In our always-on work culture, it’s becoming increasingly more likely employees will burn out. Staff burnout will cause problems not only for the individual but also for your business, including lower productivity and increased absence.
There are many symptoms to look out for if you suspect an employee may be experiencing burnout, such as:
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help reduce the chances of your employees facing burnout. Here are four things you can do to avoid staff burnout:
For a number of reasons, employees can feel guilty or unable to use up their whole allotted annual leave time. So encourage them to book it and not leave it till the end of the year.
Make sure you stay on top of annual leave trends so you can spot when someone is allowing theirs to build up. Be purposeful in creating a culture where taking a break is actively encouraged. And lead by example! Make sure you’re using up all your annual leave also.
Make sure that staff are not able to be contacted while on holiday encouraging them to switch off completely.
I hate to say it, but this needs to start with you! If your staff see you, as their leader, working all hours of the day and always switched on then they’re going to think you expect the same from them. This can very quickly lead to burnout. As your employees spend too much time on work and not enough time on life, the balance is tipped which can lead to unhealthy results. So make sure that a healthy work/life balance is lived out across the company..
Offering flexible working hours, that include working from home when needed, can eliminate a lot of the daily workplace stressors your employees face. Forcing your staff to battle with rush hour wearing a suit and tie when they could just as effectively produce the same results from the comfort of their own home, wearing their pyjamas can have detrimental effects on their mental well being.
Regular breaks and a decent lunch hour will also go a long way to avoiding staff burnout.
Giving your team space to flex their creativity muscles will be incredibly beneficial to their productively and will help reduce stress. It gives the brain opportunity to be free to go wherever that staff member’s passions are, which is an excellent stress relief.
Set time into the working week for each employee to work on a more creative project, this could be something related to their work or not. This will keep them motivated and engaged with their work.
If your employees are engaged with their work, they will be a lot less likely to burn out. One of the best ways to increase engagement is to give recognition and praise for the good work they’ve done. If this is encouraged across your organisation, then you will start to see peer-to-peer praise which is great for morale.
By giving your employees regular, constructive feedback, you can motivate them to keep striving to do good work. It’s also stimulating to let your employees know exactly what they need to do in order to reach the next target. Which keeps them engaged in their role.
Feedback, both negative and positive, confirms to the employee that what they are doing matters. It is important for them to know their contribution is valued, not just by their direct manager but that it plays a part in the wider success of the business.
Working with the impression that what you’re doing isn’t worthwhile or valuable will be a big driving in causing employees to burn out. So it’s important to feedback regularly and give praise to avoid your employees burning out.
Avoiding employee burnout is crucial to the success of a business. As a manager of people, it’s important to recognise the strong connection between work and life’s pressures and the impact it can have on health. With an always on culture we are prone to burnout now more than ever. Make sure you’re doing all you can to avoid employee burnout by implementing the above tips and maintain a happy, healthy team.