A lot of employers offer pseudo-interventions I call “burn-washing” — they give employees a week off, for example, and proclaim themselves mental health heroes — to deflect accountability for job burnout.
I’m all for time off, but it doesn’t do anything for burnout if workers return to the same job conditions — or conditions that are worse because workload accumulated while everyone was kicking back for a week.
In a recent post, I shared the American Psychiatric Association’s latest tips on how to burn-wash. Yeesh.
A new vision of burnout solutions will have to address not just individual treatments and not just organizational interventions… but requisite changes in how our society views work, merit, and leisure. More on this in a future post.
About The Author: Bob Merberg
Bob Merberg, Principal Consultant of Jozito LLC, has 20+ years of experience leading employee wellbeing strategies and now channels his knowledge and experience to help employers bolster employee wellness and organizational outcomes. He recently introduced Mental Health First Aid Training into his practice to help employers address the burgeoning employee mental health crisis.
More posts by Bob Merberg