3 Reasons We Ignore Employee Burnout
“We just have to get this done” only can get us so far
I’ve had this crazy realization as I’ve gotten older: lots of people don’t think like me.
CBS sitcoms are the clearest evidence of that.
When it comes to the workplace, it’s just as obvious. What I see as flashing warning lights are just distractions to others while they barrel down the economic highway.
The current flashing light? The huge increase in employee burnout over the past year. Yet plenty of companies are trying to barrel through it, hoping the problem will resolve itself.
We’re a nation (and a world) that has gone through significant trauma. It’s going to take a while to recover. Like all trauma, this will eventually fade into the background for most (though not all), so ignoring it might eventually work out for most companies.
The number of people who suffer in the meantime will be high, though. Unnecessarily, it seems, especially if it is within our power to address the situation.
Instead, most big companies seem to be ignoring the burnout. Let’s look at 3 reasons why that’s the case.
1. “Let’s Just Get This Done” Mentality
I come from a world of “power through it” mentality. This was often true of my family, this was certainly true through school, and it was basically the motto of every public accounting firm I’ve ever even looked at.
For an industry that is famous for its peaks, that makes sense. You put in 60 to 100 hour weeks for a few months, then you can go back to relaxing with…40 to 50 hour weeks (depending on the firm).
We love the inspirational ideas of “this too shall pass.” And for much of life, it’s absolutely true. The bully will likely move on to someone else. Your heartbreak will almost certainly mend. You’ll probably find another job after a loss if you keep looking.
Going back to “people thinking differently,” if your entire life experience is based on things getting better with time alone, why would you make any changes now to help things get better? Why would you take time dealing with employee burnout when your experience tells you that bad things mostly resolve themselves?
There’s absolutely a time and place to put your head down and get to work. Many companies are risking a whole lot of employees hoping that now is that time and place.
2. Not Wanting to “Give Away” Benefits
I try not to be callous in my analysis, but I think the scare quotes around “give away” are justified.
Something that most employees do not realize is that employees are expensive. Sometimes very, very expensive.
It’s not just the wages. It’s the employment taxes. It’s the 401(k) matching. It’s the health insurance. On and on.
As an employer, it’s easy to see the employees demanding more and worry about your income statement. That money has to come from somewhere, and if you’re a small business in a bad year, the fear is it could be the difference between keeping the business afloat or shutting the doors.
If the benefit becomes an expectation year after year, that’s even worse.
After a year of many employers being unusually generous during the lockdowns of COVID, many appear to be trying to reel some of those benefits in.
Like the company I was working for at the time, which decided to make up for the extra days off granted in 2020 by cutting PTO in 2021 to only 2 weeks for anyone who had work for them for fewer than 10 years(!) (yes, that means that even if they hire someone with 10 years of experience, the new employee STILL starts out at the same level as a fresh-from-high school grad. I was told “no exception” to the rule…though I never got a good answer if the new CEO had to follow that as well).
The company doesn’t want to give things away. This will especially be true if the people making these decisions feel like they have been taken advantage of in the past.
But benefits are more than an amount on a balance sheet. There are benefits that could cost the company very little if done right.
Some cost nothing. Like just trying to understand what the employees are going through. Which brings me to my last point.
3. Not Willing to Understand Others
One summer in college, my wife and I were struggling to make ends meet. I was working two campus jobs, one starting at some ridiculous hour (4 am, I believe).
My wife started working that job as well, but she started getting sick and not being able to show up.
This put me in a position of not only less money, but also the bosses grilling me on why she wasn’t there. Something that I didn’t really have a good answer for (after 15 years, we finally got a diagnosis that actually seems to meet her condition).
One of these mornings, when I was at an all time low, my boss came over and asked me something about my wife. I completely broke down.
After 15 or so minutes of being basically not functional, we talked. Then we talked while we worked.
I have little memory of what he said, except that he noted I was in a difficult situation, that he would do what he could, and to not stress out about whether my wife could come to work on any particular day.
He didn’t really know what I was going through, but he tried to meet me where I was and lend a helping hand.
Contrast that to a big firm experience several years later after my son died. I was in a bit of a fog for a while from that.
About a year after burying my child, I was up for a promotion. My boss passed on me. When I asked why, he said that my work recently had been very good, but that I’d struggled at the beginning of the year.
…
Even now, I get sick thinking about it.
I’d caused his machine to work slightly less efficiently. The fact that I’d gone through the worst tragedy of my life was just an annoyance. He apparently wasn’t willing to take the chance that I might…I don’t know, have another child die, I guess?
We might never understand exactly what other people are going through. But making an effort causes a world of difference.
Wrapping It Up
I understand the desire to go back to business as usual. I understand not want to make hard choices, to make big changes, to simply continue on as before.
That’s not our world right now, though. With all that’s going on, it’s no surprise employees are burning out.
Rather than barreling through it, though, let’s reach out and see if we can do a little better.
