Managers, do this to keep workers from quitting
By: Virginia Backaitis
Tags: Work, Employee Engagement, Resignation, Future Of Work, Employee Experience

If managers thought all would be calm now that more and more people are vaccinated, it turns out they may be wrong. Consider that employers are finding themselves in the midst of a new epidemic — the “Great Resignation.” Workers are quitting their jobs in near record numbers.

While some attribute the exodus to employees being stuck in their jobs, unable to switch employers during the Great Pandemic, psychiatrist Mark Goulston, MD argues that burnout is to blame. Goulston says that burnout — characterized by reduced productivity, cynicism, and depletion— is an expected reaction to the trauma and extreme stress caused by a global pandemic that has dragged out for over a year.

“Burnout happens progressively and cumulatively,” says Goulston, coauthor along with Diana Hendel, PharmD, of Why Cope When You Can Heal? How Healthcare Heroes of COVID-19 Can Recover from PTSD (Harper Horizon.) “Spend a year working long hours under stressful circumstances, trying to also homeschool your kids, feeling isolated, grieving all these losses, and worrying about the safety of your loved ones and yourself, and eventually you will hit a breaking point,” he says, adding “it takes time to reflect on and process what you’ve been through. It makes sense that many people are just now getting to that breaking point.”

Goulston points out that burned-out employees are bad for innovation, engagement, productivity, “and all the other factors that make a company hum.” Not only that, but workers have also had a great deal of time to rethink what matters to them and to assess whether they are living and acting accordingly. “Many have concluded that life is too short to work for companies that don’t seem to care about them as human beings, so they are leaving,” he said.

The onus for fixing the burnout problem is on both parties, say the authors.

“Leaders need to take burnout seriously,” says Hendel, an organizational trauma expert. She cautions that now is the time for business leaders to “get intentional about monitoring your employees’ mental health, which is intertwined with burnout, and intervening when needed. This matters in the best of times, but especially in the wake of a traumatic event like COVID.”

5 things managers can do to help workers cope with post pandemic trauma

Stand firm against stigma. Burnout absolutely impacts people’s mental health, say Goulston and Hendel. When it’s untreated, people can become depressed and anxious, and they may be at greater risk for substance abuse and possibly even suicide. That’s why a holistic approach to fighting burnout includes making sure employees feel safe enough to come to you when they’re struggling.

“We need to do all we can to bring mental health issues into the light — and to stand firm against the stigma that discourages people from talking about it,” says Hendel.

If you have an EAP, make sure people feel comfortable accessing it. An employee assistance program (EAP) helps employees with issues that affect their health and mental and emotional well-being. If your organization has an EAP, make sure that people know the services it offers, and that they can access them confidentially. Reinforce the message that there is no shame in using an EAP. And if you do not currently have an EAP, consider setting one up now.

Talk up the subject of mental health. Don’t assume people “just know” you care about this issue. They probably don’t. Say the words “I want you to be mentally and emotionally healthy. Please come to me if you need help. My door is always open.” And don’t just say it once. Say it, announce it, write it, and reinforce it, over and over.

Regularly meet with employees one-on-one so you’re more likely to be aware of their personal struggles. This is a good leadership practice anyway as it builds strong connections between leaders and employees. But especially in tumultuous times like now, it helps you know if they’re grieving a loss or their spouse has lost a job or their child is struggling in school. The better you know your employees, the more likely you’ll be to intervene when they need it.

Be aware of the signals you’re sending. (People need to feel psychologically safe to tell the truth.) It’s crucial for leaders to allow people to feel their emotions and to talk about it when they are having a tough time. Pay attention to the signals you’re sending. Never penalize people, overtly or subtly, for bringing their secret struggles into the light. Never imply that this is a sign of “weakness” or that they are finding a reason to shirk their duties. And, if you think you’d never do this, know that it’s possible to subconsciously push people away through stigmatizing them.

“We often stigmatize others because what they are going through hits too close to home about our own mental and emotional issues,” says Goulston. “It seems that most of the world copes with anxiety and depression — as opposed to healing from it — by trying to run away from it by keeping busy. Hearing about someone else’s issues can get in the way of our being able to run from ours.”