Corporate Management

Work Burnout, the importance of inclusion for employee well-being

Research by the Boston Consulting Group confirms that 48% of global workers suffer from work-related stress disorders. Inclusion in the workplace is key to combating burnout and promoting employee well-being

29 October 2024

4' min read

Guiltily gone a bit 'out of fashion', the phenomenon ofburnout is far from fading away and can be relegated to a distant memory of the Covid and post-pandemic period: 48 per cent of workers globally still suffer from work-related stress disorders. This is according to research by the Boston Consulting Group ("Four Keys to Boosting Inclusion and Beating Burnout") conducted in early 2024 among 11,000 corporate employees in eight countries in different geographic areas, research that confirms that, at some point in their careers, most employees have experienced symptoms and linked to a state of exhaustion characterised by low motivation and a feeling of inefficiency. For certain groups of employees, in particular, it is more common to experience such symptoms as they often face discomfort in the workplace due to discriminatory attitudes, stigmatisation and low representation.

A situation, the one described above, that has also closely affected Italy, in view of the fact that, as confirmed by BCG, the number of Italians who expressed discomfort at work in the first months of this year has increased compared to 2023 and constitutes an alarming signal that cannot be ignored by companies. One way to counter the negative effects of this phenomenon, according to the experts, is that of inclusion, due to the fact that the well-being of employees is directly linked to the development of environments that are open to the contamination of ideas and experiences of people with different profiles and backgrounds.

The value of inclusion

The study, specifically, quantified employees' feelings of inclusion using the BLISS index, a statistical tool that identifies the factors with the greatest impact and revealed that the likelihood of Burnout increases with low inclusion in each market, from 1.2 to 2.6 times and, at the same time, halves when inclusion increases.

The authors of the report then identified the four elements with the greatest impact on the sense of inclusion and capable of increasing the wellbeing of employees, and these are access to resources, support from the leadership, a sense of psychological security with one's direct manager, and last but not least (but not least) fair opportunities for growth. And the more these elements are felt and perceived, the more likely it is that well-being and job satisfaction will increase.

Feeling included, the experts go on to observe, can mean many different things to different people, but focusing on these four factors could be a starting point for asking the right questions of one's employees and understanding their experience, leading to developing and implementing solutions to improve their status. One such solution is to design benefits that specifically address the needs of their people. In other words, companies should apply the same rigour to their employees as they do to their customers, and thus understand what it takes to have happy, motivated and loyal employees, while identifying their weak points. Using this data as a guide, organisations can then envisage initiatives to offer the most suitable support to their employees, without necessarily offering more benefits, but rather developing a tailor-made professional proposition, from childcare services to counselling programmes and financial assistance to more flexible working time options.

The decisive mark of the leaders

In this journey to reduce the risk of burnout and preserve the well-being of the corporate workforce, those in leadership roles within the organisation in turn benefit from the value generated by environments where they feel supported and enriched. Indeed, the best team leaders not only manage their team's activities, butencourage collaboration, create productive work environments and facilitate wide-ranging communications, and thus skills that management today cannot fail to have to help increase everyone's feeling of inclusion. The strongest managers, this trend outlined in the BCG study, demonstrate an appreciation for diversity and inclusion by sharing aspects of their identity, valuing the voices and perspectives of underrepresented groups, and fostering relationships among team members with diverse backgrounds.

There are also other ways of preventing and resolving problems related to psychological malaise arising from stress and frustration in the workplace, and the first step is to ensure a psychologically healthy environment for employees by implementing specific interventions in an ongoing and structured manner. The experts from Speexx, a company specialising in language training and business coaching, analysed a series of interventions promoted by companies operating in different sectors and identified a number of initiatives that any organisation can implement to achieve a significant improvement in the mental health of its employees.

What steps to actually take

Launching 'idea management' programmes, for example, means organising periodic meetings during which everyone can share innovative proposals with respect to specific projects, thus increasing the level of involvement of all members of a team to actively contribute to the company's growth. Similarly, with a view to fostering the spirit of self-determination, it is good to promote performance appraisal processes with a bottom-up approach, so that employees can play an active role in their own career path, personally setting their own annual objectives that are then discussed with their manager.

Another corrective solution is related to physical spaces, which can be rethought and transformed in a wellness key: areas similar to airport business lounges with sofas or corners for bookcrossing with healthy food on offer in fact guarantee a quality break, but above all encourage encounters and relationships between people. The spirit of these initiatives changes the paradigm of the classic coffee consumed standing in front of the machine in a hurried manner and opens up to the pleasure of sharing a true moment of break. Breaks, emphasise Speex, are not only vital for regaining control of one's day and greater focus, but also allow one to stimulate creativity and find new ideas.

Culture of well-being, constant dialogue, attention to listening and psychological safety are therefore the pillars of a reflection capable of pushing organisations to turn words into concrete actions, facilitating the trend whereby fewer and fewer workers seek a career made up of pre-established stages and more and more workers seek their own well-being in what they do and together with others.

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