Four ways organisations can design ‘work’ to prevent burnout.
The modern workplace is fast-paced and demanding. The line between work and home has become blurred and our ‘smart’ devices mean that we’re always ‘on’. Add in economic uncertainty, fear of job cuts and pressure to return to the office since the pandemic and unsurprisingly, stress and burnout have become an all-too-common experience that can significantly impact an individual's performance at work and overall well-being.
While many of us have, or are at least aware of, some personal strategies to mitigate the risk of burnout, it’s time to recognise that organisations could be doing more to address the root causes. While subsidised gym memberships, mindfulness presentations and green juices in the lobby are appreciated, it should be noted that nine out of the fourteen common psychosocial hazards at work listed by Safe Work Australia can be attributed to organisation design and the way “work” is designed in the first place.
An unmanageable workload or mismatch between the capability requirements of a role versus an individual are some of the more obvious contributors however, we pose there are multiple other factors that can have an equal if not more profound impact on preventing burnout.
In this article, we will cover four things that organisations can do to better design “work” to prevent burnout and subsequently improve performance.
Nail the basics of organisation design.
Regardless of what an organisation is trying to achieve, nailing the basics of ‘good design’ will deliver immeasurable value when it comes to mitigating the risks of burnout.
While the concepts behind organisation design are commonly understood, it's astonishing to witness the number of organisation design projects that falter in delivering these fundamental components essential for an organisation's functioning.
Consider this as a checklist:
Roles and responsibilities: Are roles and responsibilities clearly defined and documented, encompassing performance expectations and key metrics?
Interactions and governance: Have you established and (mutually) agreed on how various teams and functions will collaborate to manage their interdependencies? For example, how will the marketing team receive monthly sales performance updates? How will they convene to discuss and align actions in response to any changes?
Capability: Is there a clear understanding of the required organisational and role-specific skills, knowledge, and experience? Is there a plan in place to address any identified gaps?
Capacity: Is there adequate resource allocation (i.e., ‘supply’) to meet the incoming demands of functions and roles? For example, does a call centre have enough people to handle the volume of calls they are expected to receive?
Spans and layers: Does the design facilitate effective leadership? Are spans of control (direct reports) maintained within manageable limits considering the nature of the work? (e.g., specialised vs. transactional). Have organisational layers been minimised to enable effective collaboration?
By addressing these foundational components, organisations can significantly enhance their design, ensuring smoother operations and mitigating the potential drivers of burnout.
Engage senior leaders in the design process.
Engaging senior leaders in the organisation design process is critical. At the end of the day, they are accountable for steering the strategic direction and making decisions to bring the strategy to life and deliver results. As the bridge between strategy and operations, organisation design is at the centre of this problem and can make a significant difference in terms of the organisations ability to achieve its strategic objectives. Yet, senior leaders often bow out of organisation design process and delegate the responsibility elsewhere. This is especially true in large organisations where functional partners like HR, Finance, and IT are positioned to provide support. This can pose a risk that senior leaders are removed from design decision decisions that could not only have a significant impact on performance but could also impact employees and lead to burnout.
A more effective approach involves upholding leaders' accountability for implementation of the strategy and actively involving them in the design process. This involves two essential aspects. First, leaders need to acknowledge and accept the integral role they play in implementation. A ‘strategy without a plan’ is just an idea and only goes part way to delivering value. Increased accountability drives ownership of the results and/or any other impacts of the design on the workforce. Second, project teams should establish collaborative methods that enable senior leaders to participate. One approach is to employ concise, focused decision-making sessions. This ensures senior leaders have the capacity to remain connected to the implementation and provides strategic foresight of any risks that may impact performance and/or the well-being of their people.
Build (or source) organisation design capability to identify and address the drivers of burnout.
Developing or acquiring the capability to lead organisation design initiatives is of utmost importance. Organisation design, by its very nature, demands a comprehensive grasp of strategy, operations, human dynamics, culture, change management, stakeholder engagement, business analysis, and effective communication skills. However, it's common for projects to be resourced with individuals who have the capacity versus the capability to design the organisation effectively. This tends to happen, especially when there are budget constraints and/or a limited understanding of the complexities involved in orchestrating (successful) organisational change. The risk lies in the potential failure of the solution (i.e., the organisation design) to align with strategic goals and in exacerbating operational pressures on those affected by the change, possibly leading to burnout.
A better approach is to acknowledge that organisation design is a specialist capability and not something that you can do off the side of your desk. Organisations will fare better by prioritising a focus on securing the right talent and capability first as opposed to marching on and hoping for the best with what feels like progress. This involves identifying and enlisting individuals with the requisite expertise to lead the initiative and deliver the desired outcomes. If this expertise is lacking internally or is already fully engaged, it is beneficial to seek external talent or a consulting partner to enhance the organisation's capability. This approach not only guarantees a more effective design but also provides the essential capability to identify and mitigate burnout-inducing factors that might be overlooked by those with less experience.
Identify and evaluate psychosocial risks.
At its core, organisation design is a decision-making process. Organisations are presented with a range of choices, each with distinct advantages and drawbacks in the context of their strategic objectives. As part of the decision-making process, we recommend that a prescriptive set of design principles are created that can be used as an impartial yardstick to evaluate different design options. While this practice helps to identify the best solution to address the strategy, it doesn't always address the psychosocial risks inherent in organisational change. In fact, nine out of the fourteen common psychosocial hazards at work listed by Safe Work Australia can be directly attributed to organisation design and the way “work” is designed.
A good strategy is to involve the People and Culture function in the design process and implementation planning. As custodians of employee experience and well-being, the People and Culture team brings a fresh vantage point to design considerations, identifying potential employee impacts that might have slipped the attention of the core project team. A good starting point is for the People and Culture team to assess if the organisation design meets the standards of ‘good design’, as outlined above. Further, they also provide another ‘check and balance’ to ensure any other people-related risks have been identified and considered as part of the implementation.
Conclusion.
Stress and burnout have become an all-too-common experience that can significantly impact an individual's well-being and performance at work. While organisations acknowledge they have a role to play, they could be doing more to address the root causes by focusing on how work is designed in the first place. Given change is inevitable, the way organisations approach organisation design is critical to this and can have a significant impact on preventing burnout at the source. Involving senior leaders in the design process, building organisation design capability, nailing the basics of good design and considering psychosocial risks are simple indirect things organisations can do to put employee well-being at the centre of their change efforts.
Tyson Corrigan, Director