Women’s reasons for burnout differ substantially from their male counterparts
Arlington, VA., April 19, 2022 – While similar numbers of women (59 percent) and men (56 percent) working for the federal government say they feel burnt out at work, their reasons are different, according to a new workforce survey from Eagle Hill Consulting. While men are more likely than women to cite workload as the primary source of their burnout (49 percent of men versus 39 percent of women), women point to a lack of communication, feedback, and support (44 percent of women versus 37 percent of men) as their top reasons.
These research findings are contained in, The Federal Employee Experience: How Agencies Can Meet the Needs of Women Workers Amidst the Great Reevaluation, available here. The findings are based upon The Eagle Hill Consulting Employee Experience Survey conducted by Greenwald Research that included 509 respondents from federal employees across the U.S. to measure their views on a range of employee experience areas.
“The Great Resignation is a tremendous challenge for federal agencies working on overdrive, and it will require a Great Re-Evaluation of the workplace culture to keep women in their jobs,” says Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. “This means federal leaders must understand at a deep level the issues facing women in their agencies, then devise a tailored employee experience that will keep women from walking out the door. In many cases, focusing on flexibility, culture, mentorships, and team relationships can help address the employee experience federal women are facing.”
Eagle Hill’s research finds that:
- Women are considerably more likely to cite a lack of connection to colleagues (31 percent of women versus 24 percent of men) and not feeling empowered (30 percent of women versus 20 percent of men) as contributing factors to burnout.
- Women consistently express more dissatisfaction than men as to how well their agency looks after their wellbeing at work. Only 30 percent of women (versus 41 percent of men) say their agency cares whether they have the right support to do their jobs well, and 25 percent of women (versus 36 percent of men) say their agency cares about their interactions and relationships with team members.
- While 62 percent of male employees believe their agency incorporates their perspectives in day-to-day decision making, only 53 percent of women agree.
- Federal women workers are more likely than men to say they do not have access to the training they need to do their jobs well (24 percent of women versus 17 of percent men); that they are not being mentored for success (56 percent of women versus 49 percent of men); and that they do not feel they belong (24 percent of women versus 16 percent of men).
- Considerably more female than male federal workers (53 percent of women versus 42 percent of men) say the federal government has placed a higher priority overall on improving the customer experience than employee experience.
- Overall, 68 percent of all respondents agree that teleworking has been a positive experience, with seven out of ten (71 percent) of women calling it positive.
Read here about ways leaders can strengthen the employee experience for women in the federal government.
Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy & Performance, Talent, and Change. The company’s expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, from financial services to healthcare to media & entertainment. Eagle Hill has offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Boston, MA and Seattle, WA. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.
Media Contact: Susan Nealon | 703.229.8600 | snealon@eaglehillconsulting.com | @WeAreEagleHill
