The Burnout Epidemic by Jennifer Moss

Forthcoming from Harvard Business Review Press, THE BURNOUT EPIDEMIC by Jennifer Moss (Unlocking Happiness at Work) is a very timely work.  Moss writes this text primarily for leaders and divides it into three sections: Insights (causes of burnout and vulnerabilities), Strategies (intentions and measurement), and Leadership (dealing with curiosity, empathy, and self-care). Early on, she notes that millennials have the highest levels of burnout and muses that may be due to their having less autonomy at work, lower seniority, greater financial stressors, and feelings of loneliness. This was interesting, especially given the mental health concerns, cynicism, and disengagement which we have observed from many students during the pandemic. Moss stresses the importance of feeling physically and mentally safe at work – another connection which certainly also applies to our teachers and staff. In fact, she comments, “Supporting teacher welfare is a critical issue for me” and devotes a section on Lessons of Burnout to the profession, as well as providing a case study related to education. More generally, Moss reviews six causes of burnout (workload, perceived lack of control, lack of reward or recognition, poor relationships, lack of fairness, and a values mismatch). Again, one can see the correlation with a school setting. Moss discusses numerous options (wellness programs, team-building) that fall short of their goals, the need for designing effective surveys, and the impact of misaligned budget allocations. She also promotes the value of curiosity, suggesting a daily journal, and charts the differences between compliance and integrity based cultures, all of which make THE BURNOUT EPIDEMIC worth a look for organizations seeking to improve workplace morale and productivity. Source notes and an index are included.