How To Deal With Employee Burnout Risk

Why threats to employee wellbeing intensifies as the pandemic continues

Employee wellbeing continues to be under threat as new Covid-19 variants emerge and uncertainty increases. Company performance and survival lie in employee mental health, which employers are regarding as the make-or-break priority of the decade.

We are nearly two years into the pandemic and data shows that threats to employee wellbeing continue to intensify, as evidenced by a 21% rise in burnout and a 17% increase in somatic stress symptoms. The meQuilibrium study examined changes in overall wellbeing among 5,474 meQuilibrium members from a broad range of industries representing managers and individual contributors.

The study also revealed a particularly large burnout risk increase among younger workers of 64%, which was nearly three times the increase for employees over 30 (22%). In addition, the increase in burnout symptoms was especially high among managers (+54%), hospitality (+48%), health care (+32%) and finance industry workers (+30%).

When it comes to gender differences, although men and women are experiencing about the same rate of increase in burnout (+24% in women and +25% in men), men’s somatic stress levels are rising at a faster rate than women’s (+9% for men vs +3% for women).

No matter what the job title, gender or industry, a key factor in wellbeing risk is employer support. Employees who felt strongly supported by their employers reported the highest levels of wellbeing and were less likely to report turnover intent.

However, new data shows a noteworthy downturn in the extent to which employees felt well supported by their employers. Just six months ago, 78% of employees felt well-supported, dropping down 7% to 71% today. Burnout symptoms among employees who had poor employer support were twice as high as those who felt protected. While the data uncovered a broad-based drop in employee perceptions of strong employer support, the drop was precipitously larger (+20%) among managers than among individual contributors.

The least engaged employees reported increases of 36% in somatic stress, however, there was no increase in somatic stress symptoms among the most engaged members who participated in digital resilience coaching and self-care.

In contrast, employees who felt strongly supported by their employer were:
 

Managers and individual contributors who take an active part in self-care and resilience-building have better outcomes than those who do not. By taking workplace mental health seriously and working to predict who is at risk, we will see a payoff in improved work performance and a profound change in organizational performance. Increasingly, employers will look to data-driven insights to understand the mental resilience of their workforce and address vulnerabilities proactively.  

Employers who continue to place a premium on employee wellbeing and performance can moderate the negative effects of the pandemic on their people before they become overwhelmed. Together with the increase noted in manager burnout, the finding that managers feel less well supported strongly underscores the importance of companies making an extra effort to care for their managers.

Our wellbeing study revealed two favorable wellbeing trends that shed light on better ways to help your people.

We’re no longer in the depths of a pandemic that gave rise to the “great resignation,” driving burnout to reach all-time highs. The truth is, we’re in a period of endemic change that will continue to introduce ongoing disruptions to all of us. The good news is that the overwhelm caused by change can be improved if you’re ready.

As we’ve discovered, what your employees think about you can influence productivity across your entire organization. Data can help. Changes in stress, burnout, and other outcomes are ongoing but resilience is still the bright side that stands the test of time. We need to act now to protect employee wellbeing before individuals and companies reach a breaking point.