Preventing Organisational Burnout

Last month the dating app, Bumble, announced they were temporarily closing their offices for a week to combat organisation-wide stress and burnout.

The company has had a busy year with user numbers up by around 30% and their debut on the stock market; so high levels of stress are understandable.

For me, this move is the living embodiment of great leadership. Because a leader’s job is to deliver the results that we’re accountable for whilst looking after the people that we have the privilege and responsibility to lead.

It seems that Founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, has been able to step out of the head-down execution mode for long enough to understand and sense what was happening in the business. And in doing so, her intuition told her that the company was heading towards collective burnout.

 

And in recent weeks we’ve heard about other forward-thinking organisations like Zalando and LinkedIn who are doing the same.

It’s clear these organisations are being well led by teams that focus on balancing the needs of the business and the people they have the privilege and responsibility to lead.  As a result, they will almost certainly see their engagement scores go up.

 

And then there are others who are getting it wrong by demanding their staff return to the office five days per week with immediate effect.

It seems as though these organisations have people in leadership positions who clearly aren’t leading at all.

As a result, two things will happen. Their engagement scores go down and people will start walking out the door to find jobs elsewhere, with employers who show more care and consideration to those that they employ.

And the costs here aren’t just associated with recruitment and employee turn-over. Those walking out the door will tell their stories of woe to their friends, family and new colleagues which will start to damage their brand.

 

What about you?

Whilst it may not be necessary to close your offices for a full week… you may need to do something.

The question that remains therefore, is what do you need to do, in order to deliver the results and look after those in your care?

#LeadOn

 

Image courtesy of Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash