Tactical solutions to a growing mental health concern in the workplace, and the sobering reality of risks if we look the other way.
This is a recording of a live webinar, recorded on the 19th of October, 2022.
We’re all experiencing the feeling: there are simply not enough hours in the day to get it all done.
So how do we achieve sustainable, fluid working to avoid burnout, attrition and the health ramifications of doing too much? And what can we do to support our people before it becomes a problem?
With burnout slated as the 5th leading cause of death in the US, and sobering stories coming from well-known businesses closer to home, the stakes are high. We MUST find a solution.
In this webinar, we discussed tactical solutions to a growing mental health concern in the workplace, and the sobering reality of risks if we look the other way.
Job design is really just being clear about what work is going to be done by whom. We’re not talking about 3 page PDF job descriptions - but instead - what are the core bundles of work, or priorities, for each individual.
Good job design focuses each person on their highest skills which align to the business’s impact or outcomes; and the work people love.
You might also hear reference to work design, which job design is part of. It sounds technical and HR-y but really managers and people are continuously designing work.
We discussed the scenario of the man who is helping pull the drawing people from the river, and that we need to look upstream to see why they’re falling in in the first place.
The most important upstream interventions are:
We do this by:
First, we need to take stock of where our organisation sits in the context of workloads and sustainable work. If we’re overloaded and burned out, we need to get to the source before we can start to fix it.
We can look at this from an individual, team and organisational perspective.
Additionally, we need to be sure we’re keeping an ear to the ground and flagging things like ‘I’m busy.’ Is this a one-off issue, or is this an ongoing issue?
While we understand more systems, new systems and increasing technologies in our lives is indeed part of the problem, there are tools that can be used to get measurements on the health of the workplace, particularly from a sustainability perspective.
Beamible can help you gather quantitative data on how engaging your people find their work, how aligned their work is with business goals, the cost associated with unimportant work and more. Reach out to our team to understand more about measuring sustainability in your workplace.
Family Friendly Workplaces can also help establish boundaries and measurement as we all learn to navigate the new world of work.
A work and job design tool to manage workloads, and implement upstream solutions to burnout and more.
Helping you create a mentally healthier workplace. Access their resources here.
A community of organisations united in driving a global change to create family friendly workplaces. Access their resources here.
Upcoming events, work trends, product tips and more!