Help Everyone Assess Themselves!
Your team is in peril. You know it, they know it, yet people aren’t doing much about it. The workforce is suffering because of high levels of stress, an always-on mentality, and exhaustion. So what happens when you’re burning both ends of the candle?
No doubt, people burn out. When that happens, give them a heat check. No, not the half-court heave in the middle of the first quarter in a pro basketball game.
A 2023 UKG study surveyed 3,400 participants on factors impacting their mental health. Which one of these four managers, doctors, spouse/partner, or therapists do you think has the most impact on employees’ mental health? Of the three options, the choice seemed straightforward but could be argued. It’s the doctor, right?
The study revealed that your manager has around the same influence on your mental wellbeing as a spouse or partner. Wild innit. Doctors and therapists trail in influence on mental wellbeing, yet they support by diagnosing and treating. Our managers/leaders play a vital role in our mental health. What can we do to help build a better work environment?
What’s a H.E.A.T. Check?
The H.E.A.T. check (Help Everyone Assess Themselves) is used when a teammate or employee consistently performs at a peak level. It requires asking powerful questions, not just “How are you?” or “Are you good?” The point is to hold space for them to feel supported. It is about not overloading your people.
Use the H.E.A.T. check when you want to see if they can still maintain that level of output. For example, a H.E.A.T. Check is needed for an employee or teammate hitting all their shots, sales, approvals, metrics, and goals—whatever measurements excite you. It is imperative for leaders to check in on those employees, as they are commonly the workhorses.
Business or, better yet, busy-ness culture may overlook how easy it is to levy more weight onto those workhorses because of their production history. So, a H.E.A.T. Check allows you to check in with those teammates to see if they’re still hot. People may not know they are burning out because they are used to being “the go-to” or “the Rock.”
We Definitely Started the Fire
If you are in an HR or a people leader role, you may have heard this before: “Let’s give more to Sophie. They’re ON FIRE!!! And they never take a vacation.”
Here’s a quick joke:
Two business associates enter a Juice Bar. One entrepreneur sits with their associate and notices they are different. They lack engagement, seem distracted, and don’t order their usual drink. The other business associate asks, “What’s going on with you?” the first business associate breaks down into sobs. They say, “My team is burned out, and I sure as (expletive deleted) am too!”
That wasn’t a joke as much as it was a dark yet objective look at today’s workforce, middle management, and executives. They need help. It’s important to mention that these entrepreneurs have available resources to heal. They can get a massage, pay for therapy, hire a coach, a nanny, or even a second nanny to care for those irksome child-rearing duties.
Some may take sabbaticals so they can refresh. What is genuinely unfortunate is that employees may not have the same access to resources as middle management and executives. Yet, they are expected to pull through no matter what life has thrown them.
So what does everyone do when they are stressed? Probably nothing, maybe something maladaptive, perhaps some wellbeing techniques, all three options are in play. Burnout has been a hot topic. Something that’s not highlighted often is how much Burnout mirrors the symptoms of depression. People want to share what’s going on with everyone to feel heard, seen, and accepted, but they may be reluctant to share because of stigma.
How Stress Hurts Your Team
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. Do you remember that commercial with the tagline “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink and Drive”? Wouldn’t it be nice if this slogan were repurposed into a new motto?
“Employers Don’t Let Teammates Burn Out”
Think of your organization like a car. You can also think about it as a matter of self-assessment. In this car, you have a human driving. Humans have brains with finite resources, and they need to optimize their use of glucose as gas (energy for the brain and every cell in the body).
Now that takes care of the human operator, the car also needs tending. These mechanical systems break down over time, especially if they are not continuously assessed for damage or malfunction due to the status quo.
On the other hand, suppose your human operators and car are working correctly. They have ample available gas capacity and are not working with a shrunken tank, expected to go for long distances. In that case, the humans are healthy, rested, alert, primed for peak performance, and ready for unforeseen challenges.
With everything, there is a dark side; if your operator is burned out, depressed, anxious, or sleep deprived and the vehicle has a smaller gas capacity, you will not get as far. Specifically, your vehicle, your organization, and your team will overheat. And then you can kiss seeing your destination goodbye.
Know Thy Stress
Why aren’t we assisting others to take a good look at themselves when they are stressed? Perhaps we don’t notice it until a massive source of extraneous cognitive load results in heavy stress. Keep in mind not all stress is bad. There are various levels of pressure on the mental load and performance spectrum.
For example, hypostress is the type of stress that occurs when someone has been under chronic stress, leading to feelings akin to being bored or unchallenged. The next is eustress, which sits right outside the comfort zone and is the good stress that pushes us to higher levels.
But there’s a line where fatigue comes in, and if pushed too far, you are knocking on the doorstep of distress characterized as bad stress.
If this lousy stress goes unchecked, it can usher in exhaustion and poor health. This leads us to hyperstress, where the game gets dangerous. In addition, this high level of negative stress can weigh on the body and brain. On the biological side, you can see hormonal fluctuations, increased coronary artery plaques, and shortening of telomeres (shoestring tips on our chromosomes that help extend life or shorten depending on stress level).
Finally, reductions in gray matter lead to neuroanatomical challenges, including lower attention span, poorer decision making quality, and increased reactivity to stressors. In some businesses, we do annual reviews, identify our workhorses, and saddle them with more responsibility. Here, we need a H.E.A.T. check. Make helping everyone assess themselves a part of your culture.
System Change
If you change your systems, you will change your organization’s trajectory. Imagine the power of H.E.A.T. checks soothing your team’s unease like a wave. It can be as simple as checking in on your vital teammates or asking below the surface questions.
“Will taking the lead on the new project prevent you from showing up as you did in the past? Will it push you out of peak performance?”
Yeah, we get it. Joe loves high-stakes projects, but instead of giving them to him straight away, start by asking him if he would like to take on more. Or asking, “I know you’re doing all these new projects. How are you handling that?” Next, recognize what we are doing to our teammates, check in with them, and ask yourself what a teammate’s distress level says about your team.
If you are dealing with a larger team/group, your assessment requires more detail.
For example, a validated tool must be used to measure burnout. Written responses will undoubtedly provide the richest data. Here are a few additional questions to help teams assess themselves.
“What gives you the most meaning in work?”
“What are your primary stressors?”
“What do you think are reasonable suggestions to limit the impact of those stressors?”
If you are bold, you can enact Vegas rules: (a) Forgive hierarchical relationships. (b) What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Do whatever you have to do to build that trust.
Be that mirror.
If your team is feeling the crunch.
Stop letting your people burn out….instead, give them a Flerken H.E.A.T. check.
For the uninitiated, a Flerken is a comic book character dismissed by many early on but is actually an effective protector. Flerken also has access to a pocket dimension. Think of this pocket dimension as a space your organization/team can create to pull struggling employees into so they can find healing.
Resources
What is the primary purpose of implementing a H.E.A.T. Check in the workplace?
