More Than Burnout - The Human Energy Crisis

Microsoft's Chief People Officer and EVP Kathleen Hogan has declared that what we're really dealing with isn't burnout, it's a human energy crisis: "Social unrest, geopolitical instability, and economic uncertainty have also combined in a perfect storm causing strain on the invaluable human capital that keeps our companies running."

Why Leaders Can’t Ignore the Human Energy Crisis Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft Chief People Officer & EVP, Human Resources

As Chief People Officer of one of the largest companies on the planet, she's talking about generating a new source of fuel using the same terminology we do for climate change: "regenerating energy for our employees at work?and?ensuring it’s renewable and sustainable."

My Commentary

It's an incredible overview about everything we've been through. But how can we talk about human energy without saying a single word about the engine driving everything us humans do and how it works? The human ego. I’d like to see one brave leader stand up and admit they have no idea what to do about this aspect of the human energy crisis. It’s the human ego sucking all the good energy out of everything. This is no longer about dealing with self-improvement the way we did in the past. There is really no point in working on our narrow/limited individual egos. It's impossible to change human nature. The new era is about dealing the energy between us. Let's talk about how we can learn to recycle the toxic energy between us into the premium fuel we'll need for the future. We can’t talk about sustainable human energy without a deep understanding of how humans are designed, and why.

My second point is that we can no longer focus on the wellbeing of the individual employee. Holistic wellbeing needs to be about the whole company. Since stress levels are constantly increasing we need something very powerful to override the negative vibes in the air. One-on-one sessions will no longer be enough to make us feel better. We all need to go through this new process together, and talk about all these issues in general, in a safe non-judgmental environment. We don't need to hear the details of anyone's private problems. We need to air all these issues out using general terms, in a way where everyone can use their voice and be heard. That's what makes the integral method different from all other methods - it's specifically designed to override the human ego. No other method in the world deals with this.

The folks at Microsoft decided to tap into their People Analytics to measure how people are thriving: "We define thriving as “being?energized?and?empowered?to do?meaningful work.” When we measured employee thriving this spring, the data showed “energized” ranked lower than any other aspect of thriving."

If they really want people to thrive and be energized I suggest learning to tap into their collective intelligence - that's where all the new energy will come from.

I love their definition of the real problem behind the great resignation, quiet quitting and burnout:?"It’s impossible to create and innovate with a sapped internal battery."

I'm sharing some good parts of her solution here, but also to highlight that all of it is still focused on the individual:

#1 Putting culture & purpose first: In a conversation with Alexia Cambon at Gartner discussing her recent report, “Culture in a Hybrid World,” she shared that culture connectedness can increase employee performance and retention by over 30%.

#2?Making wellbeing holistic: We’re facing a mental health tsunami and it’s hard to navigate how and where to get help in a complicated system.?

#3 Supporting career growth in meaningful ways: A person’s career potential is not defined by their path so much as their passions.

#4 Focusing on leader and manager capabilities: To succeed in generating energy, our imperative is to remove obstacles to enable success, leverage team strengths and diversity for impact ....

#5?Building supportive team connections: Our data shows that “a good relationship with co-workers” is important to our employees.

We can’t empower others without holistic wellbeing, starting with flexibility, carrying through to supportive career development and caring for the entire individual, and concluding with an open feedback loop where employees feel heard and empowered.

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Transitioning To A Collective Mindset

To all the leaders that want to take things to the next level, stop focusing on the individual and rather invest in group activities that are the right activities for navigating the new era. Yes, we have a human energy crisis, but we're going to have to learn to balance each other out to solve it. And that's when we'll discover a whole new source of fuel. Then we'll know that we have a sustainable and renewable source of human energy.