Workplace burnout and the 4 day work week
Posted on 1st July 2022 at 09:16
Feel like you're running on empty throughout the work week?
Workplace burnout is the physical and emotional exhaustion felt by a lot of employees from prolonged stress and pressure within the workplace.
Cases still seem to be on the up, but is the UK’s new 4 day work week a realistic solution to workplace burnout? Or could it actually make things worse?
What causes workplace burnout in the first place?
Work life imbalance
Lack of clear management or leadership
Overwhelm of work
Lack of job security
Micromanagement and dysfunctional work relationships
Pressure to succeed/high levels of competition
All of these factors can increase your employees stress levels which, if sustained over long periods of time, will lead to burnout.
The 4 day work week
The beginning of June 2022 marked a huge day for 30 UK based companies. It marked the beginning of a 6 month trial of the 4 day working week.
The trial is based on the 100:80:100 model: 100% pay for 80% working hours but maintaining 100% productivity and output. And, from a mental health perspective, this comes with a huge number of benefits for both employees and their employers like;
Increased productivity during working hours.
Improved job satisfaction for employees.
Higher employee retention rates for employers as employees feel more supported.
Maintaining a better work life balance.
Fewer cases of sick days as employees have more time to rest and fully recover.
With all these benefits though, must come a culture that cares. It’s one thing for a business to simply roll out the 4 day work week, but with it comes the risk of overwhelm and employees putting more pressure on themselves to maintain the same level of productivity in a shorter time frame.
You can read more about creating a culture that cares in our previous blog post “How to create a culture that cares in a hybrid world”.
If you’re looking for new ways to make your employees feel more supported and less stressed, download our free corporate counselling buyers guide today for more details about how we can help.
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