Picture walking into a nearly robotic office, the workers shuffling through emotionlessly doing their jobs on autopilot, returning home to get a few winks of sleep. Imagine feeling like the entire world is devoid of all creativity, and sterile silence fills the space as personal connections are more challenging. Gallup says that burnout is brewing under the surface in workplaces, and 65% of employees worldwide experience it. We can no longer continue to ignore this as talent acquisition professionals or HR leaders (or employer brand advocates). The growing malaise within the US workforce is about more than simply burnout, which is challenging enough to combat: humans losing their mojo, creative edge, and joie de vivre.
How can we, as leaders, change this? We can use technological solutions that tackle the source of burnout rather than the symptoms.
Roots of Burnout: It Goes Deeper than the Workload
Imagine you have a top performer with innovative ideas sitting in his cubicle blankly, looking at his computer screen buried with work. But burnout is not just burnout because you work yourself to death. It’s a traumatic event that taxes your emotional well-being. It results from an expectation exceeding a limit and the loss of control. According to a 2021 Deloitte report, 77% of workers said they have experienced burnout in their current jobs, and many feel that employers are not doing enough. The cost? Decrease in productivity, rise in high turnover, and lackluster employee engagement.
The “this” that needs fixing is not perks, employee engagement programs, or Band-Aid solutions but how we work. Here are five creative and meaningful approaches that enable companies to combat burnout at the source and re-energize their workforce.
1. Digital Detox Periods
How about an entire day without email, Slack, or checking your tasks with a project management tool? Imagine the headspace employees gain from that formal ‘digital detox.’ One way to counter this burnout trap is to schedule short periods of uninterrupted work.
For instance, Asana famously has “No Meeting Wednesdays,” which is intended to support deep focus. It has gotten the employees out of working in ‘neck-deep water,’ giving them space to be far more strategic than trying to run around in five different directions at once. Shopify saw the value of digital detoxes and deleted 322,000 hours of meetings, which was equivalent to adding 150 new employees.
2. Experiment with Workweek Flexibility with the Four-Day Backend
Flexible working hours answer this – but what if we consider reworking the entire workweek? The 4-Day workweek is here to stay, and it changes everything. Buffer and Microsoft Japan, for example, have implemented 4-day work weeks, resulting in a 40% productivity increase and stress reduction among employees. In other words, by giving employees a 3-day weekend, companies are providing the opportunity for those employees to return feeling refreshed, energized, creative, and more willing to work.
3. AI for Employee Wellness
AI impacts more than just labor costs — it can enhance employee well-being, too. AI platforms are used to identify burnout risks and provide personalized wellness under the control of corporations. Using machine learning to detect behavioral data, tools like Leena AI and Welltok provide tips on wellness resources before burnout occurs.
These tips could include meditation, pausing, or even advice on mental health support for at-risk personnel, such as how HR uses such a scientific system.
Case in point: Real-time stress and burnout data allowed for preempting early intervention, such as with a multinational organization employing AI-powered wellness tools that reported a 35% decline in burnout cases, improving job satisfaction.
4. Gamify Health Challenges
Imagine teams excited about their team wellness, teams not only healthy but also competing amongst themselves for improvement. It has become the norm to have some way to gamify wellness programs for fitness challenges, mindfulness practices, etc. Companies can use SaaS tools like Virgin Pulse and MoveSpring to launch weekly wellness challenges with leaderboards, rewards, and recognition.
5. AI-Powered Personal Career Development Plans
Feeling trapped can lead to burnout. Employees want to move up the ladder; they may sometimes be unsure how. Pymetrics and Gloat are examples of companies that invest in AI tools to create a personalized, talent-centric career development path based on their employees’ strengths and preferences. Growth plans, mentorship, and guided learning paths will help them get more excited about their work because burnout correlates with stagnation.
Conclusion: The Future of Burnout Prevention
Burnout is a complicated, multifaceted phenomenon, but it can be overcome! Innovative solutions, such as digital detox periods, the 4-day workweek, AI-powered wellness platforms, gamified health challenges, and personalized career development plans, can be mobilized to empower a thriving and resilient workforce.
Our job as HR leaders, talent acquisition specialists, and employer brand advocates is to ensure that our organizations are not simply places where work happens but—more importantly—places where people live their best working lives. Stopping this burnout epidemic is our responsibility, and if we can learn how to maintain balance ourselves, we can help show the rest of the world how to find that balance, too.
Kelly Meerbott is an acclaimed TEDx keynote speaker, author, podcast host, and award-winning certified leadership coach. With a unique trauma-informed approach and PTSD training, Kelly has transformed the leadership landscape for executives, C-suite members, and senior military officers. Her proven strategies help 90% of her clients overcome burnout, become more resilient, and achieve their goals. Kelly’s insights on burnout are featured in her bestselling book From Burnout to Bliss and her latest release, Meerbott’s Fables.