Cultural Burnout – Navigating the Challenges of Overloaded Modern Lives

Burnout, flameout, exhaustion, fatigue…

…they’re all pointing to an ongoing issue. Your employees are tired. Whether or not you see them logged on for 70 hours a week, there’s a toll that’s being placed on them and if you don’t sniff it out, you’re going to need more than a bucket of water to put this flame out.

There are three ways you can approach this issue:

1. 1. Nope. Not me. Not my company. We’re fine. Everyone is on the same page, we’re all in this together. We all sink or swim as a unit, and since I’m still afloat, they are too.
   2. Ignore it. Think of this as your gas tank running on empty, and the little red light shows up on your dash. Are you like Kramer, trying to thread the needle as far as you can get before filling up?
   3. Ding! Ding! Ding! You can see it, taste it, feel it. The sensation is almost palpable when you get online together or walk into the same work area as others.

So what do you do with this? Try to help the individual out who’s spent. Lighten their load for a couple of weeks? Convince them to take a day or two off? Hopethat it gets better. Right. You know what they say about Hope not being a strategy, right?

Truth is, there’s potentially a much bigger issue here. It’s that you might be perpetuating a culture that allows this to rear its ugly head – either constantly or regularly. Meaning – YOU’RE the problem (top of the food chain).  Once your employees figure out there’s a pattern of (let’s call it) Permissive Burnout, management loses the trust of its employees. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. It’s important to note here that you probably have one or more managers who are burned out too.

The Challenge:

When the trust in your culture and leadership erodes, you’ve got a much bigger hill to climb. It’s not just one thing you must repair for your employees. They need to see you consistently being perfect five or ten times more.  While you’re scrambling with what to do, some of these employees are fielding other calls for jobs (yes, even the most loyal ones).

The Solution (part of it):

• • Gather a group of stakeholders who have skin in the game
  • Collect information on the obstacles and challenges people are running into
  • Prioritize which can be addressed now, which to save for later, and which aren’t going to get touched.
  • Create an action plan
  • Put dates around everything and who’s involved
  • Meet regularly to make sure the plan is being carried out
  • Communicate the outcomes (ideal and otherwise)

What’s critical here is that you can’t be seen, heard, or hint that you might give up or make excuses. Improvement must be a priority. You, your leadership team, and your committee have to be on the same page and sing the same tune.  Buy-in for improvement speaks loudly to everyone on whether there’s a solution in sight, or if the ship is going down. Leaders need to step up, be role models for others showing that you will get out of this rut and create a healthier environment for everyone.

Call it a Cultural Gut Check if you will. Listen to those instincts and don’t ignore them or pretend that everything is ok. Growing from adversity takes effort, patience, and consistency. Lead your team out of that flame and onto a brighter tomorrow.