SOS: Managers should be accountable for stress and burnout
Workplace health and safety codes *should* cover mental health but labour law isn’t about to change anytime soon. This means managers have to take the lead.
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Welcome back to Rule Breaker! After a few hospital visits and home renovations, I'm finally back at my keyboard. Now that the contractors are gone and my family is in good health, I’ll hopefully be able to connect with you more regularly.
These past months taught me a vital lesson in managing my energy. Exhaustion took it’s toll, and Anxiety, my ever-present companion, kept shouting, “You need a break!”
It took a stern reminder from my therapist, who said, “You’re fraying at the edges,” to make me realize how close I was to the breaking point. The Holmes-Rahe Stress Inventory quantified it: I had 80% chance of a health breakdown in the next two years given all that was going on. And if that wasn't enough, I managed to fall on my face and break my front tooth. 🤦♀️ Life sure knows how to hit the brakes for you.
So, I cut my working hours down to 40%.
Because I work for myself I could eliminate non-essential tasks, focus on income-generating work, and give myself the break I needed. It made me wonder, though, how people working full-time jobs for employers manage when life hits hard?
Is the answer that everyone should become self-employed? I don’t think so.
Is it that employees need to be awesome at managing stress through meditation, therapy, or exercise? That doesn’t seem right.
Instead, I’ve come to believe that the solution to burnout and extreme stress lies with employers and reforms to labor health and safety laws.
We need regulations that recognize workplace injuries can happen in our brains as much as our bodies. And till major legal reforms happen, it is managers that need to take the lead.
Let me break it down...
Labour laws primarily protect our physical health
Our labor laws often have a similar origin story: something bad happens, we agree that profits shouldn’t override human safety, and we create laws to prevent it from recurring.
During the industrialization era, companies exploited poor labor standards. Factories emerged with minimal safety measures and no job security. Children, with their small hands and bodies, were ideal for cramped coal mines and intricate machinery. Plus, they accepted a fraction of adult wages. A win-win for profit margins and a family’s income level, right?
When conditions became unbearable or disasters struck, like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that claimed 143 lives, employees took matters into their own hands. Unions, strikes, and uprisings forced lawmakers to act. Laws were enacted or modified, ensuring safe workplaces and fair wages.
Currently, Canada has exhaustive regulations covering various aspects of physical work, from temporary structures to hazardous products. For instance, each connected boiler or pressure vessel must have at least one safety valve. Just in case you find yourself replacing the boiler at work.
However, what's missing is legislation addressing the psychosocial aspects of work. Our labor laws, comprehensive in physical safety, have failed to keep up with the evolving demands of the modern workplace.
Stress is a BIG workplace health and safety issue
Let's state the obvious: most workers are stressed.
A whopping 62% of employees experience high stress levels, often accompanied by extreme fatigue and a sense of losing control. We're all overwhelmed—deadlines, demanding bosses, personal issues, and a slew of other situations pile on the stress. Additionally, race and gender inequalities are becoming more openly discussed, while external political and social events seep into our lives and impact our well-being.
Regardless of the source, stress significantly hampers productivity. We snap at colleagues, withdraw, and do the bare minimum to avoid getting fired. Physical ailments like ulcers and neck pain start cropping up, and eventually, burnout forces us onto stress leave.
Reducing stress at work is largely left to the individual
When it comes to addressing workplace stress and mental health, we've made some progress, but there's much more to be done.
Legally, there are basic rules in place. You can’t fire someone for no reason. You can’t harass employees or allow racism in your offices. You have to pay people fairly. You have to give a certain amount of vacation days and weekly rest. You have to allow employees to break for eating.
New regulations, like limiting after-hours emails, are emerging. France pioneered managing after-hours contact, and in Ontario, employers with over 25 employees must have a policy on disconnecting from work.
Employers are stepping up efforts with initiatives too like Employee Assistance Programs, in-office yoga sessions, supportive managers conducting regular check-ins, and flexible work schedules. However, these efforts are inconsistent across companies and often not universally applied within an organization.
In the end, the majority of weight to manage stress sits with the individual. It is up to them to ask for what they need at work or find solutions outside of the office.
Labour laws I’d create if I was ruler of the world
Given that the majority of employed Canadians and Americans are now considered knowledge workers, maybe it’s time to update our health and safety laws.
Laws are essentially rules we all agree on. Historically, we didn't all agree that having a five-year-old work in a mine shaft was harmful. Then, our perspective shifted, and laws were enacted to prevent such situations.
When I needed the break, I acted as my own manager and enforced my own labor laws.
Learning from that experience, to reduce employee stress and prevent burnout, I’d propose these mandatory measures for workplaces:
Weekly one-on-one meetings. Imagine if all managers were required to meet with their direct employee once a week and ascertain their mental well-being and offer support to stay healthy.
Mental health training for managers. The training would cover the sources and impact of poor psychosocial wellbeing, tools and resources at their disposal and their role in maintaining employee health.
Flexible work arrangements. Just like I did this summer, all employees would have the option to temporarily reduce their workload without facing consequences to job security or performance ratings.
Nap rooms. Humans are the only mammals that deprive themselves of sleep. Just like eating during the day, many people need a bit of shut eye to keep going.
Compensation for excessive travel days. Being a road warrior is taxing. Similar to safety regulations for boilers, there should be rules defining safe limits for employee travel, ensuring their well-being.
Since I’m not ruler of the world, what can managers do?
The challenge is that workplace stress won’t lead one dramatic incident that will spur change. The effects of workplace burnout has no equivalent to poor labor standards leading to children losing limbs or workers leaping from burning buildings.
And since I don’t see politician campaigning for workplace nap rooms anytime soon, what can be done in the meantime?
Pulling from that experience when I was COO of a company that made an app for managers and led several teams, here are my suggestions.
1. Have weekly one-on-ones with employees.
Regular one-on-one meetings between managers and team members are essential. Asking questions like “How are you feeling?”, “Are you less stressed than last week?”, and “Where is the stress coming from?” can make a significant difference. Monitoring well-being closely can highlight patterns of exhaustion and overwhelm.
I make a list every night about the good and bad parts of my day. It helps me be my own manager and spot when stress levels are rising.
2. Pause non-essential tasks for employees when times get tough
Every job has tasks that can be delayed. Employees might not voice their concerns due to financial pressures or job security fears. Managers are the ones with the power to step in and give employees chance to catch their breath.
In my own self-employed experience, I trimmed non-essential tasks until I had capacity to take them on again. This kind of flexibility is available to all employees if the manager is supportive.
3. Seek training on how to support employees through stressful times
Just as every office floor has someone who knows CPR, managers should possess skills to help team members navigate mental health crises. This involves approaching sensitive topics, fostering an environment where seeking help is seen as strength and guiding employees to the right support systems.
In my case, I’ve built up the tools to help myself when I’m not mentally healthy. I steer myself to the necessary support, whether it be my therapist, friends, partner, family or paddle board during challenging times.
The biggest push back to these ideas and anything else that supports employee mental health is the impact on productivity. “But Jess, the economy will suffer! Our company will be unprofitable! We need growth and if workers start getting all these perks, how will anything get done?!”.
To that, I say, at some point, we also believed the economy would suffer if employees took lunch breaks. We got over it and let people eat.
Sometimes it feels as though we run our offices as if every employee is a heart transplant surgeon, waiting for the donated organ to arrive by helicopter. The truth is, most things can wait.
Keep healthy,
Jess
Do you have other labor laws you’d put in place? Share them in the comments because I want to learn from you.
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P.S. I’m prioritizing shipping over perfection, so this post may not convey all my thoughts perfectly. I’d love comments or questions to keep the discovery going.
P.P.S. With thanks, as always, to my Junior Associate, ChatGPT-3.