Burnout, Customer Experience Battlefield And The New “No Office” Most Viewed Last 2 Months

Increasing employee burnout. 

“Burnout” was a topic I covered half dozen times in my LinkedIn articles over the past few months and it attracted a lot of viewers each time. 

78 % was the number researcher Spring Health said was the per cent of employees in a recent study who said they had experienced some level of “burnout” over the past year of the Pandemic in 2020. 

Relatedly, 53 % of employees said they were “unengaged” at work according to another recent study. Burnout and “not being engaged at the office” says to me there’s a “crises” in today’s office workplace. What do you say? 

Is “the Customer Experience” the new “battlefield” for companies? 

A subject of two of my recent pieces, it gained some prominence when Gartner weighed in. 

Gartner commented that 89 % of all companies will compete directly on the experience they provide to their customers in the next few years. 

Does your company have a plan for this? 

Is the “No Office” the New Office? was also the title of a recent article. 

This topic drew a whole lot of attention from my readers. It definitely touched a nerve! 

And that interest has been borne out by a raft of pieces over the last month or so on social platforms everywhere. 

First, the prestigious Conference Board published research results revealing the 55 % of Millennials expressed doubts about returning to the office.  

Next, they reported that 45 % of GenXers professed those same feelings. Followed by 36 % of Boomers.  

A lot of hesitancy obviously out there in a returning workforce!

A few other “trends” driving this “no - office movement” are beginning to emerge. Employee burnout ( discussed above ) is one inescapable trend here and I mentioned it. Two other major “shifts” included “new found flexibility from the WFH movement” and “accelerating digitalization” at today’s office. 

And I labeled it a “Once - in – a – generation workplace shift in the office”. It sure feels that way to me anyway and, even more interesting, additional research found that “some 2/3’s of companies report that they have ‘no plan’ for addressing this shift”. Wow! 

So where do we go from here and, and what can we draw from these popular topics in my recent articles? 

Below, please find some Business Tips I think might be helpful inn responding to these developments. 

Business Tip # 1. Always know when you’re not 100 % at the office because “burnout” is a common problem today with employees in all lines of work, not just healthcare or other front – line workers. It’s real and can have last effects on your health. 

Tip # 2. Spend time identifying “key customer experience moments” at your organization so you can measure in various ways the “value” customers say they are receiving – information, benefits, cost savings, etc. - from you. And, if possible, try and diagram a “Customer Journey Map” in order to help you understand how a typical customer traverses their interaction with your company.  

# 3. Finally, develop a detailed plan for the “hybrid office” emerging today because it’s here and it’s now. It’s critical you have a strategy! 

So there we are at this point. 

Good luck navigating the new landscape and I hope you’ll join me soon in our continuing discussions! 

Until then, ok? 

Ciao.