The modern workplace is showing clear signs of distress: Employee burnout rates have soared 44% since February 2020, with burned-out employees three times more likely to be looking for a new job. Trends like the Great Detachment indicate a workforce that's increasingly disconnected and disengaged, sending urgent signals to employers that fundamental changes are needed to retain and attract talent.

Yet despite widespread recognition of these challenges, many organizations struggle to implement effective solutions. The landscape of workplace wellbeing has become a maze of competing theories and approaches, with enough myths and misconceptions to make even seasoned HR and people leaders' heads spin.

These persistent myths in the sustainable employee performance and wellbeing discussion are not simply benign. They are, at least partially, responsible for the current rates of employee burnout and mental health concerns.

It is important to draw awareness to these myths because they are often unconscious and implied aspects of workplace culture. We are not aware of what we are not aware of. By exposing these common myths about workplace wellbeing, we can begin to reshape our organizational culture with more informed perspectives.

Myth No. 1: Workplace flexibility can only be accomplished by instituting fewer working days.

We have found that many leaders are stuck in outdated ideas about how to implement flexibility in their workplaces. There is a persistent belief that the only way to accomplish this is through reducing working times like with a four-day workweek, for example. Although many companies have explored this type of flexibility, it is not the only way to approach this vital concept of flexibility and autonomy as significant human motivators.

Exos challenged and studied this concept through a combination of both, finding that adding flexibility and autonomy led to increased employee retention and reduced burnout. Through implementing “You Do You Days,” employees had flexibility on how they used that day, whether that be a complete detachment from work, or a heads-down day to get deep work done. The gift was in the autonomy and flexibility to choose, which as it turns out, are massive human motivators. So get creative with how you think and strategize about flexibility in the workplace. Even in “always-on” industries, such as restaurants, hospitality, and newsrooms, flexibility can look like staggering shifts to incorporate proper recovery time and ultimately boost performance.