Hi there. My name is Avil Beckford, and I'm the host of the One Problem Podcast. You know, there are tons of problems in the world, but we will not get overwhelmed. We're going to focus on one problem at a time. Most of the people who are my guests on this podcast, I have some prior relationship with them. And today, that's the case. I've known Becky for a couple of months, and I met her on LinkedIn. Becky Wolfe works with burned-out teams and helps them find a way forward. She's also the co-host of the Leadership Pulse podcast. I just love that name. So, over to you, Becky.
Becky Wolfe
Thank you so much, Avil. Oh, my goodness. It is an honor to be on this podcast. Thank you so much. As I mentioned, there are so many problems in the world. My focus is burnout in teams. And how do we go from a burnout culture, the one you're feeling a lot of pressure and stress right now? And then going to an engaged culture because they're very different things, healthy and engaged culture.
So I'm going to set the tone first with some statistics that I've read recently. And then define burnout just a little. And then go into solutions, which I think are the natural next steps here. Harvard Business Review estimates that annual healthcare spending for burnout is $125,000,000,000 to $190,000,000,000. Gallup estimates burnout costs between 3400 per 10,000 per person salary.
And that's more so with disengagement at work. The average turnover for nursing for healthcare is 27.1%. But it's anywhere between 5.1% to 64%. The organizations I've been talking to, their average is around 40%. Burnout rates with physicians are 65%, and with other healthcare staff, it's around 73%. So pretty staggering statistics. And of note here, 304 hundred physicians commit suicide per year.
And that's the statistic that I found over the last few months. That was just something that hit me in the heart because of my background. So that's why I'm focused on burnout and, more so, in the systematic approach to dealing with it. Not as much individually, because I think there are some systems that really need to change.
Becky Wolfe Moving Teams from Burnout to Being Engaged
Becky Wolfe
Let me define burnout and the characterizations of it. And I'm going to jump into some solutions here. So burnout, by definition, is a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by a devotion or cause to a way of life or relationship that has failed to produce an expected reward. When I think of that definition, I think of people going into healthcare and education.
Those are the two fields that I feel like people are so passionate about, that it's part of their DNA. So characterizations of how we describe burnout, so it's energetically shared exhaustion, negativism or cynicism for one's job and reduced professional efficacy. All of those are pertinent when we're discussing burnout. It is really paramount to describe what burnout is before we talk about solutions. Especially if you're a leader leading a company or teams.
True burnout, we have to understand what it is before we can do something about it. Individually, it is our job to understand ourselves and understand what it feels like to feel burned out. And understand having some self-awareness of how to get better. But if we're going back into systems that aren't set up to really help us feel healthy, reduce the chronic stress that then leads to burnout, we're going to continue to set ourselves up for failure.
So that's why we really have to focus on a systematic approach to dealing with burnout. As I think through all of this and all the data and research and articles that I've seen, the system has to change. We have to do something about the systems in healthcare and education and every other sector of business.
Have you read or watched?
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- Gena Cox, Organizational Psychologist, Executive Coach, Speaker and Author
- Carla Leon, Chief Executive Officer, Just Like Family Home Care Canada
- Lillian Davenport, Leadership and Career Strategist
- Paulette Durepos, Women Entrepreneurs Working from Home Struggling with Isolation
- Shelley Nadel: How to Deal With the Volatile Stock Market
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- Dorothy Vernon-Brown, Marketing Automation Strategist
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Becky Wolfe
And if you've read the US Surgeon General's report, it talks about how to have a healthy workplace culture because stress is literally killing us. We have to do something about mental health because COVID has opened the doors to the mental health that we all experienced. The mental health symptoms that we're all facing that we've not really done much about.
And we have to find resources to help in the workplace so people can have healthier, happier workplace environments. So again, it is an individual thing where we have to work towards understanding ourselves and having that self-awareness to what makes us feel better. But if we're really targeting the workplace, what does that look like?
How do we actually make strides to having a healthier workplace? One thing I harp on is psychological safety. So going into a solution, psychological safety has to be the first thing we do because that is the foundation for everything else that leads into a healthy workplace culture.
So that starts with communication that's focused on productive conversations. It is the conversations that you can have without fear of retribution. You can say, hey, I kind of need this resource and that will not be taken personally against you. Or say I'm really challenged by this and that communication actually is productive and it goes somewhere.
So this type of environment with psychological safety produces unity instead of division. And that's the key to what we're looking for right now. And teams, we need unity. That is the thing we need above all else.
Becky Wolfe
And psychological safety is the way to get there. When you have a psychologically safe environment, people feel valued, seen and heard. It is the foundation of where we can build real trust. It's the foundation of where we can actually have open communication and show up as ourselves. I think people just want to show up as themselves and be authentic in any circle that they're involved in, whether that's home or their community or their work environment.
They just want to be one person. And psychological safety is the way to do that. It's just opening the doors of, hey, I see you. I know you have a home life, and the challenge may be there. It may not be at work. So how can I help support you? And sometimes it's just that conversation. So, practically, how do we do this? And I give three questions to my clients because I want them to open the door with something, especially with those one-to-one conversations.
And it's, what's going well for you right now? Celebrating something, having the person across from you celebrate something. So what's going well for you right now? What's an area where you would like to grow?
Or where is that? Is it professionally? Is it personally? It doesn't even have to be a professional thing where they want to see improvement. And what are you most challenged by right now? Again, in a psychologically safe environment, you can say, hey, I'm most challenged right now by my kids struggling at school. He's going through something. And that's really kind of on my brain because kind of processing through that out loud and having the safety to bring that to the table. Your boss then knows, hey, they're kind of going through something at home. I'm going to support them in every way that I can.
Becky Wolfe
And sometimes it's just needing that safe space to talk about it and then moving forward. And that's it. That's literally it. But it's creating that safe space for people just to be themselves. It is taking judgment out of conversations. It is taking the fear of something being held against you. And then it is just asking good questions, opening the door for curiosity. So that's the long first solution.
The second solution is really creating a vision. We've been in this mindset the last couple of years, where it's just a lot of emotional and mental strain. And we need a vision to get us out of this place of burnout.
So how do we look forward to establishing this healthy vision, moving forward? And I asked leaders, is your vision compelling? Can people see it? Can they attach to it? Do they feel it? Do they understand their position in it? If the answer is no, you've got to have a stronger vision or you have to tailor it to the people you're working with. So that's the second short solution.
So the first one is the one I really harp on. Second one is having a vision to move forward, having that transparent communication. This is the step we're taking to move forward. And then the third solution is finding resources. So I say this to every leader. This is a lot for you to take on. And it's not fully your responsibility to understand what this looks like.
People who are consultants and people who have done leadership degrees, have psychological or developmental psychology degrees and things like they love this stuff. This is for us to get involved with you and be a resource for you, no matter what that looks like. So find somebody you can talk to in your world who just will be there to listen and give you resources.
Becky Wolfe
And I always say I'm a resource. The first conversation you have with me might be the only one, because I'm going to give you to somebody who's a better resource than I am. And I think that's good, and that's caring for the person who's fighting for the highest possible good, for the person who's on the other side of you.
If you really treat yourself as a resource and as somebody there to listen, you're going to say, hey, this isn't my area of expertise. But maybe this is theirs. Or if I can't help you, I'm going to say, hey, this is what it would look like. Let's dive a little deeper and see if this is an option now or if later is a better choice for you. But find those resources and you don't have to take on everything yourself. Because I think there's a pressure of feeling like you have to do it all or find the solution internally, and that's not the case.
You don't have to do that. The other thing I would say, for the resources, is to find somebody who's going through something similar and start having conversations. Just getting ideas brought to the table can then spark different resources and references and people that have ideas.
So don't feel you have to go with this alone. So that would be my third solution, just to get people moving in the right direction. Being stagnant right now, doing nothing, is not an option because we don't have time to wait. So we want things to thrive and be in the position of moving from surviving to thriving. Doing something is the key to getting to that healthy culture you see on the other side. So thank you so much. Avil, back to you. I appreciate the opportunity you have given me.
Avil Beckford
A lot of food for thought, and I'm sure that people are going to appreciate the guidance and advice you have given them. Thank you so much.
Becky Wolfe
Thank you so much.
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