Three things that make workers bored with their jobs

Human resources software company BambooHR has just released a new study on the happiness index of US employees in the first half of 2023 with 57,000 employees saying they feel more miserable than ever since the Covid-19 pandemic.

While BambooHR's research didn't collect causal data, Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at theNew York TimesHe thinks he knows why because he has spent years studying the office environment and the emotions it contains.

He believes that the following three things play a particularly important role in employee misery.

Emotional exhaustion

Grant popularized the term “languishing” a few years ago to describe the general feeling of lethargy and malaise that many people experience. “Languishing” is the feeling that you are not working hard enough, that you have no motivation, but you are not depressed because you still have hope, and you are not exhausted because you still have some energy.

The relentless wars, climate-related natural disasters, and social unrest of the past few years have left many people, including workers, feeling exhausted. It can lead to quiet quitting, where employees only meet the minimum requirements of their jobs.

Grant recommends that companies conduct periodic interviews to survey employees about their thoughts on the job and what they hope to achieve. This will help address the issue before the employee quits or leaves quietly.

Dealing with a toxic workplace

BambooHR research shows that burnout among workers is on the rise. Grant cites toxic work cultures as one of the main causes. To combat it, he recommends finding ways to reduce the most taxing parts of employees’ jobs; giving employees as much autonomy as possible; and creating a culture where people feel safe asking for help or admitting they’re struggling.

The quickest way to do that is for a leader to be open about their own struggles. “We have evidence going back decades that leaders who care about their employees end up being more engaged and doing better,” says Grant.

Disruption by AI

In the next few years, AI will change the way most people work. In the near future, employees may worry about being replaced by AI or simply feel intimidated by the thought of dealing with this new and powerful technology.

Grant said he has seen about a dozen studies showing that AI makes writers, programmers, and salespeople more productive, similar to the way search engines improved the performance of millions of salespeople years ago. He believes AI represents an unprecedented opportunity to free up human workloads, even moving toward a four-day workweek.

Still, many employees fear that implementing AI is just an excuse to add to their workload. Using AI to lighten their workload and show that leaders care about their employees is a much wiser choice for businesses.