Municipality Burnout Prevention Leader Training

Case Study:

Burnout Prevention Training for Municipal Leaders & Managers

Problem

Background

A municipality approached us about providing burnout prevention training for their directors and managers across 12 departments composed of 30 divisions. They required training for employees across diverse sectors, including paramedics, long-term care, social assistance, water and waste management, human resources, corporate division, and community strategic planning.

Approach

Consultation

We met with the Directors of Human Resources for a free consultation to learn about the challenges the municipality faced in light of post-pandemic realities. They wanted to support leaders with burnout prevention strategies and appropriate resources to prevent employee burnout within their divisions, programs and teams. We discussed key challenges, objectives and timelines.

Services

• Workshop

• Consulting

• Data Analysis & Reporting

Resources

• Burnout Assessment

• Survey

• Workbook & Resource Manual

• Leadership Development Exercises

Proposal

Having discussed several training options, they landed on a set of deliverables the Directors believed would provide the most significant support and resources. Next, we created an electronic proposal for review, explaining the process and deliverables.

Agreement

Based on the approved proposal, the Directors received an electronic Agreement designed to make the process simple to use and easy to complete.

Survey

Based on the information gleaned from the consultation, we set out to create a survey that workshop participants would complete six weeks in advance of the training. We crafted ten questions to gather information related to the challenges leaders and their teams faced, grounded in the municipality’s key objectives. Once the Directors approved the questions, we created the survey using sophisticated software, which provides an excellent, straightforward user experience. Each division leader received a link to the survey to complete within the week.

Data Analysis

We intentionally chose to keep the survey anonymous by not requiring leaders to share their names, so they felt 100% safe to answer questions openly and honestly. Upon receiving the completed surveys, we downloaded the entries and proceeded to analyze the data.

Data Report

We entered the data into a spreadsheet and colour-coded it based on emerging themes. We reported the findings, noting emergent themes and consequent recommendations. We met with the HR Directors for a short meeting to discuss results, identify gaps, and establish the final direction for the upcoming workshop training. The data gathered, examined and reported saved the municipality approximately $2000 in consulting fees.

Final Meeting

We met for a final meeting where the Directors shared their organizational structure and standard company verbiage to help us further understand the culture and workings of the municipality.

Solution

Workshop Promotion

Our goal is to make our clients’ lives easier. To that point, we provided the Directors with a clear title and description of the workshop to send to participating leaders along with all required information.

Burnout Assessment

Each leader also received a direct link to the Burnout Assessment, to be completed before the training. The assessment provided an inside look into leaders’ burnout risk and introduced them to concepts associated with the upcoming workshop.

Workbook

A custom-designed companion workbook and resource manual accompanied the workshop with space for personal reflection, learnings, questions, discussion topics, exercises, and complete resources.

Custom-Designed Workshop

We custom-designed a half-day workshop based upon the original objectives, data analysis and identified gaps to best equip the municipal division leaders. Principal targets included:

1. Understanding burnout by unpacking common myths and exploring the signs and symptoms of burnout.

2. Leadership strategies to improve productivity, prioritization and effectiveness to reduce workload-related burnout.

3. Wellness strategies to prevent employee burnout and promote both individual and organizational health.

Workshop Inclusions

• High-quality, engaging training,

• Breakout sessions designed for processing and concept implementation,

• Proprietary leadership resources for greater leader and team effectiveness,

• Professional Burnout Assessment, with rights to use among municipal teams,

• Participant workbook and resource manual.

Workshop Components

• Introduction to burnout.

• Stories to illustrate workplace burnout in an emotionally intelligent manner.

• An explanation of survey results.

• Why stress and burnout have been rampant in recent months among municipalities.

• Evidence-based definitions and key dimensions of burnout.

• Common myths and misconceptions of burnout.

• Three leadership exercises to increase productivity, prioritization, and effectiveness to address workload challenges. The accompanying workbook and resource manual contained each exercise leaders could use within their teams, programs and divisions for ongoing support.

• Wellness strategies for work-life balance.

• Process manual to equip leaders to use the Burnout Assessment with their teams, including how to create a psychologically safe environment, ask critical questions, and support stressed-out employees with available resources to prevent and overcome workplace burnout.

• Breakout sessions, individual processing time, debriefing, and Q&A periods were included throughout the workshop.

Follow Up

Workshop Feedback Survey

Each participating leader received a link to a short feedback survey to complete immediately after the workshop.

Debrief

We met with the Directors of Human Resources one week following the workshop to debrief the training. We reviewed results from the feedback survey and the Directors shared their feedback as well as observations from participating leaders. They felt the workshop addressed their objectives and filled gaps identified by leaders’ survey results.

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Organization With 250 Members Companies

Case Study:

Burnout Prevention for a Not-For-Profit Organization with 250 Member Companies

Problem

Background

This not-for-profit organization approached Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. regarding employee workplace burnout. The organization oversees over 250 satellite companies across Canada. Many of their leaders were experiencing burnout resulting in reduced productivity, increased leaves of absence and resignations.

Approach

Consultation

We met with the Executive Director during a free consultation to discuss the organization’s challenges, needs and desired outcomes. He wished to provide burnout prevention training during an annual conference with the following criterion:

Create a psychologically safe environment by opening the conversation about burnout with a high degree of emotional intelligence.

• Help leaders understand the potential causes of increased burnout among their members.

• Demystify what burnout is and how unmanaged chronic stress contributes to burnout.

• Explain factors that create burnout in the workplace.

• Clearly outline the stages of burnout so leaders can recognize their burnout risk.

• Provide wellness strategies to prevent and overcome workplace burnout.

• Facilitate discussion groups to process information and apply it to leaders’ lives.

Services

• Workshops

• Quarterly Training

• Employee Onboarding

• Consulting

• Executive Coaching

Resources

• Professional Assessments

• Workbook

• Interactive Exercises

• Proprietary Resources

Proposal

We created an electronic proposal for the Executive Director to review, explaining the process and deliverables.

Agreement

Next, we sent an Agreement based on the approved proposal in a simple electronic format.

Solution | Stage 1

Customized Workshop

We custom-designed a two-hour workshop based upon the organization’s goals, criteria (noted above) and desired results.

Workshop Inclusions

• High-quality, engaging training,

• Breakout sessions designed for processing and concept implementation,

• Professionally designed PowerPoint presentation,

• Proprietary Burnout Assessment, with rights to use ongoing across the organization.

Workshop Components

• An introduction to burnout.

• Why increased burnout rates have emerged among the organization’s leaders based on conversations with the Executive Director and current research.

• A personal story of burnout and recovery to model authenticity and create a psychologically safe environment.

• Common myths and misconceptions of burnout.

• Three components of stress, including circumstantial stressors, intrinsic responses to stressors, and perception of available resources.

• Evidence-based factors that create an environment for workplace burnout.

• The six stages of burnout, including key components and burnout symptoms associated with each stage.

• Wellness strategies related to challenges that typically arise within organizational leaders’ contexts.

• Facilitated small-group discussions to process the information and build greater community and collaboration among leaders.

Follow Up

Debrief

We met with the Executive Director two weeks after the workshop to debrief the workshop and evaluate critical outcomes. Due to the positive response to the conference training, we discussed options for continued support.

Solution | Stage 2

Quarterly Training

The Executive Director invited Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. to provide ongoing training modules on a quarterly basis during organizational meetings. Topics included:

• Implementing effective rest strategies for work-life balance and rejuvenation.

• Managing the stress of witnessing secondary trauma to prevent Compassion Fatigue.

• Wellness strategies to prevent languishing and cultivate flourishing.

Solution | Stage 3

Member Workshops

We provided individualized training to several member companies within the organization per their unique challenges. An overview of topics:

• Leader Care: Organizational factors that create a thriving culture vs. a burnout culture.

• Organizational Development: Equipping leaders to connect the organization’s mission, vision and values to employees’ role descriptions and strategic objectives.

• Stress Management: Developing an effective self-care routine and healthy work-life balance to contribute toward employee health.

Solution | Stage 4

Employee Onboarding Training

The Executive Director requested we create a custom-designed workshop for onboarding new employees with the following components:

• Strategies to overcome specific challenges faced by leaders within their organizational contexts.

• Healthy management strategies for round-the-clock on-call duties.

• Stress management exercises to deal with stressful workplace scenarios.

• Support systems to prevent workplace stress and reduce burnout.

Solution | Stage 5

Executive Coaching & Consulting

We continued working with individual leaders to address burnout and organizational culture challenges through one-on-one executive coaching and consulting.

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Corporate Client Facing Employee Burnout

Case Study:

Corporate Client Facing Employee Burnout

Problem

Background

This corporate client came to us with employee burnout challenges. The organization has a large international presence with satellite companies spanning the globe.  Their main leadership team spans across North America.

Consequences

Due to challenges resulting from the pandemic, the executive team expected their leaders were experiencing increased levels of stress and potentially heading toward burnout. These challenges were evidenced in decreased productivity, conflict, and overall weariness.

Services

• Workshop

• Consulting

• Executive Coaching

• Data Analysis

Resources

• Burnout Assessment

• Survey

• Workbook

• Interactive Exercises

• Data reporting

Approach

Consultation

We met for a free initial consultation to discuss the needs of the organization and the main challenges they were facing. Next, we set up two meetings with an executive-level leader to consult further on the problems both their executive and leadership teams were facing.

Survey

We created a survey to gather information from the collective members of the executive team and leadership team. The survey was created electronically, and executive-level leaders sent the link to each of their team members. 

Team members filled out the survey knowing that only we at Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. would be able to see their names and answers. We set it up to be anonymous, such that the organization would not see names attached to survey results. That way, team members could fill out the survey with complete confidence that their information only went to us. This ensured team members felt psychologically safe to share their real problems, allowing us to get to the root of the problem.

Data Analysis

We correlated the information to find common themes and concerns upper management was not aware of. Next, we met with the executive-level leader to go over thematic findings. We proposed we create a virtual workshop based on the original challenges presented as well as the results of the survey. We discussed company culture and specific ways to engage with their team based on team dynamics.

Proposal

We created a proposal and sent it to the executive-level leader. It was approved immediately. We sent an Agreement, which was signed off on immediately, and we went to work.

Solution

Custom-Designed Workshop

We created a custom-designed workshop based upon three major goals. 

1. The signs and symptoms of burnout.

2. Stress management strategies.

3. Company culture systems transformation.

The workshop included:

• High-level, engaging training,

• Breakout sessions specifically designed with well-crafted questions,

• Interactive experiential learning exercises.

Assessment

A Burnout Assessment was provided and completed by all team members prior to the workshop so they had a good sense of were experiencing personal wellness and potential warning signs of burnout.

Workbook

A custom-designed companion workbook accompanied the workshop with space for personal reflection, learnings, questions, discussion topics, exercise instructions, and take-home stress management technique handouts.

Executive Coaching

The organization added an Executive Coaching package to their corporate package solution. We set it up so that team members could access burnout prevention coaching anonymously. This approach overcame one of the greatest challenges organizations face. Employees often do not access their company’s workplace wellness program due to fear of their employer knowing they accessed help or due to unfortunate stigmas. This created more trust and accessibility for team members to receive the help they need.

Follow Up

Debrief

After the workshop, we met with the executive-level leader to debrief the workshop and discuss how we may work together in the future.

Goals Achieved

They were extremely pleased with the results of the workshop including: 

1. Understanding the root of the problems they face,

2. Creating healthy dialogue among the executive and leadership teams

3. Solving one of their main issues through an interactive exercise,

4. Cultivating a healthy company culture through the workshop training,

5. Generating greater understanding, empathy, and emotionally intelligent conversations around burnout prevention and employee wellness.

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