Business resilience and burnout: Is South Africa’s working class beyond gatvol?

With the number of domestic and external shocks that the South African market has had to endure, a greater demand has been placed on enterprises who have had to find alternative and innovative ways to keep business going.

As such, workers across board have been asked to go the extra mile in order to keep their employer’s operations running.

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Many of them have risen to the challenge and faced it head-on, winning the battles against the obstacles that presented themselves. But in doing so, they have found that is has taken a lot of them.

To add to this, these same employees have had to deal with a number of their own domestic challenges such as the rising cost of fuel, food and rolling blackouts.  

It is no surprise that Momentum Corporate research found that at least 30% of employees in businesses across the country have reported that they are not feeling engaged.

According to a report published by PwC South Africa in 2020, employee satisfaction in South Africa was found to be relatively low. The report found that only 50% of South African employees were satisfied with their jobs, with the remaining 50% feeling disengaged or actively disliking their jobs.

Strength to overcome

Momentum Corporate CEO, Dumo Mbethe advised that given this setup, it was important for business leaders to understand how current economic challenges impacted their employees and urged them to find ways to help them find the strength to overcome.

“People aren’t just part of your business – they are the very heart of it. Looking after them provides a solid foundation for your success,” he said.

Mbethe made it a point that leaders absolutely have to prioritise the human experience.

“Many businesses in many industries can find it too easy to be the smartest, or the most technologically advanced, but the one thing that connects us all is our humanity. As leaders we have to prioritise humanity, and always acknowledge and live by this core principle.”

He said that it was important to note that the mental toll the current climate was taking on people was shockingly real.

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Tebogo Mphafudi, Business Development Manager of Pension-Backed Home Loans at Momentum Corporate, noted from his observations that South Africans were collectively going through bad experiences.

“People are not coping. They are desperate and are clutching at anything that will help. It is no longer requests for assistance, but rather pleas for help,” he said.

Leadership

It is for this reason that Mbethe reckons that leadership in time of crisis is an important skill for entrepreneurs and managers to have.

“We have to know that we don’t have all the answers. There is no user manual for the challenges we face, but within and among us lie the answers – and that means tapping into the experiences of those around us,” he said.

Like many employee benefit schemes, he mentioned channels such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), which can be instrumental in aiding employees to overcome the obstacles that life presents to them.

Mbethe also advised leaders to be flexible. “Embrace certain hybrid work set-ups. Assist your employees to be able to work from home during blackouts,” he said, encouraging them to do what they can to make each other’s lives easier.

Mbethe warned that the risk of burnout was real – not just for employees, but for leaders as well. “The reality is that the adrenaline levels of the crises have gone, and now we have to centre people on a clear vision and strategy about where we want to see ourselves.

“We need to give people something to look forward to – a dream they can relate to and connect with,” he concluded.