Job burnout is a huge concern in many workplaces, corporate or not. Some signs include reduced work performance, a sense of detachment, and emotional exhaustion. Employees and organizations can be affected if one or a few employees are burned out.
The World Health Organization recognizes burnout as a result of unsuccessfully managed chronic workplace stress. Employers like you can help prevent employee burnout by identifying early signs and implementing strategies. Learn more about how to do them in this guide.
1. Spot the Early Signs of Burnout
Early detection can address burnout right away. Common early warning signs are increased impatience or irritability with other people, a decline in employee engagement, job dissatisfaction, physical complaints like fatigue, and difficulty concentrating on tasks.
Seeing these burnout indicators can allow you to intervene before it gets worse. You can also work with Adam Carrozza, the Managing Director of Allos Australia, to develop mental health strategies for the workplace.
2. Build a Positive Work Environment
Employees feel better when they work in a positive environment. You can encourage them to communicate anything they have in mind and give feedback whenever applicable.
Recognize and celebrate your employees’ achievements to motivate them to work harder. Be inclusive and respectful of every team member to make them feel supported and valued.
3. Promote Work-Life Balance
A healthy work-life balance lessens job stress. Consider the following steps:
- Implementing flexible work schedules: Let your employees work around the time they’re at their most productive as much as possible. They may also have errands to run in the early hours of the morning or midday, so making their schedules a little flexible can accommodate their personal needs.
- Encouraging paid time off (PTO): You can encourage employees to take some time off work to recharge and maintain their mental health. They can go on vacation or do something other than work to rest their minds for a while.
- Discouraging after-hours work communications: Don’t allow the culture of messaging employees about work-related matters when the work day ends. Employees should be off the hook for anything related to work to take care of their personal life matters.
- Promoting short breaks within the working day: Constant work is one of the many workplace stressors that wears everyone out. Give your employees short breaks within the company’s working hours to stretch their bodies, go for a short walk, or drink water.
Work-life balance can be a form of self-care for everyone in the workplace to help manage stress.
4. Clarify Job Roles and Responsibilities
Job responsibilities need to be as clear as day. Even a little confusion about what a position entails can be stressful.
Provide clear job descriptions for every role, set achievable goals and expectations for every employee, and offer regular feedback and support based on their job position.
A clear definition of what an employee should do in their job position can decrease burnout risk since they will most likely work within their job demands.
5. Provide Access to Mental Health Resources
As a leader, you need to support employee mental health. You can do it by:
- Offering Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): These free, confidential support services help employees face work-related and personal challenges with short-term counseling and crisis support from mental health professionals.
- Giving access to mental health counseling: This should be easily available to the employees, either on-site or virtually, through insurance coverage or partnerships with counseling services to overcome burnout.
- Providing stress management workshops: You can reduce burnout in your employees by giving them workshops to handle their daily job stress. Sessions include mindfulness, time management, and breathing exercises.
All of these activities can help employees feel supported as they face workplace burnout while working for the company and living their own lives.
6. Monitor Workloads to Reduce Employee Stress
Heavy workloads can burden employees and trigger their stress. Combat burnout and support your employees’ well-being by:
- Conduct regular reviews of the workloads of every employee and team.
- Delegate tasks when needed to distribute the workload among team members evenly.
- Promote teamwork within the organization to make every working day easy.
Keeping workloads realistic helps companies combat burnout and care for everyone’s physical health.
7. Give Career Advancement Opportunities
At some point, employees need to advance their careers to improve their lives. Employee turnover becomes more likely when you don’t offer any growth opportunities. That’s why you have to:
- Provide consistent mentorship and training programs
- Help employees set career goals and provide the means to achieve them
- Recognize and celebrate every employee’s progress
8. Lead by Example
If you keep practicing self-care and speak openly about your mental health, you’ll show that employees’ well-being matters the most. To prevent burnout among your team, you should set healthy boundaries, manage your stress, listen to your employees’ concerns, and share your experiences with self-care.
Final Words
Seeing early signs of burnout can help you foster a supportive environment for those struggling to get their productivity back on track. Addressing employee burnout requires a comprehensive approach to promote a more productive workplace.
It’s your job as a leader to lift the spirits of your employees when they feel burdened with heavy workloads and unrealistic expectations in their positions.
