I was recently reading this article exploring a research done by McKinsey and it talks about how companies are investing unprecedented amounts in what they consider to be well-being and health, yet many people - and I will talk about this from a millennial perspective - seem to be in this constant state of anxiety and exhaustion related to work. Why is that?
First of all, what is burnout?
According to the World Health Organization, Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
reduced professional efficacy.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.
So why so many of us are dealing with burnout?
According to the McKinsey article, the pandemic did accentuate many toxic traits of work and intrinsic corporate challenges. The amount of people reporting having symptoms of work-related exhaustion, anxiety, and depression has increased a lot since 2020 and many of us are still feeling its effects. But why is that if the companies are investing so much in health and well-being? We all know someone who works in a company that offers yoga classes, meditation app subscriptions, and all sorts of training in productivity, time management, and even personal finance (I know I had one of each). I also have had monthly bonuses to help with my home office setup.
I think I need to disclaim something here: there is absolutely no problem with those perks, but to say they address the rising burnout problem we have been seeing is taking it too far.
When I had a corporate role, I did appreciate having these benefits, but they didn't treat the causes of my stress-induced problems.
I felt no support from past leaders, I got the feeling I was constantly failing to deliver my tasks, that I had no time to learn new tools and processes and I felt constantly pressured to do more and more. My engagement started falling very quickly, as did my productivity.
I was afraid to speak up, thinking I would be fired right then and there so I just went with it for, quite frankly, way longer than I could have bared.
There is merit in giving your employee individual-based well-being and health perks, but to think of them as solutions is to fail to see the problem as a systemic problem, not an individual one, does it make sense? Am I repeating that enough?
According to that same article, very few of us have seen an employee turnover as big as we have in recent years and no aspect of this screams individual to me.
So, really, what needs to change?
We did understand this is not something we can solve individually, right? What really needs to change is not necessarily under our control, unless you own your company or are in a position high enough in the corporate ladder and see this topic as a priority. I've worked at companies that had this built in their culture and it makes the biggest difference in the day-to-day.
What we can do to try to feel better and shield ourselves from the possible effect of a toxic workspace - which is what I'm trying to develop in myself - is the following:
Getting to know your boundaries and standing by them. That means identifying signs of tiredness and respecting your need for rest. That means allowing yourself to respect your learning curve. That means saying no to additional responsibilities if you already feel overwhelmed.
Take regular breaks, it doesn't lower your productivity. Nobody sustains a 24/7 work mode, we are only human and we were not designed to sit in front of a screen for 8 hours straight.
Speak up if and when you feel uncomfortable in your work environment. That can come in the form of non-inclusive policies, manipulating leadership, harassment of any kind, having to work extra hours with no compensation, etc...
Knowing that the lack of planning on their end can't transform everything in an emergency on yours.
Knowing that your worth has absolutely nothing to do with how much you make and your job title.
If you, like me, have suffered the effect of burnout, keep in mind that taking time to heal and reset is completely ok. Who knows, you might find new passions or better understand how you think life should look like.
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