Jacinda Ardern’s bane of burnout

NEW DELHI: Last week, Jacinda Ardern, who had emerged as one of the most influential leaders in the developed world, announced her resignation as Prime Minister of New Zealand.

The young statesman, who had helmed the office for six years, tearfully remarked that a political stint requires one to have lots of gas in the tank, and that unfortunately, she had run out of steam.

Ardern’s exhaustion was brought on by the pressures of leading the nation through testing times — the Christchurch massacre, followed by the Covid pandemic, and the subsequent road to economic recovery.

The leader’s confessions have shone light on a concept referred to in hushed whispers in corporate corridors — burnout. It’s the physical and mental exhaustion suffered by one who is being worked beyond a tipping point, which leads him or her to lose motivation, which in turn affects the performance.

The impact of being overworked also spills onto one’s personal life, deteriorating the quality of time spent doing things one loves or attending to one’s familial needs.

In 2019, the WHO included burnout in its International Classification of Diseases, defining it as an occupational phenomenon but stopping short of calling it a medical condition.

Addressing burnout isn’t as easy, considering how management gurus had dismissed it as an extension of millennial privilege, and a fallout of the lifestyle choices of overachievers.

However, the numbers speak for themselves as a global study conducted in 2020 that surveyed over 7,000 professionals said that over 90% of the respondents had experienced one or the other form of burnout during and after the pandemic.

The catchphrase ‘The Great Quiet Resignation’ had gained popularity in the weeks following the outbreak, with news portals reporting on the phenomenon of office workers throwing in their towels en-masse.

However, for the average worker in emerging economies, the notion of citing mental health issues and calling it a day is just not feasible for a multitude of reasons.

Barely a handful of firms in India have HR policies that account for focussing on mental health.

Sabbaticals are unheard of, beyond the confines of blue chip companies, which are traditionally cash-rich.

In nations without a welfare-state economy, the absence of a steady job that guarantees a monthly income, leaves individuals to fend for themselves, and dip into their savings.

There is also a stigma attached to those expressing such needs, as they are considered as being unwilling to punch in long hours. Now, with the end of the new normal of Work from Home and the barrage of layoffs globally, the decks are stacked against workers.

Offices must consider burnouts seriously. HR leaders need to formulate policies that would incorporate an acceptable level of redundancy within teams, so that distribution of labour is evened out.

The introduction of skilling programmes as well as diversifying responsibilities are also imperative to battle burn-out.

A healthy mix of hybrid and in-person attendance could be encouraged at work, while also incentivising employees to avail of much-deserved annual or half yearly vacations.

Employers must comprehend that the cost of replacing human assets often outweighs the cost of those little investments that can be made to make the workplace a little more humane.