2024-01-15 16:44:52
If the issue of burn-out has long invaded the media sphere due to numerous testimonies, particularly in the wake of questions of well-being and meaning at work, the question is whether it concerns certain demographic cohorts in particular.
According to the American polling institute Gallup, seven out of ten millennialsnamely individuals born between the beginning of the 80s and the end of the 90s, are today experiencing a real level of burn-out in the United States, with variations depending on the person.
Beyond the generational effect, how can we identify burnout, explain such an incidence – and above all how can we reverse this trend?
What is burnout?
Burn-outs seem to be created by an overload of the nervous system, a psychopathology identified in the 19th century.e century to describe a excessive stress produced by work. This overstrain of the nervous system is not the result of a single factor but the accumulation of numerous elements which, combined together, cause saturation of the system.
Obviously, stress is one of the factors most associated with burnout, but it cannot be considered the sole cause. In fact, a appropriate amount of stress in the work environment can be useful to trigger our motivation, push us to take on new challenges and improve our performance.
In reality, the particularity of burnout lies in its chronic and subjective nature. Thus, burn-out is triggered when a person feels a considerable gap between the efforts invested and the rewards obtained, giving rise to a feeling of exhaustion. Furthermore, we see that not all generations are equally faced with this phenomenon; the case of millennials is indeed unique, particularly compared to that of baby-boomers for example – the latter being less prone to burnout and experiencing it in a different way.
Why do millennials seem more susceptible to burnout?
Millennials are a group characterized by being the first to grow up with the advent of the Internet and computers, as well as personal phones, then smartphones. It is also a generation which experienced, when starting a career, the effects of the 2008 recession – a recession which had an impact on their purchasing power as well as their debt capacity.
Furthermore, this generation favored university studies and travel over buying a house or starting a family, for example.
A hypothesis can then be formulated: it would be possible, among other factors, that the desire to achieve all these ideals makes this generation particularly vulnerable to burnout.
In any case, research shows that millennials seem more sensitive to workplace stress. work.
A strong need for consideration
With regard to workthey are motivated by a digitalized working atmosphere, of which they experienced the gradual implementation at the time of their entrance in the job market, with the gradual advent of social networks and collaborative work tools. According to one study by PWC, they do not feel comfortable with structures that are too rigid and are looking for companies that know how to offer new challenges. They also attach great importance to taking their personal needs into consideration, need constant feedback, rapid responses to their requests and lots of encouragement and recognition.
The collision between ideals and realities of the working world seems to be able to explain the incidence of cases of burn-out among this generation.
On the one hand, millennials are very attached to achieving their search for identity (fulfilment, entertainment, quality of life, commitment). On the other hand, they need agility, wish to maintain an advantage over other generations (thanks to their education and digitalization), are informed and demand that their employers make good use of their SKILLS.
All these demands risk leading to permanent dissatisfaction. The long list of expectations, the need to identify with a “raison d’être” and the need for support can have a negative effect on self-confidence. Agility and the quest for performance might generate a state of anxiety and in the long term, this agitation might cause chronic exhaustion, giving rise to a burnout. In addition, not all millennials are affected in the same way by burnout: depending on gender or cultural origin, significant differences exist.
How to deal with these injunctions?
The first way to deal with the increase in cases of burnout among millennials would be to first assess the extent to which the objectives requested by employers are realistic and acceptable, depending on the type of profession carried out. Is a week of 35 to 40 hours enough to process all the files? Do we really disconnect when we are on vacation or on weekends? And what regarding the place of this generation in extra-professional spheres – to the extent that a person necessarily lives in an interconnection of social environments which influence each other? mutually ?
Then, the question of evaluating relationships with others arises. Is the feeling of being more isolated present? Do we feel that our opinion is taken into account? Do we feel like our colleagues and superiors are listening to us, or do we feel like they are ignoring us or making fun of our opinions?
Measure the frequency of the feeling of injustice?
In this wake, it would be necessary to measure the frequency with which a feeling of injustice is experienced. Is there different or privileged treatment given to others in similar positions, or is there a different expectation given at a certain level in the hierarchy that does not apply to us?
Ultimately, burnout seems to emerge when our personal values clash with professional demands imposed on us. Do we have the impression that the performance of our work is not in line with our scale of values? Do we have the impression that certain decisions do not even respect the values displayed by the company?
Better support burn-out
As we have seen, burn-out constitutes the consequence of a process of overload usually invisible to the person experiencing it, but not necessarily invisible to others. It seems that employees are increasingly aware of their responsibility regarding this syndrome and its prevention – including from the point of view of management.
As explained the National Institute for Research and Security, burnout does not appear overnight. It is preceded by two easy-to-identify stages during which employers can mobilize the support dear to millennials.
Initially, during the euphoria phase (employees give the impression of being super-human and of being able to do anything), employers can work while being vigilant regarding the importance of the workload work and missions, in order to ensure the well-being of the employee. Frequent discussions with employees as well as occasional performance evaluations are useful tools to help ensure a balance between private and professional life.
Secondly, employees experience what is called burn-in, the phase which gradually allows the symptoms of burn-out to set in. Stress becomes chronic and many visible symptoms appear; migraines, irritability, loss of concentration, cynicism, isolation, moral and physical fatigue, fear of work, demotivation, negativity, guilt, mood variability, anxiety, anxiety, insomnia, loss of appetite.
In this case, employers can use empathy, involve human resources teams and avoid any stain that leads to employee isolation. The employer can also review the objectives temporarily, consider a change of team, or recommend therapeutic treatment. The legislation recognizes the obligation of every employer to act to preserve the health of an employee in distress as stipulate Articles L. 4121-1 and L. 4121-2 of the Labor Code.
In fact, it is important to understand that millennial burnout does not constitute a personal weakness, exclusively attributable to the individual. With this in mind, managers have an obligation to recognize its existence and take measures to better know how to anticipate it, and above all to ensure that it does not occur – or as little as possible. And all the more so since researchers have unfortunately been warning regarding the situation for more than twenty years and offering tools to prevention.
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