ACE advises: Burnout and chronic stress come with a cost to businesses: increased use of sick time, higher turnover rates and lower productivity. Wellness benefits alone do not address the problem of the culture, conditions and behaviors that contribute to burnout.
Giving employees access to wellness resources without addressing unrealistic workloads, understaffing, lack of autonomy, unclear expectations, poor management, constant availability and insufficient time to recover will not help the burnout problem. Chronic stress and burnout are often viewed as personal issues employees need to deal with on their own or that will be cured by a few wellness benefits.
Gym membership reimbursement, Employee Assistance Programs, financial wellness tools, preventive care, Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Spending Accounts are helpful resources employees can turn to, but do not address the underlying organizational issues causing the mental stress.
Certain mindsets keep employees stuck in unhealthy patterns:
- “I’ll rest when …”
- “No one else can do it as well as me.”
- “If I don’t do it, then who will?”
- “I’ll start taking care of myself after…”
These mindsets contribute to lack of collaboration and delegation, difficulty setting boundaries, insufficient rest and other unhealthy workplace patterns.
Providing benefits gives employees access to resources but does not teach them how to change behaviors and habits. Businesses need to go further to provide ongoing education, skill building, leadership development, support around stress management, boundaries, healthy habit formation and resilience. Resources alone don’t create behavior change. Education and skill building give employees the tools and skills to create meaningful changes.
Wellness benefits are a resource. They aren’t a sufficient business strategy to address burnout.
