WHO Report on Burnout - Workforce Management News
New WHO Classification of Diseases document emphasises the impact of burnout and links it specifically to the workplace
The World Health Organisation has recently released the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which highlights the causes of burnout as a workplace syndrome more than ever before.
The ICD-11 document was released earlier this year, and although burnout was mentioned in the previous iteration, the definition is now a lot more detailed. Burnout is now defined by the WHO as follows:
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by 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; and
• reduced professional efficacy.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”
In order to detect that first factor within your employees, exhaustion, workforce visibility is crucial. Bodet’s Time & Attendance Systems allow you to easily maintain visibility on any size of workforce, even if they are remote. You will be able to check actual working hours at a glance, and even set up automated alerts if employees exceed certain thresholds of working time. Bodet can also assist through Absence Management Software which allows you to monitor KPIs, such as the Bradford Factor. This will enable you to identify absence patterns and causes such as stress, then put staff on the correct support path before long-term absence occurs. Flexible working practices can be a powerful measure too, enabling a better work/life balance. With a Time & Attendance System, a variety of flexible working practices can be offered whilst maintaining full staff visibility, with no additional strain on HR administration. These include flexitime shifts, working from home or annual working hours.
When it comes to issues relating to a disconnect between an employee and their job, increasing employee engagement and communication can be a good step. Our Time & Attendance Systems are specifically designed to benefit employee engagement through supporting factors such as staff empowerment and fairness, with the ability for employees to monitor their own working hours and book leave directly at our Time & Attendance Terminals, all with a recorded audit trail. When it comes to communication, our Kelio Visio Smart Terminals provide a unique opportunity for employees to receive messages from Managers and HR. It also allows you to conduct pulse surveys and provide a suggestions box function on the terminal screen.
The final issue of reduced professional efficacy can be aided with the ability to monitor the productivity of your workforce. With Bodet’s Job Costing Software Module you will be able to analyse the productivity of your employees, and detect when this is dropping beneath certain levels. This can then act as a prompt for support to be provided so your employee can return to previous performance levels.
Business leaders must ensure they are adequately equipped to detect and rectify any issues of staff burnout, both for the wellbeing of their staff and the productivity of their organisation. Modern Time & Attendance Solutions can assist them in the collection and analysis of workforce data which is pivotal in these goals.
For more information on how our Time & Attendance Systems can benefit your organisation, or to book a free on-site demonstration, please contact us.
