Ed#1: Avoid Burnout By Choosing Wellbeing
David Carruthers
I Help Founders & CEOs Thrive Using Balance & Success Strategies | Leadership & Business Transformation to BEE-come a Force for Good
Introduction
Welcome to edition #1 of this newsletter. I'm grateful you're here and I look forward to sharing wellbeing insights with you over the coming weeks.
2 years ago I launched the Future of Hospitality initiative and newsletter to support sharing insights & ideas to inspire a thriving & regenerative future for our industry, enabling people, places and the planet to thrive too. We have over 6,500 leaders subscribed to that weekly newsletter and you can subscribe to it here .
My inspiration for this newsletter comes from:
Hospitality Industry Wellbeing Strategy:
Burn & Churn
Traditionally, our industry has not been very good at looking after our people's wellbeing.
Burnout has just been "part of the job".
"Toughen up" or "if it's too hot in the kitchen, get out" have been normalised.
I call this the "burn & churn" strategy. Push people as far as they'll go. If they keep going, they become longer serving team members and if they don't then they get "churned".
It rewards people who can handle (or appear to handle) high levels of prolonged stress.
It fails those who can't.
Current Situation
As we all came out of the pandemic, we discovered that a lot of hospitality people didn't return to our industry. This caused (and continues to cause) a significant staff shortage.
This was a 'systemic' staff shortage across the industry. It became clear it wasn't just a short-term 'blip'.
Through surveys and research that was carried out, we discovered that one of the key reasons for people not returning to the industry was:
money was a part of it, but not the main driver.
The anecdotal feedback around wages was more that if you're going to work for minimum wages, then why not choose a job that doesn't require so much of you and doesn't have customers abusing you and treating you with disrespect?
As an industry, many operators attempted to fix this systemic & strategic issue with a tactical response.
They offered higher wages to people to join them to 'fill their gaps'.
Some offered higher wages to the 'mercenaries' than their existing loyal staff. How would those loyal staff feel? Valued and acknowledged for 'being there' or abused and disrespected?
In early 2024, two years after the pandemic restrictions ended, our industry is still dealing with systemic staff shortages. As an industry, we have failed to resolve it.
The last two years of high inflation, cost-of-living crisis trading conditions have put additional strain on the industry, with:
Our industry associations had the opportunity to lead the way and lead the agenda to encourage operators to look after their people better.
I haven't heard any doing this. Indeed, recently, we've had industry associations complaining that minimum wages went up less than 4% in an environment where our staff can't afford rent and food.
So, what's possible?
Well, some operators are waiting for robots to arrive so that they don't need the hassle of employing people. ?? There are of course parts of our industry where that might work.
Personally, the Future of Hospitality that I envision is 'people-centric'.
My view, having first worked behind a bar 43 years ago, having held senior exec roles in big multi-site groups, having founded my own small multi-site group, been president of two business & industry associations (and seen the challenges of many other businesses) and possibly most important, having burnt out myself, is this:
This requires a systemic approach to change.
It needs to be led by:
We can't make operators look after people.
We can encourage change from operators who want to thrive in the future and that requires a systemic response so people, place & planet thrive too.
Burnout
What is burnout?
Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress. Though it’s most often caused by problems at work, it can also appear in other areas of life, such as parenting, care-ing, romantic relationships.
What causes burnout?
Burnout is not simply a result of working long hours or juggling too many tasks, though those both play a role. The cynicism, depression, and lethargy that are characteristic of burnout most often occur when a person is not in control of how a job is carried out, at work or home, or is asked to complete tasks that conflict with their sense of self.
Equally pressing is working toward a goal that doesn't resonate, or when a person lacks support. If a person doesn’t tailor responsibilities to match a true calling, or at least take a break once in a while, they could face burnout—as well as the mountain of mental and physical health problems that often come along with it, including headaches, fatigue, heartburn, and other gastrointestinal symptoms, as well as increased potential for alcohol, drug, or food misuse.
How do you know if you’re burned out?
Physical and mental exhaustion, a sense of dread about work, and frequent feelings of cynicism, anger, or irritability are key signs of burnout. Those in helping professions (such as doctors) may notice dwindling compassion toward those in their care. Feeling like you can no longer do your job effectively may also signal burnout.
What’s the difference between burnout and stress?
By definition, burnout is an extended period of stress that feels as though it cannot be ameliorated. If stress is short-lived or tied to a specific goal, it is most likely not harmful. If the stress feels never-ending and comes with feelings of emptiness, apathy, and hopelessness, it may be indicative of burnout.
How to Deal with Burnout
While some work environments may be especially grinding—such as the medical profession or law enforcement—anyone who’s running out of gas can take steps to alleviate the deleterious effects of burnout and, if necessary, reevaluate their work life.
To counter burnout, having a sense of purpose, having an impact on others, or feeling as if one is making the world a better place are all valuable. Often, meaningfulness can counteract the negative aspects of a job. Other motivators include autonomy as well as a good, hard challenge.
Should I quit my job if I’m burned out?
Maybe, but it’s not the only option. Speaking up about your concerns or restructuring your work environment to address burnout may be less risky and equally effective. Nurturing your relationships, adopting self-care habits, and focusing on hobbies outside of work can also help restore your sense of self and mitigate stress.
How can I draw better boundaries at work?
When you have too many conflicting responsibilities, simply saying “no” to new tasks is an important (albeit challenging) way to reduce your workload. Scheduling regular breaks, starting and stopping at set times, and minimizing multi-tasking can all help maintain boundaries and reduce feelings of burnout.
Wellbeing
What is wellbeing?
The WHO constitution states: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
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The WHO has also more recently added, "Well-being is a positive state experienced by individuals and societies, determined by social, economic and environmental conditions."
7 Aspects of Holistic Wellbeing
In some respects, 'being well' is our 'natural state' and 'working on well-being' could be said to be about returning us to our natural state that the daily challenges of work and life can, over time, negate and result in potentially harmful consequences.
The moment we recognise the gaps, we can get clarity about what we want to achieve, focus on the strategies that will get us there and get traction (make decisions to take action) so we can transform our wellbeing (in the right direction!)
The more we chunk down complex issues, the easier it is to focus on specific actions that we can take. I look at wellbeing from a holistic perspective.
In my experience over the last decade, these aspects or elements of wellbeing work together to create 'holistic wellbeing' (whole being). In recent times, there has been much focus on "mental health" or "mental wellbeing", which is a critical aspect of wellbeing, but wellbeing shouldn't be confused with only 'mental health'. It is so much more.
Within Future of Hospitality, I speak about us building a 'regenrative' future that enables people, place and the planet to thrive. For me, working on our wellbeing is a regenerative process.
So, regenerating businesses, regenerating people, regenerating places and regenerating planet work together within a complex system, to create an industry that has thriving people, thriving
My survive-to-thrive ladder
A simple way to 'measure' how you feel
How we measure wellbeing more scientifically.
My burnout was built due to my stress levels increasing from 2010 to 2014. I was living through a real-life mini-series combo of The Sopranos, House of Cards, Serpico and The Castle!
The continued high stress of constantly high inflation, cost-of-living crisis, systemic staff shortages, rising rents and falling customer numbers, leads to distress and burnout. That's why we are in times of record levels of burnout.
The worst thing about hitting burnout is that we tend (especially in hospitality) to think we can keep going a bit more. We think we're invincible, until we're not. When it hits, it's brutal.
About 80% of my wellbeing recovery journey took place between 2015 and 2018. I was so impressed by some specific results:
I essentially 'regenerated' my body, mind & soul. At 50, I felt 60. At 60, I feel like I'm 50.
In 2018, Eeek & Sense launched their GLWS leadership wellbeing assessment tool. Having launched my strategy consulting practice in 2017, and wanting to work more holistically with business leaders, than 'just making more money', I gained accreditation to deliver their tool.
I include this wellbeing assessment with my 1:1 exec coaching clients, so as we work to increase their effectiveness at work or in business, they set their goals so they improve their wellbeing as well as their business results. That's what do-be-feel better means!
I'm going to use the GLWS framework in every edition of this free newsletter. Anybody wanting a standalone assessment I do these for A$1,800, but I do include the GLWS within my 1:1 exec coaching and group coaching programs which is a better way to access the feedback.
So, we will include a discussion of these topics in future newsletters, and for anybody enrolling in a coaching program and getting a GLWS, after 129 questions, you get a 16-page detailed report with this summary page. This makes it much easier to set improvement goals.
How do we avoid burnout and move towards wellbeing?
Start to take action towards your wellbeing and away from your potentially impending burnout.
Where attention goes, energy flows.
It isn't to "NOT focus on burning out". That keeps burning out alive within you.
It's about focusing your attention and actions on your wellbeing, which avoids burnout.
Sounds simple I know, but the moment you choose to invest your time and energy into improving your wellbeing, you will slow down and reverse the trajectory you're currently on.
I will share lots to help you take this journey, both in this newsletter and from next month I'll also be hosting monthly free training events with live Q&As to help you even more. Register now for the next event (don't worry if you read this after the August date shown below, as when you click the banner, you'll be able to sign-up to be notified of the next free event).
Free Monthly Hospitality Wellbeing Training and Q&A
Join me for this free monthly live training event with a Q&A designed to help you build your wellbeing muscle.
I've been running monthly Future of Hospitality Industry Insights & Key Challenges Events since May 2022. In recent months it's become clear that burnout, stress, overwhelm, exhaustion, lack of life balance, lack of career development, and lack of cashflow have been major issues coming up for leaders and this event allows us to focus on those issues alone and how they can be improved.
So, please take advantage of the free tips & tactics I'm sharing in the newsletter and training events. If you want to find out how to dive deeper and get more help, then I have options for:
I'm committed to helping you thrive in your career/business and your life. It's what I spend most of my time working on so that I can help others avoid the pain I felt burning out myself.
Future Editions
Future editions of this newsletter and the free training events will help (you for you or you with your team) reduce stress, exhaustion, overwhelm and that horrible feeling of heading towards burnout.
We'll discuss specific strategies to avoid burnout, achieve life-work balance and accelerate your career or business.
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Thanks for reading.
I appreciate the time you've spent reading this far.
Let's Create A Thriving Future of Hospitality Together.
DC
Founder, Future of Hospitality