of COVID-19 (new coronavirus infectious disease) pandemic Fueling a range of workplace ills, including ‘big resignations’, ‘quiet retirements’, ‘overhiring’, labor shortages and conflicts between managers and employees over returning to in-person work .
Employee burnout and well-being can be at the heart of some of these issues.
Two new studies highlight the importance of social connections in the workplace and show why telecommuting is not the optimal workplace arrangement.hybrid work remotely A schedule can help prevent burnout and improve your mental health.
So what is burnout syndrome?
The International Classification of Diseases explains: burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from poorly managed chronic workplace stress.” As a diagnosable condition, burnout he consists of three symptoms: physical exhaustion, disengagement with work and colleagues, and cynicism about work and career.
For many who have experienced burnout, burnout can feel like a metaphor to explain it.
What causes burnout and how to stop it?
According to a global survey, employee Also, 53% of managers have burned out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The workplace is clearly not thriving.
As a social epidemiologist who studies the present mental anguish In the context of the public health crisis, I wanted to understand the factors that contribute to burnout and how to successfully manage it.
At this point, researchers might think they know all there is to know about burnout. After all, burnout has been studied since at least the late 1970s.
Much of the research conducted since then has focused on wages, hours, management styles, and vague “work cultureSo managing burnout has often focused on reshaping the work environment and reforming bad managers. .
The outbreak of the pandemic has taken many people to a new level of awareness that it is impossible to separate work from life.
For some, that awareness is how tired when they get home from their shift. For others working from home, it may be because the separation between home and office is disappearing.
Either way, our emotional and psychological well-being is with us whether at work or at home. Social connections are a major factor in burnout.
Social costs and benefits of working from home
A recent study by my lab at Simon Fraser University sought to identify the most important risk factors. burnout.
Home ownership, a range of demographic factors, in addition to a variety of variables including classical factors such as workload, satisfaction with compensation, dignity at work, control over one’s work, adequacy of compensation , social support and loneliness.
In conducting this research, we found that loneliness and lack of social support are the main causes of burnout. physical health and financial security.
In summary, this study contributes to a better understanding of burnout as a social problem caused by isolation.
One potential and evolving source of isolation is the new trend of working from home. Working from home has many benefits as many have the privilege of learning.
This saves people time on the commute and gives them more freedom to do chores around the house or do tidbits. nap during their break. This means more time and energy to spend with friends and family at the end of the day.
Working from home, on the other hand, means missing out on cool conversations and casual collisions with co-workers, which can have a surprisingly large impact on your health.
Moreover, given how important work and school are in finding and making friendship, the loss of these spaces can have serious long-term consequences for people’s social health. Especially when time spent with others at work is now spent alone at home.
Importance of social connections to health and well-being
To understand the impact of telecommuting on mental health, my team conducted a second study, looking at differences in mental health self-assessments among individuals working exclusively from home. Housein-person only, or partially in-person and partially working from home.
We adjusted for potentially important factors such as income, hours worked, occupation, age, gender and ethnicity.
According to our results, 54% of those who worked only face-to-face and 63% of those who worked only from home reported good or excellent performance. mental health.
From these results, we can conclude that working from home is optimal for mental health. This is in contrast to a growing body of research highlighting the shortcomings and challenges of working from home.
However, there are pitfalls. He’s a whopping 87% of those who report hybrids. work That is, some were in-person, some worked from home, and had good or excellent mental health.
While the types of work done from home and face-to-face certainly shape these trends, our findings show that hybrid work can give employees the best of both worlds. Social connection to workplace well-being.
In fact, hybrid work arrangements may allow employees to improve work-life balance while maintaining good connections with colleagues. life.
It could be the best of both worlds, at least for those who can work this way.
Employees and employers continue to adapt to the new normal in the midst of this situation. COVID-19 (new coronavirus infectious disease) In preparation for the pandemic, our research is a strong reminder for all of us to remember the importance of social connections.
It’s easy to forget that strong social relationships and community are the foundation of health and well-being both inside and outside the workplace.
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