Women are both more engaged and burned out at work than men

Women excel at a lot of things that men don’t…like having higher rates of burnout and engagement…

Women report higher rates of burnout, despite being more engaged at work than men, according to a recent report from Gallup. While 34% of women said they’re engaged at work, compared to 28% of men, 31% of women reported being “very often or always” burned out, versus 23% of men.

“Traditionally, we see higher levels of engagement are associated with lower levels of burnout…but there’s an interesting scenario going on here for women,” Kristin Barry, Gallup’s director of hiring analytics, told HR Brew.

Hey, girl, how are you engaging? Gallup measured 12 factors that contribute to employee engagement. Women tied with men in one, and outpaced them in the rest, including having a learning and development (L&D) advocate (33% vs. 26%), having a work best friend (21% vs. 16%), and knowing what’s expected of them at work (51% vs. 45%).

“Knowing what’s expected of them at work, doing what they do best every day, feeling that they have a purpose, that the mission of the organization really aligns with that…These are our really, really high drivers of [engagement,]” Mary Page James, a Gallup researcher, told HR Brew.

Gallup also found that working moms are more motivated than working dads: 25% of women with children reported feeling “extremely motivated” at work, compared to 19% of men with children. Seventeen percent of women and 15% of men without children said the same.

Women are burned out. Despite higher engagement and motivation, Barry said there’s “tension lying underneath the surface” leading to more burnout among women.

Women at all levels reported higher rates of burnout, with 35% of women in management roles saying they are “very often or always” burned out, compared to 28% of men; 30% of women individual contributors said the same, compared to 22% of men.

Working moms also felt the highest rates of burnout: 33% of women with children reported being “very often or always” burned out, compared to the 25% of men with children and 31% of women and 24% of men without children.

“We do see across industries, meaning both industries that are dominated by women…and other industries that are more dominated by men, that this same paradox emerges,” James said. “That’s really important, because it does raise flags that, ‘Hey, this is a warning sign, and it’s not siloed.’”

Why this matters to HR. People leaders and organizations should be aware of the simultaneously high rates of engagement and burnout among women, Barry said, because, even it’s not sustainable.

“There is some higher level of stress that they’re carrying,” she said. “While we’re not seeing that affect their engagement today, the warning signs are there to say there is a point at which this will not be retained, this level of engagement.”

Women’s career growth can sometimes stall due to caregiving demands, because some leaders think “they need to step back” or “they don’t want to grow,” Barry said. But the data is showing that women, and women with children, want to grow their careers more than anyone else.

This can be crucial for recruitment, retention, and succession planning, she added.

“An important sector of your workforce that’s highly engaged and committed potentially exiting because of the misinterpretation of their burnout and their needs as mothers or women with children is that big risk,” she said.