Combat Boreout: Boost Employee Engagement
Learn how to address boreout, enhance team engagement, and build a purpose-driven workplace. Start creating a more dynamic culture now!
The following is an excerpt from our November 2024 issue of Hey Leader.
Hey Leader, crafted with thought & care by The Perk, is a monthly email series all with the intention to help you lead better. You belong here!
Hey, Leader —
I was talking with a friend about the jobs we had in high school & college. She was a restaurant server throughout most of those years & something she said got my attention: “Honestly, the job was hard when I was slammed & waiting on 10 tables at a time, but it was even harder when I only had one table.”
Wait. Did I just hear that right? Her work was the worst when she was bored? Rather than when she was too busy?
“Yep,” she said. “When you don’t have anything to do, it drives you a little nuts. And if I’m being honest, it was when I wasn’t busy that I made most of my mistakes. Coming back to the table with the wrong glass of wine. Accidentally forgetting to give the kitchen a tables’ food order until 10 minutes after they ordered.”
As she & I continued to chat, I thought about something we talk a lot about at The Perk:
Boreout.
That’s exactly what she had experienced.
Boreout is a HUGE issue in the working world—maybe not more than its evil twin, burnout—but certainly just as much. Where burnout is typically caused by overwork, the challenges of work-life balances & unclear expectations, boreout happens when we’re…you guessed it, bored.
Our work doesn’t have any meaning.
We don’t see our value.
You feel like you’re not growing.
Things at work just seem…meaningless.
Not good, right? And it gets worse, because people who realize they’re experiencing boreout might be reluctant to tell you, their leader. Think about it: Would you be readily willing to admit that you’re bored at work? Probably not. Saying that you’re not interested in or motivated by your role in an organization is still very taboo.
As usual, though, I’m always willing to try my hand at “un-tabooing” the taboo. 😉
You might not magically be able to get your employees to admit they’re suffering from boreout. What you CAN do is understand what might cause boreout. To help with that, we went out into the world & asked the questions: have you experienced boreout at work & if so, what was the cause of it?
Here are a few things we heard:
A not-so-great workplace culture.
When several of an organization's employees or team members feel the same level of boreout, it might reflect a broader cultural issue.
Not understanding the “why” behind the work.
When you don’t know how the work you’re doing fits into the mission & vision of your company, it’s hard to stay motivated.
Feeling stuck.
If you can’t see clear growth pathways or development opportunities, it can make you feel like you’re trapped. And with being trapped comes disillusionment.
Lack of opportunities for creativity & curiosity.
Boredom stifles innovation & without a sense of purpose or stimulation, the generation of new ideas doesn’t happen.
No feedback or check-ins:
The lack of regular, consistent communication & feedback means a lack of alignment & no forward momentum. (So don’t skip those 1-on-1’s, okay?)You get the idea.
Now that we know the causes of boreout, how can we as leaders proactively create an environment where there’s less of it? (I thought you’d never ask. Read on below for four strategies to consider!)
Here’s the thing: Just as you wouldn't ignore signs of burnout in your organization, you can't afford to overlook boreout, either. Both extremes are equally damaging to employee engagement, productivity & wellbeing. All the things that we as AMAZING leaders are trying to build up.
The good news? By staying attuned to the warning signs & implementing a few of the strategies below, you can create an environment where your team members feel consistently challenged, engaged & connected to their work.
Four Strategies For Proactively Combating Team Boreout
As Leah mentioned above, we had an incredible conversation about tips for communicating & collaborating in multigenerational workplaces at last month’s Culture Community, & we’re sharing a few of our favorites here.
Provide a “career playground” vs. a “career ladder.” It used to be that you’d start in an entry-level position & the goal was to move up the rungs: individual contributor, manager, senior leader, C-suite. Consider giving employees a career playground instead—a place where they can move laterally among the monkey bars, slip down the slide, swing up a level & then swing down to something else. Ladders are boring AF, because eventually, the ladder doesn’t have any more rungs to climb.
Create an “intrapreneurial” culture: Intrapreneurship is exactly what it sounds like— a system of leadership that allows an employee to act like an entrepreneur within a company & feel a sense of ownership. We did an entire Culture Community this year on this topic—head here to listen to the discussion! Emily also spoke at last month’s Wisconsin SHRM conference about intrapreneurship—read her recap blog post here.
Make sure your employees understand the vision & know their purpose. Often, we’re bored when we don’t know what we’re working towards. When you create a clear & compelling vision—& work with your team to help them understand what kind of work is rewarding & meaningful for them—there’s less of a chance to get bored. Our favorite tools for uncovering purpose are the Purpose Quadrants & Zone of Genius exercises.
Delegate more (& trust more, too!). Boreout, in its simplest form, occurs when we as leaders aren’t sure how to delegate, or we don’t trust our employees yet. Here are a few recent blog posts from us on how to get more comfortable with delegation & how to boost trust. Or, you can always throw a Trust Party!
As always, if you give these a try, let us know about it!
What's The Perk saying?
Our media selections this month focus on ways to engage & excite your employees to prevent boredom & boost fulfillment!
15 min activity
5 min read
17 min watch
What's our community saying?
We’re always soaking in the latest news & insights on culture, organizational development, & leadership. This month’s resources focus on building employees’ ownership & initiative, & aligning to a common, fulfilling vision.
9 min watch
Cy Wakeman| Reality-Based Leadership
18 min listen
Ken Fraire | Intrapreneur Podcast
5 min read
Katie Navarra| SHRM
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