Learn how remaining positive can help fend off burnout and dial in employee retention for your practice.

It’s not about wearing rose-colored glasses or smiling 24/7. According to the Mayo Clinic, positive thinking will, however, help you live longer…12% to 15% longer, to be exact.

One psychotherapy technique for staying positive is to practice what’s called a half smile for several minutes each day. That may be stretching it, if you’ll pardon the pun, but taking a positive attitude and encouraging others to do so really can make a difference in the workplace. And, when stress is the order of the day, it helps avoid burnout, a condition that can carry over from job to job and can spill into everyday life as well.

Burnout and the need to address it has become so critical that in 2019, the World Health Organization declared burnout an “occupational phenomenon” in the 11th revision of its International Classification of Diseases. Its definition? Burnout is “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

Attitude Adjustment

Sometimes the solution is as simple as giving yourself an attitude adjustment. To help on this front, Harvard Business Review has come up with several suggestions, including reframing situations, setting goals, carving out time (often at bedtime) to focus on good aspects of the day, and seeking out and developing positive relationships.

Eagle Hill Consulting just released its research findings on employee burnout. According to the Arlington, VA-based company, nearly 50% of U.S. employees have reported burnout at one time or another. The company’s 2023 research results found that almost half of women surveyed (48% versus 41% of men) are feeling the heat. As for age, young staffers top those charts, with 58% of millennials versus only 32% of baby boomers reporting burnout.

What are the causes? According to Eagle Hill, the top five are workload (51%), staff shortages (45%), work/life balance (43%), lack of communication/support (38%), and time pressure (34%).

Employee Preferences

When Eagle Hill asked for preferred solutions to this stress, survey participants’ top suggestions were:

1. More flexibility on hours/days, home/office
2. A shorter workweek
3. Decreased workload
4. Better health/wellness benefits
5. Less admin responsibility

There’s no question that burnout can occur when the job isn’t taking the employee down the career path he or she wants.

Retention is a challenge for most practices, especially larger ones. According to The Vision Council, “Practices with multiple locations are twice as likely to have a difficult time retaining staff.”

That’s why addressing issues that cause ECPs to look elsewhere is such a priority with many multilocation employers. Warby Parker’s Pratil Lal, O.D., senior director, medical + professional affairs, says offering development opportunities is key to the company’s approach to retaining optometrists. “Examples include special projects across other internal teams, testing new equipment, and taking part in annual O.D. team gatherings,” shares Dr. Lal.

It all starts with having the right attitude toward employees.

Tom Bowen, founder and CEO of Thrive Practice and Life Development, based in Roca, NE, explains, “We’ve long known people want to work where they feel appreciated and are treated accordingly. The difference in the current new normal is that people have moved from this being a preference to this being a mandate.” Bowen, a 40-year optical consulting veteran, adds, “It’s incumbent on our practices to…root our entire team culture in this kind of thinking.”

The High Cost

If issues aren’t addressed, Gallup points to how it will affect everything, including the bottom line. “Poor well-being affects your organization’s bottom line through lower productivity, higher turnover, higher absenteeism, and higher medical costs (due to preventable conditions),” reports Gallup. “It can also cost organizations 15% to 20% of total payroll in voluntary turnover costs.”

That’s a tremendously high price to pay for something that can be remedied.