Clearly, the reality is that work is too much for almost everyone across the entire spectrum, and there are lots of people looking for something better. Something that gives them the ability to be economically stable and also the ability to live a life outside of work with their mental health intact.
If you are seeing more and more people in your organization, or on your team, talking about stress, burnout, or just leaving, the solution is not a Zoom yoga session, or newsletter tips about how employees can better handle stress.
The problem is coming from inside the house, as they say in the movies.
Stop considering people who aren’t on camera as less engaged. This is just your bias. Your smartest employees understand the additional stress being on camera causes and take every opportunity to limit that effect for themselves. Keep people who are that self-aware.
Recently, I was doing a training session with some new employees and started off by telling them to turn their cameras off. I am fairly sure it was their favorite meeting of their week.
Think about how easy that was. I was showing them how to use a cloud tool, I wanted them focused on the screen, what I was doing and what I was saying about what I was doing. They were. I didn’t need their cameras to tell me that.
I don’t particularly know why, but I came across an article out of Australia last week that caught my eye and got me thinking about working at our “passion” jobs. The reason I headed in that direction mentally was the description of what life is like for these various politicians after they lose an election….
Now, the shortage of people leading to overworked stressed, and burned-out workers is the headline, but if you look at the reasons given in the article below, it’s not “just” that. It’s where that situation leads. When you’re short-staffed and constantly putting out fires, you don’t really take the time to think about showing appreciation, helping employees grow their skills and careers, or creating a diverse workplace.
Yet those are the exact things that employees are looking for elsewhere.
Appreciating and growing your employees is not something that is “nice to have” anymore. It’s a requirement.
So often, I see people sitting and doing the same job, the same way, year after year. Some people are OK with that, and it becomes difficult to help them grow because they are resistant to change. Most people, however, do not want that to be their career, and so they leave to find a place that allows them to grow. If you aren’t the place that supports their growth, you are at risk of losing them to a place that will. It’s really that simple.