Nearly half of employees globally are dealing with burnout, but a small series of inclusion-boosting practices may help organizations address the issue, Boston Consulting Group said in a June 11 report.
The firm said its research of some 11,000 workers across countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. showed that burnout is “highly correlated” with low feelings of inclusion at work — indicating a need for practices that strengthen inclusion. The survey was issued in late 2023 against a backdrop of declining global employee sentiment around mental health.
“Burnout and inclusion are tightly intertwined across every market we assessed,” BCG said, adding that burnout was 1.2 to 2.6 times more likely in workplaces with low inclusion across the board. “When inclusion increases, from the lowest quartile to the highest, burnout is halved, demonstrating that inclusion should be part of the solution to reducing burnout.”
BCG identified four items that had the greatest effect on inclusion:
- Access to resources.
- Senior managerial support.
- Psychological safety with a direct manager.
- Fair and equal opportunity for success.
The report cited a variety of policies that could support these four areas. For example, BCG included flexible work schedules, learning and development opportunities, and mentorship programs within the definition of resources that could help employees feel more included. Less traditional examples included employee benefits offerings like short-term emergency loans or grants.
Psychological safety plays a key role in ensuring supportive manager-employee relationships. Employees may feel more included when they feel confident enough to express their thoughts and disagree with leadership, the firm said. Researchers cited previous research linking greater motivation and less attrition with leaders who foster psychological safety.
In search of ways to make workers feel more included, researchers said, employers need “to think creatively” and consider solutions “that extend beyond the traditional scope of DEI investments.”
The report is not the first of its kind to link inclusive management practices to lower burnout. In 2022, a Gallup survey of U.S. workers found that those who felt they were accepted and valued at work were 52% less likely to report feelings of burnout.
Notably, burnout is often felt unevenly across demographic groups, BCG researchers said. Women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities and deskless workers reported higher rates of burnout.
Marginalized groups, BCG said, “often face additional workplace burdens that contribute to feelings of burnout, including increased discrimination, stigmatization, and low representation/survivorship bias.” Gallup’s survey, too, found that employees who reported feeling discriminated against were more than twice as likely as other workers to report high burnout levels.