One of my Facebook friends recently pondered the question, “I don’t think we fully know how much this pandemic is going to change our way of life.” It’s so true. And it’s a good reminder that we don’t know everything that people are dealing with right now. For example, employees are facing huge demands trying to juggle work, home, and in some cases, childcare. 

In a recent survey from The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, 72% of U.S. employees with children under 18 are anxious about balancing the demands of their job with childcare – including school re-openings, remote learning, and daycare capacity. The survey also found that employees without children may need more encouragement to take time-off to mentally and physically rest and recharge. Only a third (37%) have done so since the start of COVID-19, potentially putting them at risk of burning out.

We can’t ignore the fact that organizations have been dealing with employee stress and burnout for years. COVID-19 is adding a new dimension to an existing challenge. Here are a few articles about workplace stress and burnout from The Workforce Institute blog. I like that they not only talk about the causes but offer some solutions for organizations to consider. 

Employee Burnout – Are You There Yet?

In a joint study with Future Workplace, 95% of HR leaders said that employee burnout is sabotaging their workforce. The study also indicated that nearly half of those surveyed attribute up to 50% of their employee turnover to employee burnout.

Kevin Mulcahy, a partner at Future Workplace, says proactively tackling employee burnout will have a big impact on improving retention, and that should be a top priority for organizations. “As the economy continues to improve, the battle for talent will continue to heat up, requiring organizations to provide more compensation, expanded benefits, and a richer employee experience. Managers should pay close attention to make sure employees aren’t overworked while also promoting flexibility wherever possible.”

Harnessing Human Potential and Supporting Wellbeing in an “Always-on” World

In the last 15 years, knowledge working has changed enormously. Thanks to cheaper technology along with the ubiquity of wireless networks and social media, we are ‘always on’, that is, we exist in a state of being constantly connected, available and digitally present. In some ways this is wonderful. From the point of view of the employee, we can flex our time by starting work early or finishing late. But in other ways, ‘always-on’ can be a con: we work longer hours, feel the need to reply to messages and voicemails as soon as possible, and we suffer from FOMO: the fear of missing out.

The same conundrum applies to employers. We urgently need to consider how we get the best out of people, but we have to make sure that we treat them sympathetically and not as assets to be sweated. We need to think about time as a precious commodity and the ways in which we all use it. And finally, we need to think about technology as a resource that we consume with full respect for employees...

Source: hr bartender