And one in three (32 per cent) Canadian workers believe burnout in their household (themselves or their family) will affect their ability to do their job effectively this year, according to a new survey by Sage, a cloud business management solutions company.
The report, 2021 Forward Together, is made up of survey results from 1,569 Canadian workers and 775 business decision-makers in organizations with 50 to 499 employees, conducted in March.
Concerns over employees’ well-being
When planning for post-pandemic recovery, business leaders are placing much emphasis on their employees, primarily their mental health and safety. However, the level of action taken varies.
- 47 per cent of business leaders are concerned about employee burnout. However, of those concerned, 68 per cent have not taken action to address this issue.
- 43 per cent are concerned about employees feeling safe to return to the workplace and of those concerned, half (51 per cent) have already taken action to address the issue.
In addition, vaccine rollout is another major factor determining businesses’ outlook and business leaders and workers share similar opinions on vaccines.
- A majority (86 per cent) of business leaders believe keeping vaccine rollout on or ahead of schedule will contribute to their success in 2021.
- Half of business leaders (55 per cent) and workers (51 per cent) believe receiving a COVID-19 vaccine should be mandatory before employees return to the workplace, compared to 24 per cent of business leaders and 32 per cent of workers who believe that should not be the case.
“The past year has been a difficult time for many businesses across Canada to navigate, but we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” said Nancy Tichbon, managing director at Sage Canada.
“While there are some external factors outside of our control, business leaders should be focused on planning and prioritizing employee well-being, investing in training and skills development, hiring new staff and adopting the latest technologies to enable employees to work smarter, not harder.”
