IT Pros Share Their Ideas for Staff Wellbeing
IT pros have had an extraordinary year with unprecedented work demands. How have they held up? Here, IT pros share their ideas for staff wellbeing and avoiding burnout.
After a year of a pandemic induced work from home situation, the numbers in surveys across the industry are showing that employee burnout in these circumstances is real and must be addressed.
Recently, Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index report found that productivity has remained very high throughout the pandemic – but it came at a cost with 20% of respondents saying their employer does not care about their work-life balance. In addition, 54% feel overworked and 39% are feeling exhausted.
These numbers reinforce the need to ensure all employees are developing healthy habits to avoid burnout at work; otherwise companies could find themselves experiencing an exodus of worn-out employees down the road. According to Microsoft’s report, 41% of employees are considering leaving their current employer. That stat alone should give leaders a wake-up call about prioritizing the well-being of their workforce and start brainstorming ideas for staff wellbeing.
Enterprise software vendors have begun rolling out features to accommodate their own ideas for staff wellbeing, from meditation reminders to performance metrics. However, the problem with relying on vendor-specific tools is twofold: Not every workplace will pay up for the wellness features on their existing productivity platforms, and not every measure of wellness and wellbeing in the workplace can be easily reduced to computerized metrics.
Although IT pros may tend towards technology for solutions to challenges each day, the pros we talked to for this story all stressed non-tech-related ideas for staff wellbeing.
In reviewing the best practices suggested by working IT pros, a few trends began to emerge. Use these to shape your own ideas for boosting workplace wellbeing and avoiding burnout. Among the commonalities:
Staffers’ physical environment matters.
Let people establish and maintain a sense of control over their time.
Finally, there is no wellbeing at work without addressing physical wellbeing.
Working IT professionals share their best practices and ideas for staff wellbeing below.
Underpromise and Overdeliver
“I do not represent that I can prevent troubles but rather I will perform due diligence in prevention/preparation and respond quickly to troubles when they occur. My practices and perspectives have created a consistent environment. I do not seek more business because I have enough. The main source of maintaining wellbeing for me is perspective and practices. I underpromise and overdeliver.” – Doug Betts, Computer Age Consulting, Inc.
Unplug From the Internet
“As much as I love the subject of online privacy and security, sometimes it gets to be too much. I find that the best solution to this is just to unplug. I won't look up research, read about privacy, use subreddits or follow Twitter threads related to privacy. I even take it a step further and just unplug from the internet altogether. I will take the time to spend quality time with my family, do some hobbies that don't include tech or go on a leisurely walk with my dog to embrace existing in the now."