Understanding Brown-Out to Help Individuals Better Prevent It and Better Cope With It.

Giving meaning is one of the essential keys.

Some signs are not deceiving: the spectacular increase in the demand for skills assessments, the growing number of professional retraining, and the cascade of resignations in certain sectors … These signs of the times testify to the desire of workers to find meaning in what they do.

This desire is certainly not new, but the health crisis has given it a broader perspective.

The climate of the uncertainty of the last two years, the successive confinements, as well as the sudden and massive experience of telecommuting, have led each and everyone to a form of professional introspection, to “take stock”. Because the search for meaning is everywhere, the loss of meaning has come out.

We put words to our ailments and we allow ourselves to talk about emotions, doubts, and confusion: understanding brown-out, in a world of work where meaning is no longer secondary, i.e. subordinate to salary or status, is essential for organizations that want to promote the well-being of their employees.

The expression “brown-out” refers to a drop in current in an electrical circuit: a drop in voltage that manifests itself in the form of a mental resignation on the part of the employee, who no longer understands his role in the company, the usefulness of his function, or even of his job. He continues to perform his task, but without enthusiasm, without motivation, mechanically, and until the break, if nothing is done.

The need to prevent a syndrome that goes often undetected

The problem is that brown-out is insidious and difficult to identify, both for those who suffer from it and for organizations. This is why we need to look at both the mechanisms that lead to it and the means of supporting employees who are losing their sense of purpose. Here again, there are warning signs (withdrawal, gloomy mood, cynicism, casualness, disengagement, etc.) and tools to be put in place to take the pulse of one's teams daily and to encourage them to speak out without fear of judgment.

Communication and reflection around the right interlocutor (manager, HR staff, union member, psychologist) are crucial: we cannot get out of the brown-out spiral without a helping hand and an attentive ear.

The question of meaning is in itself very difficult to grasp. An employee who no longer perceives his or her value, or that of his or her work, either because he or she does not receive any recognition for it, or because the task itself seems to him or her to be devoid of interest or usefulness for the company, needs time and distance. Either they manage to reduce the dissonance between their sense of self-worth and the value they place on their work, and re-engage, or the dissonance is too great and it is better to leave.

Of course, leaving one's job is easier said than done: but when one can, this great leap into the void is salutary in that it forces one to reconsider one's path and place, one's needs and desires. It is a time for a change, a time for a professional second wind where self-fulfillment is the first criterion, in another job, another company, or even by creating one's own.

It's about going towards yourself and what you want, to question your reason for being. As Mark Twain said:

“The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you understand why.”

Is it a loss of meaning or lack of direction that induces brown-out?

Finally, the loss of meaning sometimes results from the inability of the employee to understand the overall purpose in which he or she is participating. Their job doesn't make sense because they haven't bothered to explain how it builds value and why it is important.

Many employees are too much into operations and not enough into strategy: they are given an ambition without specifying how they are an essential link in the chain that allows them to reach it. In this post-covid world (let's hope it's finally here!), where everyone has reviewed their priorities and where there is no longer any question of “wasting one's life to earn it,” companies can no longer do without a clear vision and raison d'être, irrigating each of their strata and leaving no one on the side of the road, without direction.

You never have the right wind when you don't know where you're headed.