Long before the Covid pandemic, I was talking with anyone who would listen, about what I called the “stress epidemic” underway across organizations and cultures around the world.
For example, in 2018, according to McKinsey & Company, change was occurring at 10x the pace of the Industrial Revolution and 300x the scale, a pace faster than human beings evolve and an environment most people haven’t been trained to manage, leaving many people feeling overwhelmed, threatened and stressed.
Stress was the number one symptom Googled and in that same year the World Health Organization redefined burnout, calling it a "syndrome" tied to "chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
An estimated 1m workers were absent every day due to stress, and research already indicated that workplace culture was the biggest roadblock employees faced in their efforts to feel healthier and happier.
I encouraged organizations to create cultures built on trust, with better resources to help their people, predicting that employees would soon demand those things. Most looked at me like I was crazy – at least initially.
Fast forward 4 years, after a prolonged pandemic, massive upheaval in lives and work environments, and the added stress of societal uncertainty…and what was already challenging is now so debilitating to so many, that mental health professionals – already stretched – are now completely overwhelmed* and organizations have been forced to re-examine their work environments and how they support their people.
With the Great Resignation, thousands of people voted with their feet - walking away from organizations because they weren’t hearing what their employees were clearly saying they needed – flexibility, empathy, support, understanding – and, for some, a living wage. Not only do employees deserve those things, it is in an organization’s best interests to provide them.
That is the part that puzzles me most. It addition to being basic human decency, it’s also common sense and good for business.
The relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction, as well as growth, is well established, and more recent research indicates that flexible work environments enhance productivity.
In fairness, some leaders/organizations have been early adopters (Novartis' Victor Bultó, Punit Renjen from Deloitte, and Dan Price at Gravity Payments come to mind).
And yet, just this week, at least one massive global organization is digging it's heels and demanding that employees return to the office.
Maybe they’re mighty enough to compel people to conform…maybe not. Or, maybe this time employees will use their collective voice to demand what is rightfully theirs – an environment where their physical and mental well-being won’t be compromised.
For those organizations still on the fence re: the future of work, I hope you prioritize your people.
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