In early 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) reclassified burnout as an "occupational phenomenon" and described three dimensions: "feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion" (i.e., the feeling that you have nothing left to give), "feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job" (i.e., growing dissatisfaction with your job), and "reduced professional efficacy" (i.e. reduced satisfaction with your own accomplishments).
In addition to providing healthy corporate outcomes, business leaders have to follow an ever-changing competitive landscape, manage team dynamics, and navigate office politics. It’s no surprise that this often leads to burnout. Business professionals who don’t have the tools to manage the stress in their professional and personal lives will eventually spiral into burnout and begin exhibiting all three dimensions of burnout. This results in the corporate costs of missed deadlines, reduced quality, and workplace conflict. However, there are also the personal costs of sickness, hospitalization, and, in extreme cases, death.
Organizations that invest in building burnout resistant teams will see a return on that investment in terms of reliable business performance and an increased ability to respond to crises. Most importantly, they will have a workforce that is happier and more productive. Our talk will provide tools to help business leaders and their teams bring stress into a managed state and avoid burnout.
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Aneika Simmons is a full professor at Sam Houston State University. Her research interests are related to creativity, fairness, diversity, and leadership. She completed her doctorate in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at Texas A&M University. Previously, she worked for Accenture and Cap Gemini Ernst and Young as a technology consultant. She also has a Master’s Degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Houston and an undergraduate degree in Information Systems from The University of Texas at Austin. Her publications appear in journals like the Journal of Applied Psychology and Journal of Organizational Behavior. She has built on her research and has developed employee focused workshops, for example, she has recently conducted workshops like Decision Making for the Public Employee and Leading with Creativity and Innovation. As a presenter, she makes complex concepts easy to understand and enjoyable to consider, and she continues to present her research at both domestic and international conferences.
Anjuan Simmons is a technologist with a successful track record of delivering technology solutions from the user interface to the database. He is an energetic and informative speaker who presents at conferences, seminars, schools, and community centers around the world on topics including Agile software development, diversity, and leadership. Anjuan has an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Texas A&M University.