HPDI: Only 22 per cent of companies in Romania invests in burnout management trainings

HPDI (Human Performance Development International) estimates that approximately 22% of large companies in Romania allocate budgets to finance burnout syndrome management programs, which has outstripped stress among the most common employee disorders, according to human resources specialists. Burnout syndrome, or professional exhaustion, is a difficulty currently faced by about 8% of Romanian employees, but the percentage of people who are on the threshold of burnout is around 25%, according to HPDI estimates.

“Burnout has become an increasingly common affliction among Romanians and has been a major concern at international level for many years. The productivity of an employee with burnout syndrome drops by over 80%, and even though the concern has increased, companies are not aware exactly how dangerous this condition is. The border between slight overload and mental and physical exhaustion can be easily crossed! Among the areas that most people bring to the burnout area are the banking industry and production, where there is great pressure on reaching figures and on the continuous evolution. In general, the most demanding periods for an organization are the ones for economic growth, so with the more consistent economic development of Romania, the burnout management programs have started,” said Petru Păcuraru, founder of HPDI.

From the point of view of age distribution, the most exposed are the people of generation Y (25-34 years), the millennials, who impose a very alert rhythm, considering that their life only makes sense if they are busy, but also the generation X ( 35 – 49 years), where over-liability occurs, with the emergence of children, rates and various health problems. Executive functions that report internationally, as well as middle management, are most affected by pressure and stress.

The feeling of chronic fatigue, or burnout, manifests itself through emotional, physical and mental exhaustion and has as symptoms the health problems, the cognitive difficulties, the deletion of the boundaries between professional and personal life, the negativity, the loss of motivation, the lack of self-control.

“It is best for the organization not to reach the burnout area of the employees, and this can be achieved through a correct management provided by the company leaders, healthy relationships between the employees, as well as the courage to address the inherent problems. However, when dealing with prolonged stress situations and when burnout occurs, it is necessary to invest in specialized training. HPDI’s first such program, Stress Fighters, was implemented in 2014, and in May 2019 we relaunched its improved version. We address all those who are constantly exposed to stressful situations, who feel that every day is a bad one and that whatever they do, they fail to make sense of the repetitive actions they perform daily. In 2019, we had over 500 trainees in burnout prevention training and at the moment we estimate that in 2020 the situation will be similar,” added Petru Păcuraru.

The Burnout Syndrome Prevention and Management Program, launched by HPDI in 2019, provides participants with the tools they need to be able to perform their daily activities without reaching the burnout stage, removing stressful situations in their lives, or managing and exiting Burnout status, if it has already been installed. The objectives of this training are to understand the concepts of stress and burnout, to differentiate the stress factors that can be controlled by the employee against those who do not depend on it, to acquire the techniques of prevention of burnout, to self-evaluate the stress level and to build a plan for reducing stress and avoiding burnout.

“For an employer it is important to identify the times when the organization is under greater pressure than normal and to use periodic trainings to help raise awareness and find tools to get out of the overload area. Increasing the level of stress, which leads to burnout, is one of the main reasons for giving up a job, “concluded the founder of HPDI.

According to the estimates of the company, at the local market level the costs for this type of training vary between 1000 and 5000 euros per day, depending on the number of participants, speakers or the applied methods.

HPDI is currently conducting burnout prevention and management training in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Timișoara and Arad, and clients mainly come from the fields of banking, IT, production and trade. The sessions are held for groups ranging from 6 to 30 participants.

More information about this program can be found at https://www.hpdi.ro/burn-your-stress-out