A recent study named the construction industry as the sector to most likely cause burnout<\/a> amongst its 3 million UK workers<\/a>. It tops the likes of healthcare, agriculture and education when it comes to burnout – the most common adverse reaction to job stress<\/a> that leaves us feeling physically unable to do our job.<\/p>\n According to data\u00a0from another report by HSE, over 400,000 days of work were lost<\/a>, in one year alone, due to poor mental health in the industry. The effects of burnout were first identified in 1974 and in 2019, it was recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as an \u2018occupational phenomenon\u2019. They defined it as, \u2018a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.\u2019<\/p>\n When considering \u2018construction burnout\u2019 as a phenomenon in 2022, it can\u2019t be done without also acknowledging how the pandemic further exacerbated it or how it created a new type of burnout.<\/p>\n When the country went into lockdown in March 2020, like with many other sectors, it had an impact on our staff, both site-based and office-based. Site staff had to acclimatise to new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and work socially distanced. Working on a construction site can be challenging enough during \u201cnormal\u201d times but with less staff on site due to Covid restrictions, this really had an impact. On a social level, site teams were also struggling with isolation, as visitors were not allowed \u2013 completely changing the day-to-day routine of working on a site. Further pressure came from external factors too, like delays to the supply chain, impacting the delivery of materials.<\/p>\n The introduction of working from home for office-based staff created an \u201calways on\u201d culture, taking away the usual daily routine. During the pandemic, there were extra commitments for all employees to juggle, for example, homeschooling or childcare. Site-staff of course couldn\u2019t be at home to contend with extra daily responsibilities like homeschooling, so this put more pressure on them. To manage these changes, we\u2019ve adapted to support site staff with more flexible ways of working.<\/p>\n The lockdown put the focus on work and when socialising started to come back as restrictions lifted, it created undue pressure to continue to produce the same level of work. For some, there was an inconsistent pattern between work life and home or social life, in and out of lockdowns meant the scale kept moving. This leans into the idea that a new type of burnout was created or \u2018pandemic fatigue\u2019, as coined by WHO.<\/p>\n The work life balance was impacted by Covid which put more pressure on feelings of burnout. There was no socialising with friends or looking forward to holidays and even now, booking a trip isn\u2019t exactly straightforward.<\/p>\n Managing change can be difficult too, regardless of the sector \u2013 the pandemic was an unknown entity that every individual and business was experiencing for the first time.<\/p>\n Prior to Covid, the sector experienced uncertainty around Brexit and the supply chain was heavily affected, creating a domino effect on the ability to procure supplies and materials due to a lack of drivers.<\/p>\n Regardless of these uncertainties and the extra pressure from Covid, the construction industry continued to be key to the wider economy throughout the pandemic. Build UK<\/a>\u2019s May 2020 Covid update reported that 86% of infrastructure and construction sites in England and Wales were open, an increase on 70% at the end of April 2020. At Seddon, our sites were only shutdown for 4-6 weeks during the first lockdown.<\/p>\n Managing change in general can be a lot to contend with and it can take its toll, whether there\u2019s changes in technology, working patterns, relationships, or the world. There\u2019s so much that has impacted people at Seddon, from employees to managers or leaders in the business.<\/p>\n In recent years, Seddon has developed several initiatives to address the \u201cmacho\u201d stereotype of working in construction and enact positive change. It\u2019s these stereotypes that put a negative spin on the industry, but the reality is that attitudes are changing.<\/p>\n At Seddon, managers attend resilience workshops which offer guidance on how to distinguish between pressure and stress, as well as developing good habits for general wellbeing.<\/p>\n Quarterly meetings are held with representatives from around the business to discuss how the company can further support employees and make Seddon a healthier and safer place to work.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s okay not to be okay\u2019 is used in all internal communications relating to wellbeing, ensuring that our staff know they are supported. Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is regularly highlighted within the business and to our supply chain, to encourage anyone to seek advice if they\u2019re struggling with workload. We also provide counselling support, occupational health referrals and a support services team.<\/p>\n In 2017, a Seddon painter and decorator, Jordan Bibby took his own life<\/a> – he was 25 years old. His passing had a huge impact on everyone at Seddon, with work colleagues shocked at the fact they hadn\u2019t seen the signs.<\/p>\n Following the loss of Jordan, we launched Jordan\u2019s Conversation<\/a> initiative with Mates in Mind<\/a>, a mental health charity with sector specific support for construction. Jordan\u2019s Conversation is a toolbox talk designed to raise awareness of mental health, further supported by an internal team of mental health first aiders, trained to recognise the signs when a colleague may need help. The tagline of \u2018start the conversation\u2019 was used in conjunction with Jordan\u2019s Conversation, encouraging our staff to talk to each other.<\/p>\n We wanted to create an open culture, where it\u2019s okay not to be okay and for our people to feel empowered to reach out when they need help. The emphasis on this kind of working culture certainly gave us a strong foundation when the pandemic started.<\/p>\n When the world went online to adapt to the new ways of working with lockdown, we set up Yammer for our internal communication to create an online community for different parts of the business. We made sure any changes or news were shared. It was also used to check in with people and in the first few months of the pandemic, senior team members would post on it on a weekly basis. It was very important to us to prevent our staff from filling in the blanks by themselves on what was going on in relation to Covid and the business.<\/p>\n Ultimately, communication is the key to supporting the wellbeing of workers, checking in with them like you would with a family member.<\/p>\n At Seddon, our family values underpin everything we do and align with every employee and team. It all comes down to knowing your people and building relationships with them, so you are part of a team and know how they tick. If you\u2019ve got a team with someone who is struggling, it\u2019s going to have a direct impact on that team and productivity.<\/p>\n Therefore, it\u2019s important for senior team and line managers to really know their people and for them to have the right tools to help if it\u2019s needed. The balance was missing during the pandemic, we couldn\u2019t touch base over a cup of tea or socialise, so Seddon celebrating its 125th<\/sup> year has come at the perfect time as we look to reconnect with teams, with events planned throughout the year and fundraising for The Christie.<\/p>\n If I had a conversation with my father about burnout, he\u2019d say if you know your people, you\u2019ll be alright. You\u2019ve got to know your people to know if they\u2019re okay or not. You could have two people in the same role with the same lifestyle but they\u2019re still different people and will react differently to circumstances and change. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to have conversations with people, acknowledging everyone as individuals.<\/p>\n At Seddon we believe people make places and work is a thing you do, not a place you go. If our staff are supported, that means productivity is supported too. Like with any business, staff retention is important to us, we want our people to enjoy work and progress in their career at Seddon.<\/p>\n Moving away from old stereotypes in construction can help attract the younger generation too. With more career choices and industries to go into, there\u2019s more competition. As a sector, we need to start interacting with young people and show them there are different ways of being flexible on sites which the pandemic has helped us towards. Flexible working today isn\u2019t just for office-based employees but there are ways to work more flexibly on construction sites. This is also an opportunity to overcome misconceptions about construction, highlighting the support systems available to employees.<\/p>\n As an industry we have a duty of care to offer mental health support and have the right tools and training in place, to help to change attitudes towards \u2018construction burnout\u2019.<\/p>\n As long as contractors have the right tools and training in place to help change attitudes and support colleagues\u2019 health and wellbeing, construction is sure to become increasingly attractive to the next generation of workers.<\/p>\n Construction contributes over \u00a3110bn\u00a0to the UK economy each year<\/a>, that\u2019s\u00a07% of GDP. Construction is already one of the largest contributing sectors and involves over 280,000 businesses that provide nearly 3 million jobs<\/a>. That\u2019s about 10% of total national employment. It\u2019s essential that we do everything we can to ensure this continues \u2013 and indeed grows.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the statistics and predictions for the future of the construction industry are so positive, providing us with a brilliant framework in which to operate.<\/p>\n Nicola Hodkinson, owner and director at Seddon,\u00a0shares her views on the concept of \u2018construction burnout\u2019, why it\u2019s important to understand and address it and how family values play a part in supporting mental wellbeing at Seddon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[676,882,432,923,934],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-104680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-health-safety-news","7":"tag-construction","8":"tag-employment","9":"tag-health-safety","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-wellbeing"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBurnout or pandemic fatigue?<\/h3>\n
Changing attitudes<\/h3>\n
Jordan\u2019s Conversation<\/h3>\n
Family values in business<\/h3>\n
People make places and profitability<\/h3>\n