Pre-pandemic employee exhaustion levels stood at 43%. After the change in work model during the pandemic, especially with more emphasis on remote work, those numbers were supposed to go down.
However, that’s not what Indeed’s recent study showed, with over 52% (a 9% increase) of employees feeling exhausted[1].
It’s a manageable situation when a few of your employees are exhausted. When more than half of the workforce is exhausted, there’s serious cause for concern.
Some data crunching discussed below shows the biggest threats to employee work-life balance and how you can eradicate that in your company.
What’s Causing Your Employee’s Burnout?
Data collected across various workplaces in the USA shows that burnout, workplace stress, and exhaustion account for about 120,000 deaths yearly[2]. These factors also cost your business and the economy more than $190 billion in cumulative annual spending[2].
Combined, these two statistics shave off $1 trillion in yearly productivity[3].
The sheer human and financial capital that could be lost to burnout are more than enough reason to want to know the why. Following the numbers, we found some compelling trends.
#1. 37% – Working Longer Hours
Perhaps the jump in Indeed’s study (referenced earlier) is evidence that employees now work longer hours than before the pandemic. Even in-office workers, 39% still look at their work emails outside official working hours[1].
FlexJobs reports that 37% of employees[4] put in longer hours at home, so remote work is not solving the burnout issue as well as we hoped; this might not be the employer’s fault alone because 61% of remote workers[1] find it difficult to unplug from work.
While companies may be looking at remote working as a new world of work, ensure we’re not rearing a new kind of monster either.
Recommendations:
- Discuss work boundaries.
- Enable flexible schedules.
- Enforce break hours.
- Mandate vacations.
- Improve team bonding.
- Offer mental health perks.
#2. 56% – Nobody is Listening
Your employees are there to do a job, but they aren’t robots either. They want to be heard, seen, and acknowledged in the workplace.
This is why 56% of employees[4] are concerned that their HR department isn’t encouraging the conversation about burnout. It’s not all-around bad, though, as 21% of workers[4] claimed to have great discussions with their HR regarding burnout.
Still, there’s a lot of work to do if we’re to make employees safe enough to discuss these issues. Otherwise, they end up bottling crucial mental health and stress-related issues, which costs productivity, health and, worse, leads to death.
Recommendations:
- Boost team culture.
- Improve communications.
- Facilitate mental health conversations.
- Incorporate seamless communication tools for remote teams
- Keep employees in the development and growth loop.
- Create better team integrations.
#3. 60% – Poor Work-Life Balance
It isn’t comforting to know that 60% of US workers[5] keep working even on vacation. That defeats the entire purpose of a holiday and could keep them on a mental edge as they feel they’re still working – only from another place.
In fact, work keeps a healthy 23% of US workers off taking their vacations[5]. The numbers are higher (at 55%) for those who don’t use all of their vacation times, forfeiting over $60 million in deserved benefits[5].
There should be a fine line between when a worker is at their job and when they’re getting deserved time off. Bosses and colleagues also need to do better here since they contribute to the worsening numbers.
For example, 25% of workers[5] claim that a colleague had reached out to them while on vacation, and 20% said their boss called for work-related reasons[5] in this timeframe too.
Considering that 84% of managers[6] admit their workers bring elevated productivity levels after a break, letting your employees enjoy their time off is a no-brainer.
Recommendations:
- Introduce ample paid time off for employees.
- Employees should never be contacted on vacations, paid time off, or outside work hours.
- Engage employees to craft a balanced working model.
- Encourage discussions in the workplace.
- Introduce team building and bonding activities.
Foster the Change for Your Business
Employee burnout bleeds the US economy of $51 billion[7] (and growing) annual losses, and your business is not left out.
Exhausted employees are 63% more likely[8] to apply for a sick day, which affects your company’s overall productivity. From another angle, these employees are also almost 3x as likely to seek a new job[8].
You’re looking at a high employee churn rate, reduced productivity, and lost revenue in one fell swoop, which doesn’t bode well for your brand.
It might be time to bring in competent hands to salvage the situation and remedy your company’s future. Get in touch with us today and have your employees enjoy improved mental health, better work-life balance, and higher productivity for a win-win situation.
Sources:
1. https://www.indeed.com/leadershiphub/preventing-employee-burnout-report
2. https://hbr.org/2019/12/burnout-is-about-your-workplace-not-your-people
4. https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/flexjobs-mha-mental-health-workplace-pandemic/
7. https://www.mhanational.org/depression-workplace
8. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237059/employee-burnout-part-main-causes.aspx