Can AI Tools Prevent Burnout or Are They Making It Worse?

“Without healthy employees, you don’t have healthy customers. And without healthy customers, you don’t have a healthy bottom line.” — Kate Visconti, Founder and CEO, Five to Flow.

While artificial intelligence (AI) has hastened development and made enterprises more efficient, it also comes with more deadlines. The deadlines often merge into after-hours messaging. Burnout has become a default result of productivity, especially in the tech industry.

In this episode of the Tech Transformed podcast, Shubhangi Dua, Podcast Host, Producer and B2B Tech Journalist, speaks with Kate Visconti, Founder and CEO of Five to Flow, about the critical issues of burnout and disengagement in the workplace. They discuss the five core elements of change management, the financial implications of employee wellness, and strategies for enhancing productivity through flow optimisation.

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The Wellness Wave Diagnostic to Help Fix Profit Leaks

Visconti stresses the importance of creating a supportive work environment and implementing effective change management practices to improve organisational performance. The conversation also highlights the role of technology in productivity and the need for leaders to prioritise employee well-being to drive business success.

With an ambition to change the way organisations define true performance, VIsconti developed a system – a data-driven framework called The Wellness Wave. As per the official Five to Flow website, The Wellness Wave is “a proprietary diagnostic that measures sentiment and business performance across five core elements.”

Visconti sheds light on the original framework of the company. She says, “The original was adopted when we first kicked off as part of our consulting, and it's called the Wellness Wave diagnostic. It’s literally looking across the five core elements — people, culture, process, technology, and analytics.”

This framework helps companies identify and fix their profit leaks, which are the hidden financial losses caused by employee burnout, disengagement, and distraction.

In her conversation with Dua, host of the Tech Transformed podcast episode, Visconti shares how understanding human behaviour can lead to significant improvements in business performance.

According to Five to Flow’s global diagnostics, only 13 per cent of flow triggers work at their best. For tech leaders, that means most teams are functioning well below their potential.

Kate’s top tip is to create flow blocks. “It’s about designing uninterrupted time for peak focus. This is when your brain isn’t in a stress state. For me, it’s mornings with my coffee. For others, it might be in the afternoon. Communicate those times to your team and protect them like meetings.”

These flow blocks aren’t just productivity tricks; they show that focus is more important than frantic multitasking. “Multitasking is a fallacy,” Kate says. “You’re just rapidly switching tasks and burning through mental energy.”

This episode of the Tech Transformed podcast is a must-listen for CEOs, CIOs, and IT decision-makers who want to regain performance from burnout.

Tune in for a discussion that redefines productivity, from managing time to mastering flow.

Listen at em360tech.com/podcasts

Explore more at fivetoflow.com

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Takeaways

Burnout and disengagement are significant profit leaks for organisations.
Understanding the five core elements of change management is crucial for success.
Employee wellness directly impacts productivity and organisational performance.
Distraction management is a key area needing improvement in workplaces.
Creating flow blocks can enhance focus and productivity.
Multitasking is ineffective; task switching reduces overall efficiency.
Technology should be leveraged to support, not hinder, productivity.
The financial cost of burnout is staggering, reaching $8.9 trillion globally.
Quality of work is more important than quantity; focus on meaningful productivity.
Leaders must prioritise their own well-being to effectively support their teams.