Organizations should take a holistic approach to mitigating executive burnout by considering systemic factors, implementing policies that promote work/life balance, providing resources to manage stress and fatigue, and creating a culture of mutual respect and understanding among employees and supervisors, which can lead to improved decision quality and a healthier, more productive workplace.
Executive Insights:
- Organizations should take a proactive approach in addressing the systemic causes of executive burnout to improve decision quality and create a healthier and more productive workplace for all employees.
- Executive leaders should be provided with the support and resources necessary to consistently deliver high quality decisions, vision, strategy, and execution.
- Policies that promote work/life balance and provide resources for employees to manage stress and fatigue should be implemented.
- Creating a culture of mutual respect and understanding among employees and their supervisors is essential to mitigating the effects of executive burnout.
- Organizations should avoid blaming executives for their own condition by expecting them to “tough it out” or replacing them with someone who is more “resilient” to workplace stressors.
The growing phenomenon of executive burnout as an occupational hazard has been the subject of much discussion in recent years, as organizations have begun to recognize the risk it poses to strategic decision quality. Burnout is a toxic combination of overwhelming exhaustion, feelings of cynicism and detachment from the work or organization, and a strong sense of ineffectiveness, and it can have a damaging effect on the quality of decisions made by executives with multiplying downstream effects. While many organizations frame burnout as a matter of ungoverned personal work habits, recent research suggests that the causes of executive burnout are more systemic in nature.
A study conducted by the American Psychological Association found that executive burnout is correlated with “organizational factors such as job demands, job control, and autonomy.” Executive leaders are more likely to suffer from burnout when they are given too much responsibility and not enough resources, agency, or organizational support. The study also found that “burnout is exacerbated by organizational politics” – meaning that when organizations are structured in such a way that favors certain employees or departments over others, it can lead to increased burnout risk among accountable leaders.
These findings indicate that organizations should consider the systemic factors that contribute to executive burnout when trying to mitigate its effects. Unfortunately, many organizations have instead taken the approach of blaming burned-out executives for their own condition and either expecting them to “tough it out”, self-heal, or simply replacing them with someone who is more “resilient” to workplace stressors. This analogy is like asking why the canaries made themselves sick when they come out full of soot and disease after entering the coal mine - a place that is making them sick. This approach not only fails to address the root causes of burnout but can also lead to increased cynicism and resentment among production workers who feel their employers do not value their contributions, acknowledge their struggles, or consider their feedback.
Organizations that Recognize Burnout Can Mitigate its Effects
In contrast, organizations that recognize the systemic causes of executive burnout and take steps to address them are likely to see greater success in mitigating its effects. This includes policies that promote work/life balance, providing resources for employees to manage stress and fatigue, and creating a culture of mutual respect and understanding among employees and their supervisors. Most importantly, it is critical to provide executive leaders with the support they need to consistently deliver high quality decisions, vision, strategy, and execution for their organizations. A recent study published in the Harvard Business Review found that companies who implemented these types of policies saw “significant improvement in employee engagement and organizational commitment” as well as “increased feelings of job security and job satisfaction.”
Ultimately, executive burnout is a complex organizational issue that cannot be solved by blaming employees for their own condition. Organizations should take a more holistic approach that acknowledges the systemic factors that can lead to burnout and takes steps to address them. Doing so will not only improve decision quality but may also help create a healthier and more productive workplace for all employees.
