In a popular BuzzFeed article, Anne Helen Petersen describes how millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) became “the burnout generation.” A challenging job and harsh economic conditions are some of the factors contributing to this burnout. Intensive parenting also plays a contributing factor because millennials have been relentlessly trained and prepared for the workplace by their parents. They have internalized the idea that they need to be working all the time or engaging in the never-ending pursuit of self-optimization.
Studies have shown that social comparison also plays a role in burnout. For millennials, the advanced technologies and growing online communities only strengthen social competition and comparison, and engaging with this are associated with depressive symptoms in young people. These are just some ways that millennials have been increasingly exposed to stressors.
The recent focus on training workers to avoid burnout by encouraging them to be more resilient is likely to become another stress, pressure, or high ideal. This likely increases the risk for burnout, especially for the types of highly self-critical perfectionists.
We can learn from burnout trends that work is becoming rapidly and overwhelmingly more difficult and complex. The solution is to simplify complex, contradictory, and hostile work and personal environments rather than to give us another job of training ourselves to be more resilient to these environments. Our Culture Transformation Program is measured, planned, and comprehensive and is specially designed to build quality human resources and character development, combining IQ, EQ, and SQ to build stronger and more effective teamwork. For a Culture Transformation to run effectively, we customize each program according to the needs and results that are your organization’s expectations.
ACT Consulting – Partner In Culture Transformation.
Source:
BBC
The Conversation