When stress at work leads to emotional exhaustion

“I felt like a battery with almost zero energy and was close to exhaustion,” António Horta-Osório told the Financial Times a few years ago. The then CEO of British Lloyds Bank spent eight days in a rehabilitation clinic and slept.

Horta-Osório has recently made headlines, especially with his non-compliance with quarantine rules and his less than glorious departure as President of Credit Suisse. But Horta-Osório is also considered an active promoter of mental health in the workplace and, with his commitment, has made a significant contribution to raising public awareness of the topic. As head of Lloyds Bank, he has spoken openly about how the ailing bank’s recovery almost wrecked his mental health. A burnout forced the turnaround manager to take a two-month break from work in November 2011.

Lloyds executives have since received mental health awareness training. Under Horta-Osório, the bank has internally trained thousands of mental health first responders and established an online portal for employees. This is intended to support employees in overcoming problems at work or in their private lives.

Mental Health Emergency Response Courses

Swiss companies are also increasingly relying on emergency helper courses. The Corona crisis has brought the topic of mental health to the fore: Many employees have had to work from home and be socially isolated.

Companies that offer such courses include Swisscom, Novartis and Swiss Re. Employees and supervisors learn how to recognize psychological problems in colleagues at an early stage. Companies hope to prevent their employees from absenteeism and sick days as a result of depression, anxiety and stress whenever possible. The Pro Mente Sana Foundation has been offering first aid courses for mental health (Ensa) since 2019.

Mental illnesses in the workplace are common. For every fourth person, performance is limited for several weeks due to mental stress. According to the Job Stress Index of Health Promotion Switzerland, almost a third of employees (28.7 percent) feel emotionally exhausted. According to the chief physician Thomas Ihde-Scholl, head of the psychiatric services of the FMI AG hospitals and president of Pro Mente Sana, sleep disorders, fears and mental exhaustion in particular have increased significantly in recent decades. In the modern world of work, there are a number of factors that have a particular psychological impact on employees:

Increase in the amount of work and information, as well as interruptions: Constantly refocusing attention is one of the grueling factors of today’s work environment. In order to show the degree of stress, two different groups were formed in an experiment that had to solve a relatively simple task. The members of group A were briefly interrupted three times. Group B, on the other hand, was able to work undisturbed. The result: Group A had to expend two to six times as much psychic energy as Group B.

The open-plan office promotes communicative interaction and interruptions. Quiet zones in which employees can withdraw are all the more important.

High speed and increased complexity: The half-life of decisions has become relatively short. No sooner has a difficulty been overcome than the same problem has to be solved again three or six months later because the framework conditions have changed. This often leads to exhaustion.

Bad working atmosphere: A climate of fear is an extremely toxic psychological stress factor and leads to many health problems in the workplace. Negative examples include defamatory slogans and disrespectful treatment.

What promotes well-being

The modern working world is conducive to stress, but both employers and employees can do a lot for mental health. Central factors that promote the well-being of employees are respectful interaction, a clear value system and fairness.

Also one reliable and clear guidance limits the stress level. Management style is not central here, as Ihde-Scholl explains. According to research results, it is not primarily important whether decisions are made in a directive or participatory manner or whether a company is organized flatly or hierarchically. Rather, what is decisive is continuity, which ensures that the management style does not constantly change.

The decisive factor for personal well-being is also the fit between the skills of the employees and the requirements of the job or the question of the extent to which a person’s personal strengths come into play in the job performed.

Breaking the stigma and accessing help: There is still a lot of stigma attached to mental illness. To counteract this, companies can communicate openly, as was the case with Lloyds Bank, for example. You should also actively provide information about where employees can get help if they have problems.

idleness helps

at active rest like walking or jogging, according to Ihde-Scholl, a person generates mental energy even if one feels physically exhausted afterwards. The effect is even greater with yoga or mindfulness training, which involves pausing and mentally consciously perceiving your surroundings. On the other hand, passive relaxation – in the form of the nightly Netflix series or computer games – has no regenerating effect. The best way to relax is and always will be idleness. Doing nothing is the quickest way to recharge your batteries.

Companies need an early warning system

surveys suggest that companies that implement policies and programs addressing mental health care experience between 15 and 33 percent lower costs associated with mental health problems. Sick leave is just the tip of the iceberg. They only do 18 percent of the cost related to mental health problems. More than 60 percent is due to reduced performance of the affected employees.

As a rule, it is not noticed until late when an employee has mental problems: those affected do a lot to “keep up appearances”. They first try to compensate for the drop in performance by working overtime and, for example, limiting leisure activities and social contacts.

A reliable early warning signal is when an employee no longer takes part in shared breaks, lunch or aperitifs. Absences only occur some time later. It is often a matter of failures of individual days, which, however, accumulate. According to Ihde-Scholl, it usually takes several conversations before a person opens up. You should tell the affected colleague what you have noticed and signal that you are worried, explains the chief physician. “How can we support you?” is the central question.