Not only is the sheer number of people experiencing burnout higher than ever, but it is hitting workers at younger ages—and its effects are more debilitating.
The 2023 Stress in Americasurveyshows that 67% of adults ages 18 to 34 feel like stress makes it difficult for them to focus, 58% describe their daily stress as “completely overwhelming,” and nearly half report that most days their stress is so bad they’re unable to function.
RELATED:
This person’s supervisor believed that speed and only speed was the key to their team’s success
Image credits:StockRocketStudio (not the actual photo)
So she sacrificed any and all quality—and it completely backfired
Image credits:DC_Studio (not the actual photo)
Image credits:YuriArcursPeopleimages (not the actual photo)
Image credits:0x1337D00D
Too many employees are being pushed to—and even past—their breaking points
We want to work in a place where rules are respected and there are no arbitrary decisions. It’s what helps employees feel valued, stay motivated, and perform at their best.
“A workplace feels fair when it operates with transparency, ensuring open communication about policies, expectations, and company changes so employees understand the reasoning behind decisions that affect them,” Heather O’Neill, a career expert fromResume Now—an online platform that provides useful tools and resources to job seekers—toldBoredPanda.
“Equal opportunities for workers of all ages, races and genders also play a key role. Achieving this requires employers to create and enforce clear, consistent criteria for promotions, pay raises, and hiring decisions to ensure everyone is evaluated based on merit and helps prevent unconscious biases from creeping into the process.”
“Leaders fostering a respectful culture also drives inclusivity, actively discourages discrimination or favoritism, and encourages diverse perspectives,” the career expert added. “Together, these practices create an environment where employees feel recognized and respected.”
When it comes to speed in particular, David Sluss, an associate professor of organizational behavior at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, believes that organizations need to redefine what that actually means to them.
“The U.S. Navy SEALs are known for their saying ‘Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.’ These rapid-response special forces teams are paradoxically methodical and patient in both planning and executing their time-critical missions,” Slusswrote.
Sluss explained that these highly effective professionals “have learned over 60 years of operating in crisis situations that working at a slow and smooth pace reduces mistakes and re-dos and in the end speeds up the mission.”
Image credits:Jonathan Borba (not the actual photo)
In short, they’ve learned that leaders shouldn’t “confuse operational speed (moving quickly) with strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value). And this of course means that leaders need to clearly define what delivering value means from the start.”
To learn more about patience in the workplace, he surveyed 578 full-time U.S. employees from a wide range of industries during the Covid-19 lockdown, while everyone was on high alert. Their average age was thirty-nine, most were college graduates, and more than half were in managerial roles themselves.
Sometimes, asking to slow down will get you more, and hopefully, the lady from our story will eventually understand this.
As the story went viral, it received many colorful reactions
Thanks! Check out the results:Gabija Saveiskyte
Indrė Lukošiūtė
Aivaras Kaziukonis
Work & Money
