NaBloPoMo 2021
A buzzword these days is burnout
In professional circles often heard about
You are expected to over perform every day
Connected twenty-four- seven you are expected to stay
Strategies to combat burnout are supposed to include
Mandatory coaching sessions that intrude
On your personal time, that should ideally be spent
With family, doing things that bring fulfillment
To encourage employees to eat healthy and exercise
Programs to encourage “healthy competition” are devised
Prizes may be announced for losing most weight
Adding competition beyond work-related metrics to your plate
Well-meaning coaches in seminars try to encourage you
To take up a new hobby, develop an interest new
While you sit there, yawning, wondering yet again
What sense it could make to go through the pain
Of hearing what you know, on a free weekend
If you were not here, time on a hobby you could spend
**
If only the root cause of burnout could be
Addressed by the corporate world effectively!
The more advice and seminars that employees receive
The less control over their lives they perceive
The constant connection with work creates
A milieu for burnout, adding more stress to their plates
There is value in work and value in play
To be able to unplug from work at the end of the day
Not worrying about answering e-mails or fielding calls
Can make a huge difference, though it appears a change small
Leisure is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing
Expectations exist for work, there should be none for relaxing
Passion...unbridled 
Oh, do I remember all this so very well! The ‘healthy competitions’ always got to me. I balked when I was in charge of a program at work that gave cash awards to ‘winners.’ “People are only doing it for the money,” I said. “No, no. You don’t understand,” they said. At the end of the program, I forwarded corporate every single darn nastygram I received from employee participants who did not earn the cash reward they ‘knew’ they were going to get. Corporate was shocked. Big surprise…
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