Burnout and the Bottomline
This pandemic has raised awareness of mental health concerns in the workplace. Studies and social media posts have shown that workers have been more honest that they are burned out and stressed with the changes at home, at work and the uncertainty of the future. The World Health Organization listed these as symptoms of burnout: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job or feelings negative towards one’s career and reduced professional productivity.
When employees are consumed with exhaustion or detachment, they are not motivated to perform tasks with urgency and excellence.
Our employees, especially the supervisors and up, are carers too. They not only think of themselves, but also think of their team, their job and the welfare of the company. Like you, they are also concerned with the business bottom line because their jobs are at stake too, and thus their capacity to provide for their family. Even though it comes from a place of goodness, they can also feel burned out. We must also remind our employees to take the occasional breaks to disconnect from work, and have wellness programs to teach them to take care of their physical, mental and spiritual health.
If they feel this way, you may feel the same. You may be passing on the tiredness too. You can help them by also caring for yourself.
Yumi Wada, psycho-social formator, corporate trainer, entrepreneur and mindfulness practitioner, recommends that you ask yourself these questions:
- How am I? The convenient response to that question is always “I’m okay”. But truly, when was the last time you intentionally slowed down to ask yourself how you truly are? To be mindful of your reactions and your needs? For better self-understanding, you sometimes need a guide or another person to mirror these back to you.
- Do I need someone to talk to? With so many demands at work and at home (or sometimes we spend our free time watching shows or browsing our phones instead of really resting), there is a need to be listened to on a deeper and more personal level. Creating safe spaces for conversations can help us be more aware and express our feelings and sentiments.
- What have I done to help? What can I do to help? How have you been using your time, talent, and treasure to reach out to those who most need help at this time? Have you reached out to people at home and at work and asked “How are you?” and really listened to their answers, and recognized their present situation.
It may be time to pause and have a self-assessment. Inquirer Academy now also has self-paced courses for you and your employees, and one of which is “Caring for Me: Practical Techniques to Achieve a Relaxed Mind and Prevent Burnout”. This will also help you be more sensitive to other people’s compassion fatigue and burnout. You may visit https://inquireracademy.com/thinq-self-paced-online-courses/
Wada will also conduct a virtual workshop on “Mindfulness in the Workplace: Improving your Focus, Creativity and Decision Making on October 5, 2021.
For your online learning needs, Inquirer Academy could assist you in designing and facilitating a virtual workshop, a webinar or a self-paced online course for your organization. You may write to [email protected], or send an SMS at these numbers 0919.3428667 and 0998.9641731.
The author is the Executive Director of Inquirer Academy.
