real question is not whether employees are fatigued. Ask any employee out there, from CEO to recent grad, and the answer is going to be a resounding yes. And the question is not why; the why is the litany of reasons already listed. So the question is, should you care?
And the answer is another resounding yes.
That begs two more questions:
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What can managers and executives do in this scenario?
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Why should they dredge up the energy to bother?
The second answer is easy: they should care about their employees’ fatigue because fatigue is also leading to high levels of resignation. There is an unprecedented artificial labor shortage due to a variety of factors. The war to attract and retain quality talent is fierce and yet there are still candidates that will turn down the higher salary and title in favor of a job that promises them less stress and fewer hours. The gaps in the workforce directly correlate to the workload on the plates of executives and managers. They’re left pushing the boulder uphill, struggling to keep the business operational as well as manage the strategic expectations of their role.
So if execs and managers understand the importance of prioritizing employee fatigue to prevent burnout, we’re brought back to our first question: what can they actually do? The answer is rely on their technology. Utilize their HRIS (Human Resource Information System) to proactively monitor signals of potential exhaustion by using things like utilization hours and vacation reports. Is your team burning a lot of the midnight fuel but vacation hours are piling up unused? Implement a mandatory vacation utilization so that your team must take a mental and physical break to be able to return refreshed. Coach them on how to manage an effective work/life balance (and it doesn’t hurt to demonstrate it, too!) and make sure they’re aware of the support and tools that your company offers.
Not sure how to run those reports or whether they’re even available? Unsure which technology will actually provide you with actionable insights vs just add to your managerial responsibilities? Mercer’s Digital Solutions team are experts in this field and can bring the depth of their technology know-how and managerial experience to solve your challenges.