Does Increasing Pay Cure Career Burnout?

I recently saw a LinkedIn post discussing how important pay is when it comes to on-the-job happiness. The post purported that increasing pay would eliminate burnout. While I agree that pay could be a driver of burnout in your organization, it’s not the sole determining factor in terms of burnout prevention or mitigation.

Make no mistake: pay is definitely a strong variable that can drive burnout. When we’re paid a living or thriving wage, we feel appreciated and can maintain a quality of life that reduces a lot of stress. However, I work with successful executives who are burned out — all while being paid exceedingly well.

If pay was the only variable to be considered when examining how satisfied we are and the state of our well-being at work, these executives would be in the clear with regard to burnout. The fact that they aren’t reflects there is more going on than just pay - and that’s what research tells us as well.

We already understand things like PTO, pay, work location, hours, and flexibility can impact how one feels about the work they do and the company with which they do it. But these are not the only factors that impact organizational or personal burnout.

Initially, I wondered if the right questions were being asked in this particular work survey that they referenced. But what I realized is it’s not the actual questions that are the issue in this particular case — it’s how results are broadly being interpreted. We can’t jump to conclusions that say pay resolves burnout when the questions are not intended to measure burnout.

We need to acknowledge something: burnout and happiness are not opposites. You can be unhappy, but not burned out. They are two different human experiences that should be addressed independently. It’s tempting (and seems like a good move) to rally support around increased pay based on the data from this particular survey because it does need to happen in many industries. I’m not negating that.

"We need to acknowledge something: burnout and happiness are not opposites. You can be unhappy, but not burned out."

But I think it’s self-defeating to interpret data to say something it isn’t actually saying. If we interpret data about happiness to mean “not burned out,” it gives us a scapegoat for addressing the issues that are equally, or even more so, responsible for burnout in our organizations and personal lives. It gives companies license to not address other very important issues because they’ll say “the large survey at X business showed pay is of primary importance.” It IS important, but it’s not the whole picture.

One of the first conversations we have when a company hires me is something to the effect of, “This is good data AND you aren’t asking the right questions if your goal is to mitigate burnout.” That’s because we have to be careful with how we interpret data.?

"This is good data AND you aren't asking the right questions if your goal is to mitigate burnout."

For example, I prepared a proposal for an organization that had data that reported that 97% of employees were stressed at work. In my head I thought, “Everyone is stressed at work! The President of the United States is stressed. The guy that pumps my gas in New Jersey is stressed. My barista is stressed. The guy who takes tickets at the Frisco Roughriders game is stressed. I’m stressed!”

What I said was “That is interesting data, AND it’s not helpful data. Eliminating stress completely is not possible or helpful because healthy stress has a purpose. Let’s start by gathering data that is going to tell us specific drivers of burnout and stress in your company - drivers that could be mitigated or eliminated.”?

You could work in the most healthy workplace on the planet and still feel stress because stress is a normal experience. It’s what causes stress and whether we are equipped, or have the power, to address the problem that triggers the stress that impacts us.?

In order to navigate organizational burnout, we need to dig deep to uncover multiple drivers — and those will look different for every organization.

Dialing in and determining the key drivers of burnout for you and your teams is the first step toward formulating a plan. From there, we can build a custom strategic plan that can be implemented within your organization.

Now, I’d love your feedback. What drivers of burnout are you seeing in your organization that may not be represented in the data you’ve already gathered? DM me! Once we can hone in on that, we can work together to find your resolution.

For more thoughts and strategies related to organizational burnout, subscribe to this LinkedIn newsletter, connect with me, and click that bell so you don’t miss a thing!

If you’re interested in talking with me face to face (virtually), book an initial connection call. I want to get to know you as a human and as a professional.

Let’s figure out how I can guide your organization towards long term health to protect the outcomes you care about, while also supporting the people who make those outcomes possible.

#burnout #organizationalburnout #HR #humanresources #worksatisfaction #employeeretention #stress #research #learninganddevelopment #burnoutinbusiness #corporate burnout