The paradox of workplace engagement and employee wellbeing

Organisations need to recognise the importance of preventing burnout in order to ensure that employee engagement and performance does not suffer in the post-Covid work environment, says Yendor Felgate

As the first quarter of 2021 comes to an end, we are now able to take stock and begin to make sense of what has changed in the world of work. Employees have been challenged unlike ever before with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Employees have been stretched trying to continue to perform at work, whilst coping with the ongoing disruption in their own lives.

Prior to the pandemic, we typically saw a positive and even reciprocal link between the engagement and wellbeing of employees. Normally, each adds to the other to make a powerful combination in terms of enabling employee performance. Simply put, when employees are motivated at work and feel good about their lives, burnout decreases and productivity improves. Organisations have tended to take engagement more seriously than wellbeing, until very recently.

The pandemic has markedly impacted the link between employee engagement and wellbeing, which is an important insight for leaders, if they are to avoid the danger of employee burnout. Gallup research shows that in the main employee engagement has remained resilient and, in some cases, has even gone up. The benefits of working from home and having a job seem to outweigh the impact of moving home. This needs to be contrasted with the significant decline in employee wellbeing during the same period.

The worry is that many employees have hit or are approaching a breaking point that leads to burnout and suffering, with long-term consequences. Furthermore, it is our managers that are disproportionally impacted. A recent survey shows that the engagement of managers during this period went up a full 5%, but at the same time burnout rose by an incredible 78% (Glint Survey, 2021). These are the very people who are at the centre of employee engagement and wellbeing efforts. And to put their importance in terms of such efforts into perspective, Gallup research shows that up to 70% of the variability of employee engagement is dependent on what managers do. In other words, the very people that are meant to address employee engagement and wellbeing are themselves our most at risk cohort for burnout.

Organisations need to recognise the importance of preventing burnout in order to ensure that employee engagement and performance does not suffer, starting with the managers that need to implement such initiatives. We need to start by recognising that the managers of today, need to manage very differently from what went on before. Employee wellbeing, inclusion, managing remote and hybrid teams and the demand for learning, are but some of the new challenge’s managers face. There has been a distinct shift towards being more people centric and compassionate. The reality is that the quality and health of managers has never been more important. ■

Working from home during COVID-19 is associated with intensified levels of both work engagement and negative emotions, like stress and worry (Gallup)