Burnout is rising, and Black women and women of color are getting hit hard. According to Maslach and Leiter's burnout theories, burnout is a syndrome defined as a "prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job" characterized by exhaustion, cynicism and detachment and lack of accomplishment from work. All of which can be brought on by racism. The 2020 State of Black Women in Corporate America report by Lean In noted that Black women face more barriers to advancement than most other employees. Yet, according to McKinsey, in the US, racial and ethnic diversity has a more substantial impact on financial performance than gender diversity.
Throughout my international experience spanning over a decade, I've seen too many highly-qualified women of color not going as far up the career ladder. And if they do, some have hard to put up a long, arduous fight, perpetuating burnout. It's taking a huge physical toll. According to the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation, "Black women are 7.5 years biologically 'older' than white women," and 27% of this difference is due to perceived stress and poverty. So, how do we help women of color with burnout to improve their well-being and career fulfillment?
1) Be aware and address three key factors
I. Women of color are often subject to external thoughts and expressions in the form of microaggressions, and for some, it can be exhausting impacting self-worth and identity.
Microaggressions come in three forms: microassaults, microinsults and microinvalidations.
- Microinsults: Verbal and nonverbal communications that subtly convey rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person's racial heritage or identity.
- Microinvalidations: Communications that subtly exclude, negate or nullify the thoughts, feelings or experiential reality of a person of color.
- Microassults: Using racially insensitive language.
II. Being overworked and underpaid or knowing that your work isn't valued in the same way as your peers can bring about cynicism and detachment.
In 2019, the races below who worked full-time earned the following cents for every dollar white, non-Hispanic men made:
- Black women - 62 cents
- Latinas - 54 cents
- Asian women - 90 cents
III. Systematic career advancement and growth barriers.
Pretty much half at 49% of Black women feel their ethnicity or race will make it harder to get a raise/promotion compared to 11% of women overall.
In 2020, women of color represented 18% of entry-level positions. Few advanced to leadership positions: managers (12%), senior managers/directors (9%), VPs (6%), SVPs (5%) and C-suite positions (3%). And below are the total 2020 management positions in the US held by women of color:
- Asian women: 2.2%
- Black women: 4.1%
- Hispanic women: 4.5%
It's clear to see how exhaustion, cynicism and detachment (burnout) can show up due to these three areas. Here are four more ways to help:
2) Find out where your employees fall
Where do your employees fall on a burnout spectrum? Are your people of color more burned out? What are their burnout triggers? How might your organization be contributing? According to McKinsey, only 7 percent of companies set representation targets for gender and race combined. By tracking segmented data, you can effectively create a burnout recovery roadmap and clarify how to create and support change.
3) Foster belonging
Culture Amp and Paradigm surveyed over 7,000 individuals and found that a sense of belonging was the single metric consistently tied to employee engagement and experience. Employee resource groups (ERGs) are a great avenue to convey belonging. If your organization already has an ERG, are you paying your group leaders, or does their work make up a percentage of their current job role? Adding extra work on top of their 9-5 signals how much you value your resource groups, and they deserve to be valued. When adequately funded, you can offer expert-led conversations and workshops to support women of color.
4) Show direct support
When employees feel supported, they're more likely to be happier and less stressed at work. Providing on-demand career coaching is a direct way to show career support, and it's cost-effective. According to The International Coaching Federation (ICF), 86% of companies significantly regain their coaching investment, with over 70% benefitting from improved work performance, relationships and enhanced communication skills.
5) Equip managers
Gallup estimates that managers are responsible for 70% of the variance in employee engagement. Yet a February 2021 Gallup study found:
- 42% of managers strongly agree that they are prepared to talk about race
- Less than half of managers' report having received diversity training. However, participating in just one expert-led training or meeting about race significantly strengthens managers' comfort around these essential conversations.
Don't wait until your company has a diverse representation to start developing a more inclusive culture. In partnership with LinkedIn’s 2021 Black History Month package, I spoke about embracing all of Black America through my unique lens. Building a positive corporate culture takes time, and by starting now, you'll be more likely to have a place where everyone can experience holistic career growth.
Get actionable insights on how you can cultivate holistic change in the workplace. Join my monthly newsletter here, and check out my website.
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February 22, 2021 at 06:18AM
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Here's How To Actually Help Women Of Color With Burnout - Forbes
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