Written by Camille Lin, HR consultant and trainer specializing in the prevention of psychosocial risks for Groupe-conseil Perrier, and creator of the podcast Panser l'entreprise.
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If I'm talking about burn-out, professional exhaustion, I think you know what I'm talking about! But if I'm now talking to you about bore-out, does that mean anything to you?
For some time now, burnout has been the default explanation for disengagement at work. But it's not just burn-out that can lead you to disengage from work. Bore-out is a little less well known, but just as destructive.
What is Boredom?
To answer this question, let's delve into the work of psychologist Robert Karasek, who conceptualized the principle of boredom. In his work, Robert Karasek tells us that the combination of undemanding tasks and low decision-making latitude, i.e. the fact that you have little or no freedom of decision in your work, leads to boredom. So boredom is... boredom at work.
And I'm not talking about the occasional boredom that sometimes makes you want to scroll through your phone or daydream during a work meeting. NO! Bore-out is chronic boredom, where you feel that your work has no meaning, that your skills are under-exploited and that you are of no use. In the workplace, the causes of boredom can be:
- Lack of work, which can make you feel useless.
- Overqualification. You may have been taken on for a job for which you are overqualified, which can be devaluing for the person and lead them to lose faith in their skills.
- Monotonous tasks, i.e. tasks that are repetitive, monotonous and of little interest. In the long run, you may no longer find any meaning in your work.
- And finally, being put on the back burner, which in my view, can be a disguised punishment where a person is isolated and given tasks that have no meaning or purpose.
In short, everything I've just mentioned can affect employees' performance and also their mental health.
I know that at this stage, you may be thinking, "But if he's bored at work, why doesn't he just quit? Frankly, getting paid to do nothing is a dream, isn't it?”
Well, no, it's not necessarily the dream. Bore-out can lead to a loss of self-esteem, depression, anxiety, etc. As for quitting your job if you're bored, it's not always possible, you may be financially trapped, and there may also be social pressure. In short, quitting your job isn't that easy, even in that kind of situation.
Oh yes, and there's something I haven't told you yet... Boredom doesn't just have consequences for employees, it also has consequences for the company. You risk having a high turnover rate, repeated absences, and of course, all this has an impact on productivity.
What Can You Do as a Manager?
First of all, you can pay attention to all the factors I mentioned earlier and check whether or not they are present in the company. You can also have regular discussions with the members of your team, asking them, for example:
- How do they rate their workload?
- Do the assignments match their ambitions?
- How would they like their career to develop?
- Are the objectives challenging? etc.
The other thing you can do is clarify objectives and roles to create a sense of cohesion and purpose. The more the members of your team are aware that their individual work contributes to an objective greater than themselves, the more sense they will find in it.
In other words, take the time to talk to your teams - it's essential, and I'd go so far as to say vital.
And lastly, remember that boredom doesn't necessarily lead to bore-out. On the other hand, as a manager, you can observe certain signals that should alert you.
Camille Lin
Panser l’entreprise
LinkedIn
Camille is a 17th Floor partner
HR consultant and trainer specialising in the prevention of psychosocial risks for Groupe-conseil Perrier, and creator of the podcast Panser l'entreprise.
With a dual master's degree in HR management and organisational change, Camille puts her skills to work for companies that want to put people at the heart of their strategy.
Her experience in the prevention and management of psychosocial risks in the workplace has been put to good use in a wide range of situations, including toxic work climates, series of unexplained departures, tensions within or between teams, and stress experienced by first-level managers.
Were you aware of the latest trend in HR, bore-out?
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5 Comments
I definitely need to be busy, challenged, and have my work be meaningful in order to be fully engaged and motivated. I agree that if staff feel like they serve no purpose, they will not personally invest in their work. Staying connected with staff and exploring their strengths and expectations will serve to help both staff and the organization. It is better to take the time to fully understand staff capabilities and fully utilize the staff you have, than have the potential of losing them and have to start all over again with new staff.
9 months agoI agree Denise, I too need a good challenge and I like to know that I have another task in the wings.
8 months agoAgreed! Thanks for your comments, Denise and Caitlin!
8 months agoI run a bookkeeping company with a payroll department, so we all know from processing! Agreed completely about the risks of boredom. I do want to throw out a counter-argument, though. There’s a theatre saying, “there are no small parts, only small actors.” This can address a situation where an actor is cast in a part that they feel is small or somehow beneath them. This saying urges them to find the value and the interest in that role. The saying can also address a situation where you SEE a talented actor really add richness to a scene even though their part in it was small. Let’s translate that to bookkeeping (or payroll). Yup, there’s a lot of repetition, and, yup, your decision-making scope might be limited, often by the regulatory requirements of the job. Person A might say, I’m a bookkeeper and my life is incredibly dull. I’m looking for Person B, who says, I’m a bookkeeper and my employer’s ability to manage their business depends on the quality financial statements I produce. Same tasks, different attitude. NOW… I know that good attitude doesn’t solve the problem if the job is horribly designed! For sure there are jobs where bore-out might afflict the most positive person in the world. HOWEVER… There are also situations where Person A’s bad attitude could kill a job where Person B would add value and be happy. Thoughts on that angle??
7 months agoI find that within my team there are cases of bore-out due to repetition. Prior to me leading this team duties were segregated to the point that one employee administered for example benefits, one administered pension etc. This lead to repetition, boredom and a lack of backup and redundancy. I have moved to a more rounded training approach and when I sense that bore-out is occurring I change things up.
6 months ago