7 Ways To Prevent Employee Burnout
30 May 2023
Burnout is common, as many people juggle their 9-5 tasks with other responsibilities, such as family activities. According to recent Canadian research, almost 1 in 3 employees reported burnout. Indeed, this has many adverse effects, including excessive stress, heart disease, insomnia, and fatigue. Have you noticed lower productivity in your staff, decreased job satisfaction, or increased conflict in the workplace? If yes, your employees may be experiencing burnout. Fortunately, you can prevent this with the right strategies. Here are a few you can consider.
Make well-being key in your culture
When your firm places a premium on wellness in its culture and provides services to help staff live healthier lives, they will likely give their best in their jobs. In such an environment, employees can support one another in leading healthy, fulfilling, and effective work lives. They can easily maintain an ideal work-life balance by putting in reasonable hours, using a flexible work environment, or taking advantage of vacation time.
Be open to employee feedback
As a business owner, you must ensure that your employees feel heard, so they can easily speak up when they feel burnt out. Unfortunately, daily workload and responsibilities can sometimes hinder this. Ensure you speak to your team when you notice signs of burnout to get to the bottom of them early enough. Paying close attention will help reduce the incidence of your staff breaking down at work and promptly responding so they can feel energized to do their work.
Offer realistic work hours
Burnout can occur when you do not enforce realistic work hours. Ensure your workers turn off when necessary, even if it’s only for a few minutes. This step may seem challenging when your work is immediately accessible on a mobile device, but you must designate particular work hours to help achieve a clear work-life balance. Encourage your staff to have specific hours within which they work, and be flexible about what employees can and cannot complete in a day. For instance, you can encourage your staff to take a day or two off after a tough assignment. This way, they can regroup and return to work with a clear mind.
Consider flexible scheduling
A key lesson the pandemic brought to the fore is that today’s employees prefer flexible work schedules. Flexible scheduling, commonly known as flexitime, allows staff to choose their schedules. Your workers can pick the hours that suit their professional and private demands. For instance, one employee may like to work between 7 am and 4 pm, but another may prefer to work between 9 am and 6 pm. Employees are less likely to burn out when they tailor their work schedule to their specific demands.
Bring in some fun
Employees who enjoy going to work are less likely to burn out than those who are unhappy. Why not create a pleasant working atmosphere for your team? Stocking the fridge with treats, hosting lunch-hour parties, and providing half-days off before holidays may enhance morale and reduce staff fatigue. Meanwhile, creative games like escape room can benefit your workers in several ways. From improving problem-solving to time management and reducing games, this game can be a fun way to help your staff unwind and encourage team building.
Consider individual passion
People are more inclined to work harder if they are enthusiastic about their job. It’s an excellent approach to developing new jobs or transferring competent people to areas in which they are more enthusiastic. It can be challenging as a manager to transfer your top employees around, especially if you believe they are best suited for a specific function. Allowing people to find jobs for which they are passionate is always a risk. However, this risk can sometimes pay off, as allowing your staff to pursue their passion fosters a creative atmosphere while decreasing the likelihood of employee burnout and low productivity.
Educate your employees on stress and burnout management
Prevention is always the best approach for burnout since many struggle to detect the signs and symptoms until it is too late. You could hold staff meetings to discuss burnout indicators. Consider saving this as a memo for your employees to easily access it. Urge your staff to report minor burnout indicators such as insomnia and stress to their supervisors. Managers can also coach others on productivity and time management while encouraging them to use tools like mindfulness apps to measure their mood and walk through guided meditation.
Although burnout may harm individuals and your business, you can avoid it by following the seven tips mentioned above. You can explore more ways to balance your employees’ lives and help them relieve stress.
Craig Silva
Craig is a husband, father, team leader, travel and food writer, senior youth group coordinator, designer, brander, community builder, volunteer, and social media strategist. He likes to travel, go camping, go on road trips, watch movies, build stuff, operate the grill, and sing with his band. Craig is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Association and Travel Media Association of Canada. If you are a PR agency or brand and would like Craig to review a travel destination, vehicle, restaurant, product or service, please send him an email.
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