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New C-Suite Intelligence podcast: The Miles Group’s Courtney Hamilton and Christina Woodard discuss strategies to reconnect teams to their company, culture and meaningful work.
“We are seeing a ton of burnout at all levels of the organisation,” says Courtney Hamilton, Managing Director of The Miles Group/TMG, a consulting firm that works closely with CEOs, leadership teams, and boards of major global corporations to create customised, world-class talent strategies. “Quality diminishes, productivity can tumble, and the ability to solve problems really suffers when burnout is unaddressed over time.”
“Burnout has always been something that people have experienced regardless of how passionate they are about the work. But this lack of tethering is leading not only to disconnection from the people and the culture and the organisation, but also from the meaning of the work,” says Christina Woodard, Managing Director of TMG.
On today’s C-Suite Intelligence podcast episode, “Re-Engaging Burned Out Employees”, Hamilton and Woodard address the causes of burnout and the strategies to overcome it.
Increasing connectivity and touchpoints: “We’re having fewer touchpoints because we’re not in the office,” says Hamilton. “By not having the connectivity outside of the Zoom screen, there is a fair amount lost.” This includes disconnection from the work and strategy, and a lack of alignment, human connection and context.
“Combating burnout is really about increasing the number of intentional and thoughtful touchpoints that you have throughout your organisation,” says Woodard. TMG suggests bringing people together with the use of “density days” at the office, having more town halls, and building two-way relationships with your team to increase engagement.
Deep team alignment and communication: “What contributes to burnout is that people don’t understand why things are happening and they feel powerless. When you feel powerless, you feel disengaged,” says Hamilton. “The more disengaged you are, the more you’re burnt out. It’s not always just about the volume of work that you have to do.”
When teams come together, TMG advises assuring that it’s high-impact and buttressed by strategy. “Part of the game here is overcommunication, consistency in communication, and delivering the same message in different ways so that people are able to hear it and receive it,” says Woodard.
Ultimately, “It’s critical for leaders to show people why their work matters, why the work of their organisation matters, why the work of the team matters, and why the work that you as an individual are doing matters.”
“Re-Engaging Burned Out Employees” is out now on Apple, Google, Spotify, TMG’s website, or wherever you get your podcasts.
