81, 396 hours.
That’s how much of life most of us spend working. The only thing we spend more time doing is sleeping. If we spend so much of life at work, how is life at work going?
According to the world’s workers, not well. Gallup finds 60% of people are emotionally detached at work and 19% are miserable.
But is that a surprise, or a statistical explanation of the obvious?
So, what makes a bad job?
In one of the largest studies of burnout, Gallup found the biggest source was “unfair treatment at work.”
That was followed by:
- An unmanageable workload
- Unclear communication from managers
- Lack of manager support
- Unreasonable time pressure
Those 5 causes have one thing in common: your boss. Get a bad one and you are almost guaranteed to hate your job. A bad boss will ignore you, disrespect you and never support you. Environments like that can make anyone miserable.
The real fix is this simple: better leaders in the workplace
Managers need to be better listeners, coaches and collaborators. Great managers help colleagues learn and grow, recognize their colleagues for doing great work, and make them truly feel cared about. In environment like this, workers thrive.
- For 79% of workers, this kind of work environment may seem like a pipe dream
- For 21% of workers, it’s a reality. They still have days with stress, worry and pain — but at half the rate as people who are actively disengaged at work.
95% of people who are thriving at work report being treated with respect all day and 87% report smiling and laughing a lot.