Society is obsessed with the concept of ‘success’. Although it is such a vague and subjective concept, the consensus is that to reach success one must persevere. This way of thinking has been drilled into one’s mindset from such a young age. The result is a society obsessed with hard work, financial gain, and social esteem.
Many often follow a strict plan to reach all these. Completing your education by your early 20s, pursuing a career that adds a few letters to your name, and purchasing a house and car by your 30s are the common milestones. The problem with this is that life becomes a sprint. Running full speed in life may result in exhaustion in the middle of the course – something that has preyed not only on athletes but to many people as well. Exhaustion in daily affairs and working has made many people prone to burnout and stress-induced illnesses.
Athletic metaphors for success and achievement work on many people, and athletes who give motivational speeches on success and hard work often encourage people to continue. But even then, dealing with stress can be a challenge.
A COMMON PROBLEM
Feeling stressed and tired may seem commonplace, but it might already be burnout planting its roots among many employees. Burnout is a resulting condition from sustained stress that is made evident through exhaustion, detachment, lack of motivation and accomplishment. A recent study revealed the almost 25 % of 7500 surveyed employees feel burnout always while 44% feel burnout sometimes.
THE SELF AND THE JOB INDUSTRY
It is true that work entails different sets of duties that must be accomplished. Any delay is an inconvenience to the whole system and is an embarrassment for the individual, but workers can be trapped in this mentality and would only be detrimental to their happiness and health. Job burnout has been linked with increased risk for lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart diseases, and high cholesterol.
TOWARDS A HEALTHY WORKING ENVIRONMENT
While job burnout deals with individuals, companies are interested in finding solutions for this crisis. Job burnout gives an insight into what must be fixed in a person’s working environment and is a sign for a business to check what makes are toxic in the work environment. A stressful workload that leads to prolonged working hours, unwelcoming peers, unjust work practices, and even lack of opportunities often run employees down.
After resolving these issues, companies should work on maintaining the morale of employees by engaging in non-routinary activities like team building events, employee recognition or by hiring motivational speakers across different platforms like athletes, coaches, health and fitness speakers, etc.
These morale-boosting activities can be seen as further demands on employees, but they also add another dimension to the worker-employer relationship. These activities give each group a deeper sense of investment and responsibility to their work.
Success is truly something that many aspire to; however, this goal may breed a way of thinking that only results in burnout and stress. Businesses and employees must work together to ensure that their health, motivation, and bottom line remain healthy and strong for everyone’s benefit.
