Employees feeling more burned out than ever before

When staff feel they have a voice and their boss actively listens, it can have dramatic results on burnout. Effective listening decreases burnout incidences by 28% to 54%, and increases the odd by 1,250% that an employee will be highly engaged.

These are the findings from comprehensive research from O.C. Tanner, an expert in employee recognition and workplace culture. Its 2020 Global Culture Report gathered data from more than 20,000 employees and leaders in 15 countries around the world, including Singapore, Japan, China and India.

It highlights the need for leaders to move away from just gathering employee feedback (typically via an annual survey) and to authentically listen and act on what they learn. Each listening opportunity either increases or decreases the employee experience.

‘’Active listening should happen far more than once a year. Forward-looking organisations regularly use multi-method listening strategies to hear, respond to, and act on feedback from employees,’’ the report states.

O.C. Tanner says annual employee surveys are normally inaccurate, as employees won’t provide honest, informative feedback out of fear they will suffer negative consequences. ‘’Many don’t fill out the survey at all because they believe nothing will change. Fact is, 1 in 3 employees feel like the organisation retaliates against those who provide feedback, and 1 in 4 employees feel ignored when they share their feedback’’.

The consequence is that companies are making changes based on that incorrect feedback, and are left wondering why their numbers are so difficult to improve.

See the full O.C.Tanner Global Culture Report on the dedicated website here.