A worryingly high number of employees are at a high risk of burnout.
And, without a plan to improve employee health and wellbeing, or assistance from AI and other technologies, organisational burnout risk spreads from managers to employees – a potential domino effect that undermines engagement and productivity at all levels.
These are among the findings from Workday’s Employee Report: Addressing Organisational Burnout, which analysed survey data from 2,6-million employees across more than 850 companies and 12 industries around the world.
It concluded that:
* 27% of employees are at high risk of burnout.
* 33% of managers at organisations with high burnout risk fall into the high-risk category themselves, compared to 15% at organisations with low burnout risk. In other words, managers at high-risk organisations are two times as likely to be at risk of burnout.
* Employees at high-risk organisations, managed by someone with high burnout risk, are 19% more likely to be at risk of burnout themselves. By comparison, employees at “low risk” companies are only 12% more likely to be at risk of burnout when their manager is experiencing poor health and wellbeing.
“This global study highlights the similarities in burnout risk from country to country,” says Kiv Moodley, country manager: South Africa at Workday. “Our workforce is one of our most valuable assets, and investing in their wellbeing is essential for sustainable growth.
“By prioritising employee health and leveraging technology, organisations can reduce absenteeism, enhance productivity, and foster a resilient work culture that not only retains but also attracts top talent in a competitive market.”
Moodley adds that addressing burnout is crucial for maintaining a healthy and effective workforce in South Africa.
The specific causes of burnout risk might differ by industry, but they are present in all organisations, across all industries.
Government, energy and resources, and media and entertainment have the highest proportion of high-risk organisations across all industries, at 50% or more.
While government and media and entertainment have both made improvements since 2022, 17% and 12% reductions respectively, more needs to be done.
Insights from the Workday Hiring and Talent Trends report found that for most organisations, voluntary turnover is down, involuntary turnover is up, and external applicants are competing for fewer open positions. As a result, people are staying in their jobs for longer – despite a decline in promotion rates and internal mobility.
This lack of mobility and progression, combined with ongoing external pressures, poses a challenge to overall levels of employee engagement and productivity. Business leaders must prioritise and make employee health and well-being part of their strategic goals if they are to achieve positive engagement outcomes.
In fact, employees with a higher burnout risk have significantly lower scores across a number of key drivers, including overall engagement, belief, satisfaction and loyalty.
For overall engagement, as an example, those who are at high risk of burnout gave a score of 6/10 versus those at low risk who gave a score of 9/10. If burnout risk is left unaddressed, this could cause problems for organisations trying to retain their best people – especially at a time when hiring someone else isn’t an option.
Without a way to consistently measure employee sentiment, executives are often unaware of impending burnout risk. This creates a blind spot that leaves organisations unable to address the root cause of burnout risk and low engagement levels.
While employee health and wellbeing has historically been measured in terms of absence rates and uptake of employee assistance programs, this does not provide the whole picture.
Workday studies show that business leaders must adopt a data-driven approach to measure employee sentiment to keep burnout risk at bay.