Burnout is the primary concern of US CEOs

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a mental health crisis across the world.

Everyone was concerned about keeping themselves and their loved ones safe from this deadly viral disease – all the while trying to keep going as normal at work.

Of course, the switch from in-office to at-home work for many created a work-life balance crisis. For many, they weren’t just working from home, but in fact living at work.

This led to extremely high levels of burnout – something which is a major cause of record high resignation rates over the last year, which have been dubbed the ‘Great Resignation’.

Thankfully business leaders are very aware of the mental health impact on their workforces. In fact, a new study from KPMG (where the professional services firm surveyed 400 CEOs in the US) found that pandemic fatigue was their most pressing concern right now.

76% of the CEOs told KPMG hat they needed to address burnout related to the accelerated digital transformation that occurred during COVID-19. Tech tools are essential to getting work done, but they can make it impossible for many to switch off.

This focus on addressing burnout explains why many CEOs are embracing flexible working, particularly in the form of hybrid models. Of course, this isn’t only beneficial for wellbeing, but the role that a lack of flexibility at work is playing in the ‘Great Resignation’ means that hybrid models are key to helping companies to attract and retain talent.

The KMPG ‘2022 US CEO Outlook’ report is clear that companies need to go beyond wellbeing and flexibility if they want to improve their employee experience, as well as drive better talent attraction and retention.

Instead they really need to focus on their company purpose. Ultimately, companies need to ensure their purpose aligns with individuals’ values around environmental and social issues.

“CEOs understand that their employees—or potential employees—are looking at organizations’ reputations as corporate citizens when making their decisions about where to work,” noted the report.

CEOs also worried about the economy and tech

It is fascinating that employees are top of CEOs’ agenda, despite the fact that 91% believe that the US is heading into a recession within the next year.

However, the reason why economic factors like a looming recession and rising inflation were only CEOs’ fourth pressing priority is because three in four have planned for this economic challenge and 80% are confident that their business is resilient.

In addition, 34% think the recession will be short, and 52% expect earnings growth of 2.5% of more in next three years.

KPMG’s ‘2022 US CEO Outlook’ found that 51% of those surveyed were expecting to downsize their employee base in response to the recession, but this is only in the short-term with 92% saying they expect their population to increase over the next three years.

Interestingly, inflation proofing the company’s business is only US CEOs’ second operational priority for growth in the next three years. Coming in top is digital transformation, which the report found CEOs wouldn’t be veered from despite economic challenges.

This explains why disruptive technology was the third biggest immediate concern for US CEOs.

But when it comes to tech, KMPG is clear that businesses make sure that they implement tools that actually make employee’s lives easier, not harder.

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