More than half of UK-based employees would leave their jobs in favour of organisations that can offer better support for stress and burnout, according to new research.
Advanced-owned business Clear Review’s new report Performance management 2022, which includes findings from 1,150 HR decision makers, managers and employees in the UK and USA, revealed that nearly half of workers do not feel their managers take any steps to help them avoid burnout.
The data highlighted that this is a problem that impacts more than 800,000 British staff, with more than half admitting that this is due to the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. Despite this, 97% of managers said they felt equipped to recognise stressed and unengaged members of their team, and 89% felt able to support said employees.
In addition, with levels of stress and burnout reaching new heights in the wake of the pandemic, 84% of the HR directors polled believed that tackling burnout is a major issue that needs addressing.
Greater priority was being placed on productivity and engagement, with both being a focus for 48% of organisations this year compared with 33% in 2021. Two-thirds (65%) of HR directors believed performance management has been put on the back burner, with a third of employees having a performance conversation once a year or less.
Nick Gallimore, director of talent transformation and insight at Advanced, commented that while it is heartening to see that businesses recognise the prevalence of stress and burnout among their employees, the gap between what managers believe and what staff see is a “significant” cause for concern.
He explained that the consequences are clear and should be a wakeup call for employers already struggling to retain and attract the right talent.
“Regular contact with employees to cover goal setting, development, engagement and generally facilitating open feedback and communication are fundamental to being able to identify how employees are doing; not just from a performance perspective, but from a stress one too,” Gallimore said.