New Data Tool Addresses Organizational Burnout and Takes Guesswork Out of Change

As we continue to work through a global pandemic and the boundaries of home and work are blurred, burnout is at an all-time high. Although not a new issue, the amplified level of burnout many organizations are experiencing comes at a cost. Burnout leads to increased healthcare spending, disengagement, and increased turnover – all costing the US economy billions of dollars.

The DHG Advisory practice has launched a new proprietary change analytics platform, Clari³ty, developed by the Healthcare Consulting Team in conjunction with Professor-in-Residence Dr. Victoria Grady, a thought leader in the individual behaviors, cultural catalysts, and organizational markers that leaders can use to scientifically approach change in their organizations. INTELLIGENCE, a module within the Clari³ty platform, utilizes proprietary diagnostics and enterprise specific data to understand the breadth, depth, and character of burnout across an organization. When organizations use their unique data, powered by today’s latest scientific research, they can design an informed approach to their burnout driven change strategy.

“The fascinating thing with burnout is that it’s not siloed. We are seeing burnout across all industries – healthcare, banking, technology, professional services and more. As we emerge from COVID-19, leaders are being tasked to fight burnout, and take better care of their people by implementing new wellness practices – while providing more transparent human capital reporting. Before any new initiatives can be implemented, leaders must understand where their people stand – are they ready for change? Are they change adverse? How widespread is burnout? Without organizational data to provide leaders the holistic readiness perspective and in-depth analysis, burnout will perpetuate,” noted Scott Spohn, Leader of DHG’s People & Change Practice.

The 3 Dimensions of Burnout

Before an organization begins to solve for burnout, they need to understand its definition. The World Health Organization recently redefined burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress and is comprised of three dimensions:

Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion.
Increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job.
Reduce professional efficacy.

3 Steps to Address Burnout

Now that leaders understand the dimensions of burnout, they should follow these three steps to address it:

Step 1-Shift Their Mindset: Leaders within an organization must change their mindset to recognize that organizations can significantly influence burnout, and leaders can play an active role in bending the burnout curve.
Step 2 – Use a Data Driven Perspective: To correctly address burnout, leaders need to understand data specific to their organization to illuminate the breadth, depth, and dimensions of burnout. This data allows leaders to make informed and courageous decisions.

Breadth – Burnout is an organizational issue, and to effectively remedy you must understand how widespread it is across the organization.
Depth – Understanding how deep burnout runs enables leaders to prioritize their response in relation to strategic priorities.
Character – Burnout is characterized by three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism, and efficacy, and leaders must understand how each uniquely contributes to status and response in the respective parts of an organization is essential.

Step 3 – Create a Programmatic Response to Bending the Curve: Using organizational specific data, leaders can create programs that begin to address burnout. Programs should focus on tangible steps to specifically support their people through and beyond the change that combating burnout requires.