Strategies to Combat Employee Burnout and Improve Morale

About the Series

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored longtime problems in higher education. For decades, campuses have perpetuated ideal worker norms—expecting faculty, staff, and administrators to work long hours, often at the expense of themselves and their families—which has led to burnout and low morale. These consequences have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to what has been called “The Great Resignation” and forcing an overdue conversation around burnout and low morale among faculty and staff.

This series, including one free webinar and subsequent focused workshop (two online sessions of two hours each), will teach you how to recognize that change is needed and give you tactics to help rejuvenate your staff.

 
Workshop

Combating Employee Burnout and Improving Morale

March 15 and March 29, 2022

12:00-2:00 p.m. ET

Registration for this workshop is now closed.

​During this workshop—consisting of two sessions of two hours each, held two weeks apart—Kevin R. McClure and Margaret W. Sallee facilitated a discussion around understanding the roots of and consequences for burnout. They guide participants in exploring ideas for creating workplace conditions that help workers flourish.

Session 1: Understanding the Roots and Impact of Burnout and Low Morale

Tuesday, March 15
12:00-2:00 p.m. ET

For decades, faculty and staff in higher education have expressed concerns over working conditions, and these frustrations have been further exacerbated by COVID-19. This session will explore the reasons why higher education workers feel burned out and demoralized, identify the signs of burnout and demoralization in both employees and teams, and explain the consequences for individuals of different identity groups as well as for organizations. Participants will reflect on their own experiences and connect with peers to better understand not only how we got here, but also how we can move forward.

Session 2: Taking Action to Create Sustainable Careers in Higher Education Tuesday, March 29th

Tuesday, March 29
12:00-2:00 p.m. ET

“What do we do about it?” This is the big question most people ask in conversations about burnout and low morale. This session will explore ideas for creating workplace conditions that enable workers to flourish. The facilitators will encourage participants to think about how to assess employee engagement and morale. Participants will have opportunities to design individual and organizational solutions to improve workplace culture in order to create sustainable careers for themselves and those around them.

​Facilitators​

Kevin R. McClure
Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington; Director of Communications at the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges
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Kevin R. McClure - Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington; Director of Communications at the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges -
Kevin R. McClure
Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington; Director of Communications at the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges
Margaret W. Sallee
Associate Professor of Higher Education, University at Buffalo
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Margaret W. Sallee - Associate Professor of Higher Education, University at Buffalo -
Margaret W. Sallee
Associate Professor of Higher Education, University at Buffalo
Webinar

Busting the Ideal Worker Myth to Address Burnout and Morale

Tuesday, February 15

In this free webinar, ​learn the origins and consequences of ideal worker norms. A faculty and senior administrator panel discussed how these issues play out on their campuses and offered suggestions for how you can begin to address these issues with your staff.

Recording

View the webinar recording on Vimeo​.

Speakers

 
 

Webinar Recording

Watch the February 15 webinar, "Busting the Ideal Worker Myth to Address Burnout and Morale."

Watch​​​



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