Is Bumbles Week Off For Burnout The Best Medicine For Stressed Staff?
The CEO of dating app Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd, took the decision to give her 700-strong workforce ... [+] a paid one-week vacation in June Getty Images for Diane von Furstenberg  This week, dating app Bumble closed its offices around the world to thank its team for their hard work and resilience during the pandemic. A now-unavailable tweet suggests the companys shutdown is also a way to address burnout across the organization. One of Bumbles senior executives wrote on social media that founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd had taken the decision to give her 700-strong workforce a paid one-week vacation "having correctly intuited our collective burnout". Bumbles staff certainly arent the only ones experiencing the mental fallout of the pandemic, with Gallups 2021 State of the Global Workplace report signalling that workers daily stress levels have risen from 39% to a record high of 43% in the past year. So its great to see it being acknowledged. Any public recognition and action taken by a company to alleviate burnout, which is insidious and indiscriminate, should be applauded. The World Health Organization defines it as a specifically occupational syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. While it presents in different ways, signs and symptoms may include (emotional) exhaustion, depleted energy levels, cynicism and negativity towards work, increased mental distance from ones job, and reduced performance. Prevention is all about listeningsomething Bumble has clearly donewatching out for the signs, and taking action to address the issue. However, the risk with taking a blanket approach, such as temporarily closing offices, is that one size doesnt fit all. For every person who will need and appreciate the rest, there will be another that finds an enforced break only adds to their stress. It might be that important work is interrupted mid-flow, or that the hiatus creates a backlog they dread returning to, or because, like many people, they are stressed by their routine suddenly changing. A week off isnt a 'cure' for burnout. But it is a chance to reset, provided its coupled with long-term preventative actions that really can make a difference. Three preventative measures for the avoidance of burnout:  1. Sensible workloads  Lets talk about your employees workloads. Productivity, especially for remote workers who tend to work longer hours, often with nothing more to show for it, can always be improved, provided workloads are reasonable in the first place. 2. In the U.S. paid vacation allowancestypically 10 to 15 days a yearare often much less generous than, for example, the U.K. where its not unusual to get 25 days. But leave only works as a burnout prevention measure if its used. Responsible employers should encourage, even force, people to use all of their leave entitlement, rather than rewarding (paying) people for unused leave, and insist on at least one decent break every quarter. Success hinges on your culturetry encouraging people to share holiday photos and travel tipsbut also, again, on workloads. A vacation can only be stress free if your employee doesnt have a mountain of work to return to or a deluge of calls and emails from colleagues who cant operate without them. 3. Employee benefits  Benefits are increasingly playing a leading role in workplace mental health. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) offer employer-paid, completely confidential support or advice. This might be a session with a counsellor or therapist, or with an independent financial adviser to manage debt. Some companies are also investing in mindfulness, as regular practice is known to reduce stress and improve focus.