Understanding Burnout in Our Workforce

Burnout is affecting everyone in farm credit, from individual contributors and managers to senior leaders. The recent FCCS Employee Engagement survey revealed that while everyone is feeling burnout, the why behind burnout varies based on each individual association This episode of the Forward Thinking Podcast features FCCS VP of Marketing and Communications Stephanie Barton and FCCS Organizational Development Consultant Angie Coleman unpack the data from this survey, define what burnout looks like across different roles, and explore what organizations can do to combat burnout, improve employee wellbeing, and drive engagement. 

 

Episode Insights Include:

The FCCS Employee Engagement survey 

• The survey highlights trends by region and size. 

• The survey will be conducted annually. 

• 2024 survey findings included a national and global decrease in employee engagement and an increase in management satisfaction. 

• Burnout is continuing to increase, despite distance from the pandemic. 

 

Burnout at every employment level

• Middle management is most negatively affected by burnout. 

• Senior leaders feel burnout the least, possibly because of their level of control, but also because they understand the ‘why’ behind change. 

• Communications breakdown is a major player behind burnout. 

• Leaders rarely overcommunicate with their teams. 

• There is no clear correlation between burnout and company size, region, weather, or challenges.

 

The manifestation of burnout

• Middle managers are carrying the heaviest emotional load as they support both upper management and individual employees. 

• Burnout needs to be addressed from an emotional labor standpoint as well as a task-oriented perspective. 

• Leaders can ask themselves what specifically they are worrying about with their teams.

• If everything is a crisis, then employees can’t get excited about anything. 

 

A customized approach to burnout

• The why behind burnout shows that a generalized approach to combatting burnout will not be effective. 

• Customized training, targeted strategies and one-on-one meetings are essential to productive change. 

• Managers can note specific employee concerns and address then at each one-on-one meeting. 

 

Successful burnout combat strategies

• Communicate survey results to the entire employee population at the same time in the same way. 

• Set clear bullet points for leaders to address in one-on-ones and team meetings to enhance purpose behind communication. 

• Consider if you are taking things off employees plates as often as you are putting things on. 

• Leaders can use the findings from the surveys to connect with managers and employees about specific questions in one-on-one meetings. 

 

This podcast is powered by FCCS.

 

Resources

Connect with Angie Coleman — Angie Coleman

 

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“If you [as a leader] feel like you’re tired of communicating, you’re probably just scratching the surface on what your employees need in terms of their level of communication.” — Angie Coleman

 

“While everyone is feeling burnout, the why is completely up to the individual association and what’s happening in that space.” — Angie Coleman

 

“It’s helpful not to just approach burnout from a task-oriented perspective, but also recognizing how we can be supportive of that from an emotional labor standpoint.” — Angie Coleman

 

“If everything is a crisis, then really nothing is.” — Angie Coleman

“It is critical for leaders to ask the right questions so they can meet employees where they are.” — Angie Coleman