Tag: #burnout

TACTICAL JOB HOPPING IN REMOTE WORK

Posted on by Leave a comment

By Stephanie Diana Eubank

I don’t know about you, but when I was making my first resume in high school, the constant adage was that you shouldn’t look like you are job hopping.  You need to stay at a company for as long as you can. It looks good on a resume. However, this has not been the case for many decades now.  Especially not in the remote work community pre and post-COVID.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, as of 2022, the average employee stays in the same role for 4.1 years but only stays at the same employer for an average of 3 years. So far, the data matches the average onsite worker as well.  

As remote work is only 2020 becomes more of a norm than the 5.7% before COVID, remote workers jumped to 17.9% of all US workers in the US labor market per the Bureau of Labor and statistics as of 2020.  However, as of May 2022, 35.4% work remotely.

For clarification, let’s define what tactical job-hopping means.  Tactical job hopping refers to leaving one job or company to go to another within a 1–4-year time frame.  This is done to either shift careers because of changes to the industry or personal changes or to gain a higher title or higher pay.  When discussing tactical job hopping, the concepts that are outside of an employee’s control, like industry-wide layoffs (like that constantly happens in the financial industry to the point it is almost suspicious if you have been at the same company more than four years) or jobs that have outsourced industry-wide or have faded out due to automation.

Now those semantics are out of the way, let’s address another reason people use tactical job hopping that they won’t say in an interview.  Tactical Job Hopping to escape a toxic work environment. This reason is especially true for remote workers. There is an adage that people don’t quit jobs. They quit managers.  Well, this can also be the case for tactical job hopping.

Also, it is possible to create a toxic work environment in a remote workplace.  Unfortunately, it is an easier task in a remote workplace than one might want to think about.  The ease of developing a toxic remote workplace environment is often due to managers not being taught to manage and not being instructed on how to manage a remote workplace.  Remote work takes a different kind of management style.  As I have researched and published before, remote leadership must lead with empathy and true authenticity and communicate more inclusively and creatively. Where remote work has room to build healthy leadership boundaries, it takes more effort to show respect and openness to employees as a leader in remote work.

When leadership is toxic tactical job hopping allows onsite and remote workers to find an organizational culture that addresses these issues.  Being able to leave a toxic work situation is liberating and allows employees to prioritize their mental health and prevent burnout.  When employees prevent burnout through things like quiet quitting (establishing healthy boundaries) and acting on their wage (prioritizing work and life balance for better mental health without hurting the chain of command or leaving themselves open to being pigeonholed into one job or career field) burn out is prevented and helps to not just better productivity in an organization but also helps keep a stable economy moving by having a stable workforce.

This helps break the toxic work culture concept of staying for the sake of a resume duration to show a new company.  When tactical job hopping is considered by an employer, we prevent burnout and embrace new hires that are talented and emotionally mature. Tactical job hopping to not stay at a toxic workplace by not following the old construct of staying in the same company until they are done with you helps break the toxic work culture by breaking the cycle and not staying at a company longer than one should. Staying in a toxic workplace too long can cause workplace PTSD and this can take years of working in a nontoxic work environment and therapy to lessen the stress of workplace PTSD.

Which begs the question of Organizational Leadership, what can be done to prevent this in an onsite and remote workplace?

  1. Have Human Resources (HR) learn to spot signs of poor leadership and not just regard it as people leaving for better pay or benefits.  Investigate high turnover. 
  2. Invest in training managers on how to manage.  Don’t just assume if they are good at their job, they can lead your team.
  3. Train your managers on how to manage a remote workplace.  Remote leadership is a different ball game altogether.
    1. If you are having trouble knowing where to start developing remote leadership training check out my new consulting firm wickedbofthewestremoteconsulting.com
  4. Also, hiring leaders who are not typically those you think about for leadership in remote workplaces is another good idea. People who are better with interpersonal communication.  To learn more about what types of leadership work best in a remote workplace, check out my consulting firm’s website and social media. wickedbofthewestremoteconsulting.com

There are also some good books on these topics to help spot tactical job hopping from a toxic employee or those hurt by the economy.

Remember that sharing is caring, and if you enjoyed this article, please see my social media links and share.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Wickedbofthewest

Website: wickedbofthewestremoteconsulting.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WickedBoftheWestBusinessConsulting

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wickedbofthewestconsulting/

Twitter: @SDEubank

References

Bureau of Labor and Statistics. (2022, September 22). Employee Tenure Summary. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm.

Bureau of Labor and Statistics. (2022, May 11). 7.7 percent of workers teleworked due to COVID-19 in April 2022. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/7-7-percent-of-workers-teleworked-due-to-covid-19-in-april-2022.htm.

Liu, J. (2022, January 18). 4 shows a company is invested in remote work long-term. CNBC. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/18/how-to-know-if-a-company-is-really-committed-to-remote-work-long-term.html

McMenamin, L. (2021, April 19). Why long-term workplace trauma is a real phenomenon. BBC Worklife. Retrieved October 20, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210415-why-long-term-workplace-trauma-is-a-real-phenomenon

Robinson, B. (2022, October 12). Experts say that remote work is here to stay and will increase into 2023. Forbes. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2022/02/01/remote-work-is-here-to-stay-and-will-increase-into-2023-experts-say/

How Is This Not Being Researched in Business: The Growing Issue of Workplace Violence.

Posted on by 2 Comments

By: Stephanie Diana Eubank

For those who are not familiar with my work, while I start the process of defending and finishing my dissertation on remote work, I teach at California State University Stanislaus and East Bay.  Specifically, I teach Operations Management. I add a component on Remote Leadership and Remote Work from my research to help prepare future Business Leaders for the growing change to a virtual and hybrid workplace. I touched on the topic of Workplace PTSD and its relationship between what is referred to by business practitioners as Toxic Leadership and what is academically called X Type Leadership. Many of us have examples of bad leaders we have dealt with in our careers, especially at the earlier stages.  There are also managers whose leadership style doesn’t translate properly in a remote workplace and can come off as toxic.  Further remote work makes it so that toxic leaders are exposed and documented.

Unfortunately, the work culture tends to back these leaders because they produce a lot although they have a revolving door of employees and a bad reputation.  Rather than calculating all the exit interviews and other Human Resources data to analyze how this is not a sustainable leadership model.  Much like micromanagement, these sort of leadership tactics is only meant to be used in short bursts as needed, not a consistent method of leadership.  In these cases, those managers don’t know how to lead and instead mix up fear with respect.  This mixes up can have devastating implications past how it can hurt a business.

After pointing out these facts to my students, I shifted to the topic of workplace PTSD.  Which is a topic that has been studied mostly in psychology for decades now.  The news has been reporting workplace PTSD, which it goes horribly wrong and results in workplace violence. The news and academic research have even found an uptick in workplace violence, especially since the COVID Pandemic.

A recent and heart-breaking example (and personally, I cried talking about this to my classes and cried again while writing this article) was the family in Merced that was kidnaped and killed.  Per the referenced news articles, an employee who stole from the family’s business and was convicted and imprisoned was released this month.  He went to their business and kidnapped the owners (a wife, husband, and brother-in-law) and their eight-month-old baby girl.  After, the local police were on a massive manhunt and found a burnt van that they were abducted into and later found their bodies in the middle of a field in a neighboring county.  Per the news reports, the suspect, a past employee, believed they still owed him money.  His cohorts were found dead, and the suspect was found attempting suicide.

Another major example is found in a news article referencing a Valley Transit Authority Worker during the pandemic that shot up a transit station and killed many people.  The news and research have been sounding the alarm that the excuse for it is that businesses don’t work, and there is a growing concern about workplace violence. In fact, a referenced Reuters article from 2009 notes how these sorts of workplace violence tend to uptick during recessions.  As we look down the barrel of another recession, we must ask ourselves as leaders what we can do to help calm the waters?

Here are some suggestions for calming the waters and preventing workplace violence:

  1. Understand as leaders, we are human.  Also, understanding that our teams and employees are also human.  Once we all agree that we are flawed, then focus on managing the work, not the people.  Specifically by being empathetic and kind rather than just being nice/ superficial.
  2. Encourage employee development.  Point out to your teams that nothing is certain right now, and investing in developing new skills helps you at the company you are at and adds to your ability to take those skills with you on your career path.  It shows that you and the company care about them and want to help them invest in themselves.
  3. Train Leaders to communicate and lead in less stressful ways and work on toxic habits as a part of employee development.
  4. Promote Remote Work.  Remote work lowers the stresses of commuting and gives workers and leaders the ability to have space from ay toxic communication to relax in calmer ways. It also allows more flexibility and the ability to prioritize sleep.
  5. Leaders prioritize making the work culture include information on self-care and mental health resources.
  6. Stop pushing employees to work unpaid overtime and longer and harder hours than paid for.  It just adds to burnout and increases the possibility of workplace violence.

Also, here are some additional reading resources on workplace violence:

There is a growing risk of workplace violence to stress, burnout, and workplace PTSD, and with a growing recession, post-COVID issues have made a perfect storm.  To prevent unwanted outcomes in business, we do risk assessments, and these mindful business practices suggested may help protect us all.  Stay safe and remember the fundamental principle of business your employees and teams are your greatest resource, so treat them well.

References

Serrin, G. (2022, October 7). Here’s what we know about the Merced family kidnapping deaths. KCRA. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.kcra.com/article/merced-kidnapping-deaths-abducted-sikh-family-suspect-information/41548620#

Romo, V. (2021, May 27). We’re seeing a spike in workplace shootings. here’s why. NPR. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2021/05/27/1000745927/why-were-seeing-a-spike-in-workplace-shootings

Eubank, S. D. (2022, October 21). Workplace risks shouldn’t mirror risks of service members:  an article on the rise of PTSD caused by bad leadership even in a remote workplace. Dr. Stephanie Diana Eubank DBA Remote Team Research (AKA Dr. Bear). Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://drstephaniebeardbaremoteresearch.org/2022/10/20/workplace-risks-shouldnt-mirror-risks-of-service-members-an-article-on-the-rise-of-ptsd-caused-by-bad-leadership-even-in-a-remote-workplace/

Bunch, K. (2021). When employees turn deadly at work. WebMD. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.webmd.com/men/features/when-employees-turn-deadly-at-work

Doucette, M. L., Bulzacchelli, M. T., Frattaroli, S., & Crifasi, C. K. (2019). Workplace homicides committed by firearm: Recent trends and narrative text analysis. Injury Epidemiology, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-019-0184-0

Tiesman, H., Marsh, S., Konda, S., Tomasi, S., Wiegand, D., Hales, T., & Webb, S. (2022). Workplace violence during the covid-19 pandemic: March–October, 2020, United States. Journal of Safety Research, 82, 376–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2022.07.004

Pihl-Thingvad, J., Andersen, L. L., Brandt, L. P., & Elklit, A. (2019). Are frequency and severity of workplace violence etiologic factors of posttraumatic stress disorder? A 1-year prospective study of 1,763 social educators. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(5), 543–555. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000148

Wizner, K., Cunningham, K., Gaspar, F. W., Dewa, C. S., & Grunert, B. (2022). Occupational posttraumatic stress disorder and workplace violence in workers’ compensation claims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 35(5), 1368–1380. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22836

Hampton, T. (2022, January 5). Study holds warning on pandemic drinking. Harvard Gazette. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/01/covid-related-drinking-linked-to-rise-in-liver-disease/

Grossman, E. R., Benjamin-Neelon, S. E., & Sonnenschein, S. (2020). Alcohol consumption during the covid-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey of US adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(24), 9189. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249189

Wulfhorst, E. (2009, April 22). Recession fuels worries of workplace violence. Reuters. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-workplace-violence/recession-fuels-worries-of-workplace-violence-idUSTRE53L0SV20090422