Today, quitting a job is an employee's decision to prioritize themselves. As an employee, have you ever felt the lack of family time? or being able to go for a run anytime during the day? or even simply catching up with your friends and co-workers for a cup of coffee? A record of four million workers called it quits in April alone, according to the USA Labor Department. Bosses are in a continuous struggle to hold their employees back. Furthermore the global pandemic has made employees understand the need to prioritize what matters the most to them in their life outside the workplace.
The Great Resignation as we call it, is a situation where more workplaces are seeing employees quit their jobs. The tables have changed immensely wherein companies are behind employees to get back into the office instead of employees running behind companies to hire them. Individuals are ready to quit their jobs if they are not given the flexibility or liberty to work from home. They have realized the need to instill a boundary around themselves so they can focus on their individual needs and desires—including their physical and mental health. Companies must realize that employees have greater concerns rather than just not coming to the office. Burnout is the first and foremost reasons why employees are hesitant to return back to the workplace.
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.
Employees feel the constant pressure of extra workload and are not able to have a healthy work-life balance. Workers aren't just looking for a higher pay or increased benefits such as holidays. They're actually questioning the whole meaning of the daily grind. Why do we put so much of ourselves into our careers? And are we getting a fair deal from our employers in return for all this stress and heartache? Our society puts so much emphasis on being physically present in the office that employees are starting to wonder if workplaces actually value them for the work they offer or only for the fact that they are physically present in the office to do the work. Other factors that may hold employees from getting back is the frustration of having to be in the same space with colleagues who don’t value them, or having to return to commutes that are mentally and physically taxing. Some have become socially awkward and the idea of small talk with their co-workers creates fear.
Regardless of whether workers are in the office or working remotely, the companies who take an effort to respect the individual differences including employee's needs are able to retain a majority of them from handing in their notice. A few ways to do this are:
Create Explicit Work-Life Boundaries
Companies today have to create a set of rules that prevent emails or messages after a specific time at night or on the weekends. Believe it or not employees feel the pressure of responding to emails when they are with their family or vacation time. Sending emails beyond their working hours can be a normal way of life but this is not okay or fair for the employee. Workplaces should help employees shove off the mental load of sorting through the nuances and uncertainty of when to respond.
2. Mandate Time-Off
Companies think that by offering mental health apps or people who can help solve mental health issues they can solve the problem of increased stress and burnout. This is only the first step towards helping employees. How about offering time off or arranging a field day for employees where they get to fully relax without thinking about their workload. Research shows that even a 5 minute break can increase productivity and creativity which is beneficial for the organization as a whole.
3. Normalize and Celebrate having a Life Outside of Work
A survey by the Finery report found that 83% of millennials find that working overtime is the norm, and that nearly 70% confess to regularly working on weekends. Individuals today are shifting from a "Work to Live" mindset to a "Live to Work" one. They are so pre occupied with work and are always in the run to be the best employee, or the bosses favorite that they forget they have a life outside the workplace. Employees also forget how to enjoy what their working on and instead stress about all the work their doing. By having a healthy work-life balance and learning to prioritize both personal and professional life employees will be able to work with better productivity.
The Great Resignation isn't primarily about the logistics of work. It's about its meaning. The sooner companies recognize and respect their employees choices of working in their own space, the more number of employees they will retain in the workforce.
Vipasha Balani.
Digital Communication Associate.
Check out this video on The Truth about Burnout at Work!
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