Paula Davis is a Milwaukee-based author and CEO of the Stress & Resilience Institute, through which she has helped organizations nationwide, particularly law firms, create resilient workforces. Her 2021 book “Beating Burnout at Work” was lauded for its “science-help” approach to preventing the mental health issue that studies have shown affects nearly half of us.
Davis recently delivered the keynote presentation “Teaming Up Against Burnout” at the Northeast Wisconsin Manufacturing Alliance’s “Future of Work” symposium, which provided employers from across the New North region with key insights on the topic of burnout; she started by unpacking what she found to be some of the most meaningful takeaways from the 2023 Deloitte Well-Being at Work Report.
The survey found that two-thirds of American employees rated their well-being as either being worse or the same in 2023 as it was in 2022. Only 23% are “thriving,” while 59% are “quiet quitting” and 18% are “loud quitting,” or actively disengaged.
These statistics should be a call to action for business leaders, who can account for at least 70% of variance in team engagement, Davis told about 200 NEWMA members who gathered at Fox Valley Technical College May 1.
She pointed to six root causes of workplace burnout that are within the control of workplace managers: unmanageable workloads, lack of recognition — including not being asked for input, perceptions of unfairness, lack of community, values misalignment and lack of autonomy.
Davis highlighted TNTs (tiny, noticeable things) leaders can do to combat burnout. Some are as simple as cultivating what Davis calls “sticky recognition,” or showing appreciation to team members by adding evidence of their impact.
Davis says the difference between being stressed out and burned out is chronic exhaustion, chronic cynicism and chronic inefficacy.
Have the important conversations with your workforce. It could have a major impact on workforce retention and productivity for years to come.
