Avoidable staff attrition could cost a company millions
We’re actually more mentally ill than before the pandemic, according to a national survey of 1,500 people by Beyond Blue. High inflation, the war in Ukraine and uncertainty about the future have added to a “sense of unease”.
Overlay that on the trials and tribulations of work, and the fact that 67% of employees have felt burnt out, with a further 36% leaving their job as a result, probably shouldn’t be a surprise. For employers thinking about how to prevent burnout among staff, the focus should be on work-life balance, which was the cause among nearly half of those surveyed. A large majority of employees – 84% – think their employer should be doing more to manage burnout in the workplace.
A further study done by workplace wellbeing platform Groov compounded these findings by revealing that employers are not on top of the problem - one in five (20%) employees, for example, do not feel that their employer supports their wellbeing. While over a third (37%) of employees said they thought of leaving their job at least once a week, this figure rose even further among those who felt unsupported, with 55% considering leaving their company several times a week.
To read more about Groov and it's approach to workplace wellbeing, click here to find out why it believes a one-size-fits-all approach does not work.
With each departing employee costing business up to $30,000, the expenses can quickly add up. Reward Gateway estimates that a business with 750 employees could be losing up to $9.5 million each year through avoidable employee attrition.
In the long term, workplace wellbeing can make or break a business. When employees feel overworked, tired or undervalued, they become disengaged and deliver poor-quality work. One in two employees told Reward Gateway that they are not interested in company perks; what they are looking for are organisations that prioritise wellbeing initiatives.
Read more: Poor mental bealth is on the rise post pandemic
While many employers simply give a day off here and there to mitigate exhaustion, flexible working has been embraced as a more permanent solution to restoring work-life balance, according to SEEK’s research. HR and managers are encouraged to work with employees to review work tasks, reduce expectations and decrease workloads. Setting hours and modelling good practice around finishing work on time are also key levers leaders can use to minimise feelings of burnout.
According to Dr Fiona Crichton, a behavioural change expert who leads the Groov clinical team, addressing workplace wellbeing needs to be a simple and gradual process. Rather than large, time-consuming programmes, employers should focus on small day-to-day actions that are tailored to each employee’s strengths and needs.
“Our approach to organisational change and wellbeing is to get people to perform small daily actions in order to create change,” Dr Crichton tells HRD.
“People can always tell us what’s wrong, and there will be a dozen papers and think pieces on the various issues people are facing. And while that’s great, what I’m really interested in is how to get people to actually do the things that will help them.”
“We aim to understand what each individual person needs to incentivise them to do small, incremental things for their wellbeing,” she explains.
“You can’t apply the same actions to every individual. You might need to learn what you need to do to stand down your amygdala, for example, if you’re someone who’s very hypervigilant because of your background or wiring. That might be something physical, because confronting your thoughts might create more anxiety for you. You might be the person who goes for a run, does the deep breathing, or just gets out and does things because you’re an active relaxer.
“If we can get people to understand who they are as individuals, then we can figure out what actions will be achievable and effective for them.”
To read more about Groov and it's approach to workplace wellbeing, click here to find out why it believes a one-size-fits-all approach does not work.
