Feeling the Burnout: How to Keep Your IT Staff Mentally Fresh
Envision IT Pressroom | July 1, 2022
Envision IT Pressroom
July 1, 2022
With the variety of malware, ransomware, and other cyberattacks coming at us left and right, the risk of information technology staff burnout is rising by the day. The more stress they are under to protect the business from a devastating disruption or financial loss, the less time they have to help their employer with strategic imperatives.
In the view of Bill Crahen, Chief Stakeholder Architect for Envision IT, it’s the classic lose-lose scenario. “The latest statistic is that over 77% of IT staff report being highly stressed (https://www.citrix.com/fieldwork/digital-wellness/remote-it-workers.html), on the verge of burnout, or actually burned out,” Crahen states. “With small-to-medium sized organizations that have small IT staffs of one, two, or three people, they are expected to be experts in everything, which is tough to do. With cyber security, there are specialized skill sets that are hard to pick up.”
Fortunately, not all of the burden must fall on IT personnel. Here are a couple of tips that businesses can follow to ensure their IT staff is mentally strong and focused on important strategic initiatives:
Tip 1: Manage the load with a valued technology partner. The term co-management is applied to addressing stress on overworked employees, and one effective remedy is partnering with a topnotch managed service provider wherever that makes sense. Rather than overload your IT staff (applies to small and larger IT teams) with tasks associated with keeping the lights on (patching, upgrades, and maintenance), partner with a trusted IT vendor for these tasks and free your staff’s time to focus on technology’s role in driving business performance. Their work will be much more fulfilling, and it will give them an opportunity to step away and take a needed break.
Tip 2: Find a multifaceted partner. If you’re like most companies, your IT staff was at or near capacity even before the COVID-19 pandemic, so it’s important to partner with a managed service provider that is not a one-trick pony. This essential business partner should not only be able to handle the day-to-day technology operations, but it should also offer security expertise, training, and testing as well.
Remote Possibilities
All of this technology support can be provided remotely, Crahen notes, although there are times when the necessary people support should be provided in person. “There might be a physical challenge with some piece of equipment, or a person-to-person support arrangement is needed,” he says, “but otherwise, all of the day-to-day operations and security components now can be done remotely.”
As seen in InBusiness Magazine July 2022
