What We’re Missing in Efforts to Fix Burnout & Disengagement

When problems become overly familiar to us—the kind of things we talk about year after year, and basically come to accept as part of the territory in which we live and work—it is likely time to take a fresh look.

To consider what we’re not taking into account. What we haven’t thought about that might help us begin to break through. To crack the nut. To finally make real progress instead of just talking about it.

In the case of pressing workplace problems—such as burnout, persistently high rates of disengagement, quiet (and loud) quitting, a widespread sense that what we do for work every day is lacking in meaning—it seems high time.

After all, roughly two-thirds of people say they are disengaged at work, according to Gallup. Two-thirds. Disengaged. At work—that place where we spend the most of our time.

That can make no one happy. Not employees. And not employers, who well know that employee disengagement leads to lost productivity and profitability.

To put a number on it, Gallup has also found that employee disengagement costs business an estimated 18 percent of annual salary expenses. McKinsey puts the cost for median S&P 500 companies about $282 million annually.

Put another way, roughly one out of five days of work time is lost time. For employers and employees.

That’s a terrible way to run an organization. A terrible way to spend our work life. And a terrible way to address the big challenges of our day.

So, what do we do?

Well, much has been tried. Wellness programs are on the rise. Arianna Huffington has launched another successful business dedicated to reducing workplace stress, a common symptom of disengagement. Harvard Business Review, Quartz, and McKinsey & Co. have offered tips for how to address the issue.

Yet, here we are. Begging to be asked: What are we missing?

My suggestion: Context.

Living in this age of disruption, of what Azeem Azhar has called The Exponential Age, of daily news headlines that trigger fear or heartbreak and, often a profound sense of powerless, is it not vital to address the larger context in which we are all living and working?

Imagine what happens if we actually talk about that in workplaces? How might that unleash  connection, energy, and an authentic sense of purpose?

Let’s talk about it: On Wednesday, November 15th, at 2 ET, 1 CT, Noon MT, 11 ET. Register here.