How to make the workplace less stressful and more engaging

We all know that\nexcessive stress is a health hazard. The effects of employee burnout in the\nworkplace have been seen to affect business performance. Workplace stress has\nbeen seen to make people nearly three times as likely to leave their jobs,\ntemporarily impairs strategic thinking and dulls creative thinking. Research\nhas therefore shown that burnout is a threat to an organisations bottom line.\nIn the US alone the cost of burnout was more than $300 billion a year in\nabsenteeism, turnover, and diminished productivity, medical, legal, and\ninsurance costs. Burnout in the workplace usually creeps in subtly, over time,\nimpacting workers in a way that they almost do not notice.

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According to the World\nHealth Organisation, burnout is defined as “… a syndrome conceptualized as\nresulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.\nIt is characterized by three dimensions:

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• feelings\nof energy depletion or exhaustion;
• increased\nmental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related\nto one's job;
• reduced\nprofessional efficacy.”

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Causes of Workplace Burnout

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There are many things\nthat can lead to job burnout, and it differs for every person. But there are\ncommon factors that have been identified as reasons behind burnout and\nstressors at your workplace. Areas of Worklife model (drawn from research by\nChristina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter of the University of California at\nBerkeley and Acadia University, respectively) identifies six areas where one could\nexperience imbalances that lead to burnout:

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1. Workload- When you have a\nworkload that matches your capacity, you can effectively get your work done,\nhave opportunities for rest and recovery, and find time for professional growth\nand development. When you chronically feel overloaded, these opportunities to\nrestore balance don’t exist.
2. Perceived\nlack of control- feeling like you lack autonomy,\naccess to resources, and a say in decisions that impact your professional life\ncan take a toll on your well-being. If you find yourself feeling out of\ncontrol, step back and ask yourself, “What exactly is causing me to feel this\nway?” For instance, does your boss contact you at all hours of the day and\nnight, and make you feel like you need to always be on call? Are the priorities\nwithin your workplace constantly shifting so you can never get ahead? Or do you\nsimply not have enough predictability in terms of your physical or people\nresources to effectively perform your job?

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• Reward- If\nthe extrinsic and intrinsic rewards for your job don’t match the amount of\neffort and time you put into them, then you’re likely to feel like the\ninvestment is not worth the payoff.

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• Community-Who do you work with\nor around? How supportive and trusting are those relationships? In many cases,\nyou can’t choose your colleagues and clients, but you can improve the dynamic.\nIt could be as simple as taking the time to ask others how their day is going —\nand really listening. Or sending an email to someone to let them know you\nappreciated their presentation. Or choosing to communicate something difficult\nin a respectful, nonjudgmental way. Burnout can be contagious, so to elevate\nyour individual engagement, you must shift the morale of the group. If you’ve\nfound that once you’ve done all you can, others can’t improve or don’t want\nimproved relationships, then you may want to consider a job change.

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• Fairness-Think about whether\nyou believe that you receive fair and equitable treatment. For example, do you\nget acknowledged for your contributions or do other individuals get praised and\nyour work goes unnoticed? Does someone else get regular deadline extensions or\naccess to additional resources when you don’t?

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• Values\nmismatch-If\nyou highly value something that your company does not, your motivation to work\nhard and persevere can significantly drop. Ideals and motivations tend to be\ndeeply ingrained in individuals and organizations. When you’re assessing this\nelement of burnout, you need to think carefully about how important it is to\nyou to match your values with those of the organization.

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Workplace Burnout Solutions

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In a recent study,\nresearchers found that while there is an expectation that wellness programs\nwill improve issues of absenteeism and employee healthcare, they often do not.\nInstead, employers need to shift to organization-level approaches for reducing\nstress at work, ones that foster employee well-being while simultaneously\nimproving business performance. According to Natalia Peart, a clinical psychologist\nand Fortune 1000 executive leadership consultant, burnout prevention requires\nreducing workplace stress while also improving employee engagement. She\nrecommends the following in dealing with issues of burnout in the workplace:

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1. Create a Work Environment\nThat Decreases Stress- When\nemployees are ar4e put in a high-stress situation their ability to think,\nstrategize and innovate decreases. Organizations need to build a secure work\nenvironment and incorporate stress reduction habits into your team’s daily\nworkflows.

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• Increase psychological\nsafety-   When an organization lacks psychological\nsafety it is likely to cause stress for employees as they are not free to share\ntheir opinions and ideas. In her book, The Fearless Organization, Amy Edmondson describes three steps you\ncan take to build psychological safety. First, make your expectations obvious\nby giving your employees clear goals. Second, make sure everyone feels like\ntheir voices are heard, and that everyone knows that you want their voices to be\nheard. You can do this by inviting people to speak up in meetings and\nconducting brainstorming sessions more than you impose top-down decisions.\nThird, develop a work environment that is both challenging and unthreatening.\nLet people know it is okay to fail. Recognize team members who think outside\nthe box, and ask your employees for feedback regularly to show you’re all in it\ntogether.

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• Build regular break\ntimes into the workday- The\nhuman brain can focus for around 90-120 minutes before it needs to rest. It’s\nimportant to encourage your employees to take occasional breaks to allow them\nto mentally reboot.

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•  Encourage\nthe use of private workspaces when team members need to focus- Open offices\nare prone to distractions, increasing stress and decreasing productivity.\nEncourage employees to find private spaces when they need to focus and get work\ndone without distractions. They can use a meeting room if available and put a\n‘do not disturb’ sign.

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• Look into flexible\nwork policies- If\nyou want a highly adaptive team, then create an adaptable work environment.\nGive your employees flexibility by allowing them to work staggered hours,\ntaking into account their varying needs. This approach will help employees\nmaintain a work-life balance.

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• Build Employee Engagement- Decades\nof data have confirmed that higher employee engagement, or the strength of the\nmental and emotional connection an employee feels toward their workplace, has\nmany positive benefits — including reduced stress, improved health and job\nsatisfaction, as well as increased productivity, job retention, and\nprofitability.

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• Be Transparent- If your team members\nare confused about how their work connects to and serves both the short- and\nlong-term company goals, they will naturally become more stressed and less\nproductive — especially in times of uncertainty. Part of your job is to help\nthem see the big picture or the role they play in helping the company achieve\nits larger goals.

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• Make sure people are\nin the right roles-If\nyour team members loathe doing their jobs, then they are naturally going to be\nless engaged. To ensure that their talents and strengths are aligned with the\nexpectations and responsibilities of their roles.

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• Give as much autonomy\nas you can- When\npossible, give your team control over how they manage their projects. Employees\nare 43% less likely to experience high levels of burnout when they have a\nchoice in deciding what tasks to do when to do them, and how much time to spend\non each.

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1. Demonstrate\na commitment to your employee’s growth and progression-Give\npeople the chance to move around, or move on, if it’s the right next step for\ntheir careers. Your commitment to their growth will deepen the sense of trust\nbetween you and them.

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Burnout may originate\nwithin the workplace, affecting productivity and creating a hostile work\nenvironment- its effects go beyond the walls of the workplace. Research has\nshown that burnout goes as far as affecting an employee’s home life. To battle\nthis growing epidemic and create healthier work environments, leaders need to\ncommit to changing what “workplace wellness” looks like.

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Tatenda\nSayenda-Havire is a consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a\nmanagement and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 4\n481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or email: tatenda@ipcconsultants.com or visit\nour website at www.ipcconsultants.com