Ep3; 6 hidden causes of work-related stress and burnout to avoid in 2024

Dear professional, these 6 frameworks will help you identify the causes of your work-related stress and burnout that you didn't know about.
It is adapted from the 6 UK HSE standard for assessing work-related stress, which includes Demand
Control
Change
Role
Relationship 
Support.
Is your workplace the dream job or is it time to evaluate your job.

Find out in this episode!

Transcript

 Hi everyone. Welcome again, and in today's episode of De-Stress with Dr. E, we are going to be talking about these things to look out for in your workplace to know if you're going to be continuing that with them soon, or if you found your dream job.  So, I know that this is the end of the year and it's very important for you to be listening to this podcast at this time. 

In as much as, um, in as much as some people may be listening to this later at different times,  it'll still be very, very useful. So that being said,  here are things you should look out for. It's more like a workplace evaluation. , I think sometime in November or October, so my workplace sent out a surveyor  to feel 

, about the workplace, they wanted to gauge employee satisfaction. They wanted to gauge whether we would want to continue there and whether we wanted to recommend the workplace to other people. When I took that assessment, it was so familiar to me.

The, structure was familiar to me. The reason is that I have trained and become satisfied in work-related stress management. So there are six basic framework. Of assessing a workplace and the risk of stress among employees and employers. So these, these basic frameworks  were what, or was what my workplace used in carrying out that survey. And to be honest, it was so detailed.  If you are fortunate to work in such a place , that considers your interest, that considers, your welfare, your opinion, then you're very blessed.  I must tell you because when such assessments are done,  they put it into practice. They use it to implement new strategies or to know things to consolidate on so that the workplace will remain a safe space for employees and even other people that may want to join the organization. 

So if your workplace doesn't do something like that, don't worry. I'm still going to share with you this sees basic frameworks that should constitute a standard workplace. I know that standard may be far reaching, but if your workplace can tick some of these boxes, that's even awesome.

So this is going to be an evaluation of your workplace to know whether. You are going to continue there to also reveal to you possible causes of stress and burnout in that workplace. Probably you can put up a suggestion to your employer,  to the line manager, or anybody. Or anybody, or it can even be an assessment or evaluation for you to consider your future in that workplace.

Okay, so before I dive into the  six structures,  I must let you know this, there is this rave about workplace toxicity, like toxic workplaces, and there are certain things people look out for when they hear things like that. You hear somebody talking about, um, a, a boss that is so demanding or a boss that is just toxic or work colleagues that are so intolerable that you just can't work with, you know? 

So the focus is usually on the people.  The boss, the colleagues, you know, and then sometimes you hear things about workload,  and then when you hear things like this and your workplace doesn't tick any of these boxes.  You may be bound to be like, okay, my workplace is not toxic. That means I'm not at risk of any stress or I shouldn't be burn out.

But let me tell you something, you can be doing what you love and still experience burnout. You can be working in that your supposed excellent workplace, yet you're undergoing stress and burnout. And in this episode, . You're going to understand why I said this. So let's quickly dive in and  share the Sees basic structures.

Okay? Now the first one is what is called demand.  When I talk about demand, there are three things. You can have your pen and paper and be writing while I'm talking. Okay? So there are three things on the demand. So demand is basically the demand on you from your workplace. So it could be.  One due to workload.

So if you are working in a place where the workload is so much,  so much more than you can handle,  it could be a source of stress and burnout because you are working beyond your capacity. Your line manager or your colleague or your boss comes to you and tell you, Hey, there is this extra thing you need to do, but you know that you still have so much to handle and.

Because you, you just don't know how to say no to people. You take it on and what do you think is going to happen? You're going to feel overwhelmed. You're going to feel stressed at the end of the day, and you find yourself  operating below capacity below. Um.  Below competence because it'll be like you're not finishing your job early or you're leaving late from work, or you are just too tired to execute excellently as you ought to.

Alright, so in situations like that, this is a very important time for you to like take a step back when people are bringing you that extra workload. Can you actually do it? Like here in the uk, the usual thing is . Are you happy to do this? So if you take a step back and you know that this is beyond what you can handle and you just don't know how to say no to people, now I'm going to share with you polite ways you can say no without feeling guilty about it, and still maintaining the relationship so that you don't go out tomorrow and be like, oh, I've ruined 

a wonderful relationship because I said No. Now here are certain things you can do. Number one, you can say something like.  Oh, I would've loved to do this. However,  I still have A, B, C.  Okay. You see that? So you're not outrightly saying no, you're just . Making them understand that you have a workload at the same time acknowledging that you can actually help them.

And then the second thing you can try is , instead of just stopping at that, you can even go extra mile to recommend something they can do or somebody else that can help ease  the workload, you know, so you can go the extra mile to give them recommendations and they'll be happy to live with it because they know that you genuinely care.

You would've really loved to help. So that's where you've not said, you've said no.  But at the same time, you are not going to live with that guilt. For some people  this doesn't apply to everyone. There are people that they don't mind. No, it's, no, I can't do it. I can't do it. But for those that are really, really sensitive to their, are relationship with people, they don't want to, they don't want to bruise anybody's ego.

So these two things I just shared are ways  that you can say no and still maintain that ex, that working relationship with whoever it is. Okay, so that is with workplace demand. Now the second one is workplace pattern. So what I mean by pattern is this.  Does your workplace give you that flexibility?

That flexibility in the sense that there may be times where, uh, maybe due to childcare you'd need to rush out, um, maybe at a particular hour to sort out a child, maybe somebody that is unwell. Does your workplace give you that flexibility to be able to do this while still performing at optimal productivity?

What I mean is this, if your workplace is flexible, it could be. Okay. At the end of the day. Just achieve the targets, the productivity targets, okay? You can choose to do it however you want. You can choose to come in earlier in the morning, or you can choose to leave late in the evening, so long as you get the job done.

Or is your workplace so rigid? Like you must come in at a particular time. You will not go anywhere else until you are done. Now, another thing that you can consider when you're talking about workplace pattern is.  Like my workplace, we have various patterns of working. So I work in accident and emergency.

I study the time you're listening to this, and it means that some days I go to work, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Other days I go to work, 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM Some days I go to work, 6:00 PM to 4:00 AM So I have like six different workplace patterns, including nine shifts, you know, so in such pattern. If, if it's not spaced out adequately, this kind of pattern can make one to have poor sleep and also experience burnout if it's not spaced out, uh,  to accommodate adequate rest.

Okay, so what's your work pattern? What does your work pattern look like? 

Okay, now still on demand. The third one is.  The work environment. What I mean by work environment is this.  If you look at, let me start with the obvious, like your home office, what does it look like? It's everywhere. Disorganized,  scattered everywhere, you know? If your workplace is not organized, you are bound to feel stressed and overwhelmed even without you being actively involved in something that is making you stressed out.

So if you are working in a place where everyone is just jam packed in one small room, no breathing space, so much noise, the generator noises out there close to a road that everyone is just honking at every moment, you know?  It can be so distracting and it makes you kind of multitask. You're trying to focus.

At the same time, you are forced to listen to distractions here and there. You're forced to listen to side talks from different colleagues. 

So if you are working in a place where all these distractions are there, what do you think is going to happen? You'll struggle.  Okay. You are going to feel so stressed out. At the end of the day, you are going to be having those bounding headaches at the end of each day because it's so stressful. The work environment is not so conducive.

Okay, so all of these are under demand.  Now I'm sure that some things could be familiar with your workplace, and I'm sure you are realizing you're putting one or two together to help you understand where your workplace fits in, in ticking some of these boxes. Now, the second thing we are going to talk about is control.

Now when we talk about control, we are basically saying, how much control do you have  over what you do. Now, there are certain workplaces where your employer micromanages you, that's they micromanage you to the point that you start questioning yourself. That was, I really employed. 

Based on my competency or I was employed so that somebody will tell me what I should be doing Part-time. You know, as a reasonable employee, you already know what is expected of you. You already know the targets. You already know  . What you've been employed for, the job description and all of that, and then the work itself already has its own pressure.

Now, imagine working in a place where somebody else is putting additional pressure on you to deliver. You know, they want to know what you're doing.  every hour. They want to know why you are pressing your phone at that particular time. They want to know why you are talking to somebody else. They want to know why you are responding to an email at a particular time.

You know, so, such micromanaging can be really, really stressful because the truth is this, we are adults. Nobody wants to be told what to do, especially when they know what to do ?  And I will give you an example. Imagine you know you are going to wash plate in your own home.

For those of you that grew up in a well, this is African professionals, so I expect that everyone grew up in African homes.   You know that you are going to wash plate or they've told you earlier that you should wash plate at a particular time in the morning or evening,  and then and you've prepared this is what you are going to do. And then  , just as you're about to get up, then I'll tell you, ha, remember to wash that playto.

There is this vex, this kind of vex that will just come upon you like Uhuh. What is this? In fact, it'll get to a point where you'll be like, I'm not washing again,  . So nobody wants that steady reminder when you know you are going to do it.  We are adults and we are reasonable adults. So if you are an employer that is doing this. 

I would encourage you to kind of re retrace and let your employee breathe. Let them breathe. Don't suffocate them in trying to control and micro micromanage them. . So that is for control. I. Now the third thing, the third structure or framework is support. Now, when you talk about support, everyone throws around this world.

I have a supportive workplace, or my workplace is not supportive. But when you talk about support, there are certain elements to look out for. Okay? Number one.  , what resources are available? You know, one thing that happens in most workplaces, most workplaces are actually reactive. They wait for something to happen before the now starts being reactive, trying to figure out, okay, hey, what are we going to do now?

Before you know it, the damage has been done already and you know, one of the implications of letting things wait till the last minute  till the error has has been done, it can cost.  A company  an organization, its reputation.  Okay? Words of the mouth spread quickly, and we are in social media era.

You don't want your workplace to be on the news or in the news for the negative reasons. You know, you don't want your workplace to carry that tag of, oh, this is a toxic place. They don't support the staff. Um, if you bring up a complaint, nobody cares about you. You know? So you can be proactive if your workplace is proactive in the sense that, okay, you can ask questions, or when you're employed, you've seen your contracts or you've seen your workplace policy on how they react, on how they respond to situations like workplace bullying.

What is the policy there or  ? Or things like having resources to upscale, sorry, to upgrade or resources like wellbeing resources, which is very, very essential for every workplace at the moment. Like if I'm stressed, who can I talk to? If the workplace is stressing me out,  can I confide in the HR to actually support me, or the HR is going to use my story to turn it against me and eventually get me fired.

You know? So these are the things we look out for when we're talking about supportive workplace. Okay? Now another thing  you're talking about, resources to help you upskill to help you grow because  . If you come into a workplace,

You shouldn't be the same person that started a job a long six months down the line or one year down the line. There should be a difference. There should be that opportunity to grow. For instance, you want to do a training. Your workplace should be able to say, okay, we can support you.

Even if we don't give you the money to do the training, we can support you like.  Giving you, um, the break, or let me say one day off, two days off, go and do the training, upskill, improve yourself, gain the extra knowledge. By doing that, you are also adding value to our company. Okay? So in some cases here, you may want to be doing it for the future purposes, but in the meantime, it is an added value to the company.

Right. So your workplace should be supportive to let you upgrade and upskill  whenever  is necessary. And even there should be mandatory trainings for employees. So it shouldn't be like, okay, you've been there for a long time, no trainings, you are just doing the same thing. Go,  to work and come back.

No challenges, nothing at all. It can be so boring. And then you start wondering why people are resigning. Because they don't see themselves progressing. People want to be better five years down the line, but such workplace isn't offering it. So how is it really supportive?

Alright, so you now realize that there are so many elements when you're talking about supportive workplaces. All right, now we are going to talk about  the thought structure, which is relationship. . Relationships about  . Relationship with your peers, with your colleagues relationship with your bosses, with your managers,  how does your workplace support something like that? Does it create that positive environment to, to make it easy for everyone to relate with each other? Let me tell you something.

 In your workplace, you're spending like minimum  one third of your 24 hours.  So essential, um, communication or great working relationship with the people you are working with. A place where it feels like you are working as a team is very, very important in the productivity of a workplace and employee satisfaction.

I'll give you an instance. If you are working  with somebody that doesn't see you as a teammate, they're so quick to shout down at you. They're so quick to victimize you. They're so quick to call out your errors to mess you up.  How do you think you are going to feel in such a workplace? You'll feel stressed out always.

And before you know it, you're talking about toxic workplace. Before you notice you're talking about  . Burnout. You're talking about stress and burnout, but if your workplace supports  positive relationship, they are quick to tackle bullies. They have policies that addresses any form of victimization, you'll be like, oh, great.

This is a wonderful place to work. And the workplace that  encourages teamwork, you know, team work, you go to work each day looking forward to the same pe, the same set of people, because you know that  . Everyone is working together as a team regardless of your job role, whether you are a cleaner, whether you are the IT guy, whether you are the sales agent, whether you are the marketing person or anything, everybody is working together to achieve a  particular goal.

That means  we are all a team. Okay, so . That is it for relationship. Now, the fifth  structure  that we will talk about is role.  Now, one mistake certain workplaces do is that they've employed you for something and then they expect you to do. Other things, no clarity roles are clashing.

Have you been in a workplace where two people are fighting for a particular thing? Let me say, let me give an instance. If you, you could be working in the hospital and then you hear things like, oh, is the nurses that should do the blood test? No. Somebody else says No, is the doctor that should do the blotters.

 If that clarity is not there, there will be conflictions, there'll be conflicting rules. Okay? And before, you know, it'll trigger conflict. It'll trigger friction among the colleagues, you know, because nobody really knows who should do what.  So every workplace should be clear.

Every employee should have clarity  on what they're employed for. Okay? Even if you're going to introduce something new, make it clear. Let there be no doubts, because once doubts set in, people may tend to workshop optimally, and when they are working so optimally, you guys, the boss will just come up and be shouting Why you guys?

Doing this, why you not delivering as you ought to, you know? Whereas they don't even know what's expected of them. So if you, if you are as if you are evaluating your workplace now, figure out do you really understand  what is expected of you in that job? If you don't, I think this is the time for you to ask questions so that you be clear  on the expectations,  and to also avoid conflicts in that workplace.

Alright?

The final thing is change.  Okay? Now  it's awesome. If you're working in a place where you feel valued  now compared to another workplace where you just wake up one morning and they've introduced a new policy, you'll be like, where is this one coming from?  What am I supposed to do? How does this affect me?

You know, so if your workplace just introduces a policy out of the blues, what do you think is going to happen?  It's going to cost some disruptions, at least for that 24 hours or even for 48 hours or even one week. You know? That is why it's very important. If you are introducing any policies, if you're introducing something different, a change, you're changing the IT system, 

you're going to, build something else or establish a new office for something, as in any change whatsoever, it's very important to communicate it with your employees ahead of time. And lemme tell you one, one thing that improve productivity in your workplace.

If you carry your employees along from time to time, sit with them and have meetings, how do you think we can do better? To be honest, people are carrying ideas and if you don't harness that idea while they're still with you, they will go somewhere else and, and, and give it to other people free of charge, or even ask money for it.

So . This is a time to engage your employees. I know that you've employed them for something, but at the same time.  Maximize their time there. All right. Make them to feel  as valued and important members of the team. If somebody is coming to work happy, trust me, the staff turnover will be really, really low.

. If there's high staff turnover, that means you are always employing new staff to replace somebody every time. Okay? Nobody wants to do that because it's expensive. , and it's not a good reputation on any company.

So what you can do is this to avoid that high staff turnover,  involve people in the job if you are going to affect any change.  . Involve them ahead of time. Make them understand what's expected, exactly what's going to happen, okay, so that they'll get ready ahead of time because nobody wants sudden disruptions in their life or in their patterns of work or even the workplace environment.

If you are going to introduce a generator. It's going to be noisy. Let people be aware. Let them not just come to work one day and now start struggling to adjust. And before you know it, they're thinking they don't really care about us in this workplace. They don't care what we do. They don't care what we say or how we feel.

So.  Why should I remain here? Okay. This is a simple assessment for you to evaluate your workplace, to evaluate whether there are things you need to speak upon, whether there are things you need to get clarity on, like workplace policies, resources, straining opportunities, work, saying no.

Um, what else? Contributing, giving feedback. And if you're an employer that is listening to me.  Make it a habit to get feedback from your employee. I just study about a staff survey that was done by my workplace. It was so detailed. If they put, which I believe they'll do, if they put into consideration everything that the staff has said,  it'll make the workplace to remain awesome.

And let me tell you, my workplace, we have a psychologist that comes down. From time to time to speak to us, to check in on our wellbeing. If you are working in such a place, why won't you want to remain there before I conclude, I mentioned something earlier and that is,  I mentioned something earlier and that is you can still experience burnout. 

Doing something you love. Now, if you go through these six basic structures, you realize that there are so many things that can contribute to workplace burnout, that can contribute to work-related stress. It's not just that it's a toxic workplace, so many different things. So you can still be doing what you love, but still have burnout.

Like in my workplace, I love my job, I love everything with accident and emergency. However, the work pattern.  It's not so great. It's not so fun because I just told you about the six different patterns of my work shifts. Okay? So if there is no adequate rest,  you can be at risk of not sleeping well because 

your circadian rhythm keeps changing.  Today, you are being awake during the daytime. Tomorrow you're, you're being awake at night,  if you're not getting adequate rest in between such a work pattern, you can still experience burnout. So yes, you can have burnouts while doing what you.

Love. All right. Thank you for joining me in this podcast and I'm happy to take your questions. Please leave me a feedback. I really appreciate that.  And if you want to shout out on my next podcast, still let me know.