The amount of land burned in wildfires within the US has risen substantially over the past two decades. As a result, firefighters have had to step up preemptive actions such as controlled burning, where they clear specific fire-prone areas by burning decaying or overgrown vegetation to reduce the risk of wildfires. In addition to reducing wildfires, controlled burning is also used to manage invasive species, improve wildlife habitats, encourage the growth of fire-adapted plants, and even help scientists learn about the impact of fire ecology on varying ecosystems.On average, firefighters conduct between 4K and 5K controlled burns each year, efforts that are able to decrease the severity of subsequent wildfires by an average of 62%. As burnout within the business world soars, particularly among managers, organizations are increasingly discovering the harm it can cause to their bottom lines. Impacted businesses should be thinking about preventive measures they can take. What does burnout cost a company?According to the findings of Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends report, 82% of the workforce is at risk of burnout — a reality that has led to an increase in the number of senior executives stepping down and the willingness of people to leave their jobs for lower pay. Factors ranging from financial strain in personal finances (43%) to overall exhaustion (40%) and unmanageable workloads (37%) have increased burnout among employees which can lead people to become disengaged, unreliable, and even resentful of their jobs.To make matters more serious, burnout can be contagious within organizations, leading to lower morale among teams and ultimately diminished performance and higher turnover. A study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine approximates the annual cost of burnout to US companies — specifically turnover and lower productivity — at between $4K and $21K per employee. This equates 0.2x to 2.9x average health insurance costs for an employee and 3.3x to 17.1x the cost of training a new employee. How is burnout impacting management?Managers are particularly susceptible to burnout. Between the stress of managing teams that are often too large and the need to placate the demands of superiors, many managers struggle with a poor work-life balance, according to a study from Perceptyx. Added to that is the fact that many people who are in management positions wish they weren’t. Research from Gartner found that 20% of managers never wanted to move into management positions and would prefer jobs where they don’t have to oversee others. Stressed-out managers tend to lead to stressed-out subordinates, often resulting in negativity and unhappiness within entire departments. What culture changes and policies can mitigate burnout?Amidst heightened risks of burnout among employees, community financial institutions and other organizations need to be intentional in their efforts to combat the problem. One area of particular importance is rest. In a world where phones keep people connected to their jobs long after they have left the office, and where many people find it necessary to continue working outside of their normal hours to catch up on unmanageable workloads, completely disconnecting from work is crucial. Not only is it important to ensure that people have access to adequate downtime, but it is also crucial to ensure they actually use it. Though many organizations have embraced unlimited paid time off (PTO) policies in recent years, such programs have not proven to be as beneficial for employees as expected. Instead, a lack of clarity within most organizations regarding what is or isn’t excessive time off leads most people to take less time off under unlimited PTO policies than they otherwise would. Though businesses benefit from such policies because they do not have to pay employees for unused vacation days, the reality is that such programs lead to increased burnout. As CFIs seek to manage burnout within their organizations, the following are a few things to consider:
- Make vacation days a requirement. Mandatory vacation policies that require employees to take a minimum number of days off each year are gaining traction as a way of ensuring that people don’t skip time off due to fear of the appearance that they are not dedicated to their jobs.
- Offer wellness days. Having the ability to take a wellness day allows employees to take a day off for self-care. This alleviates the pressure for employees to have an acute illness in order to request a sick day.
- Implement floating holidays. Floating holidays can be a good way to provide people a bit of downtime. For instance, some companies provide employees an additional day off that is to be taken within a certain time frame from their birthday.
- Institute post-project recovery time. Consider giving employees an extra day or two off following extremely intense projects or periods where people have had to work extra hours or weekends — time that is often overlooked and uncompensated for full-time employees, but which can take a toll on people’s mental and physical health.
- Provide early leadership development. Consider opening early leadership development up to larger groups of employees, as doing so can help people identify early on in their careers whether or not management is something they are truly interested in and can keep people from unintentionally winding up in such positions. Not only can such training help people discover whether they dislike management roles before it is too late, but the skills people acquire in such programs can be helpful in non-management roles as well.
As burnout soars among employees, particularly managers, community financial institutions should consider actively taking steps to combat the issue. Organizations should take steps to ensure that employees have adequate support in their roles, realistic workloads, and enough downtime to thrive. Failing to do so not only can be harmful to employees, but to an organization’s bottom line as well.
