Stress levels have been rapidly rising over the past few years, making employee burnout increasingly common. The term describes an employee who’s feeling physically and emotionally exhausted – in an extreme sense.
Not only can this have health consequences for the burnt-out employee, but it doesn’t do employers any favors either. A lack of engagement, an increase in mistakes, and a big drop in productivity are usually the results when employee burnout takes hold.
It goes without saying that it would be beneficial for all sides if employee burnout didn’t occur in the first place, making prevention key. However, if it does, here are some effective strategies from Circle Hub that will help you overcome employee burnout and its associated problems.
Spotting the Signs of Employee Burnout
Employee burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a gradual process, slowly leading up to the point where it takes a serious toll on an employee’s physical and mental well-being. Identifying the early signs of burnout in an employee, before those snowball into a full-blown problem, makes it much easier to rectify the issue.
Here are a few red flags to keep an eye out for:
- Decreased productivity, with the employee’s performance taking a downturn.
- A lack of motivation. This can be seen in frequently arriving late for work, failing to meet deadlines, and skipping meetings.
- Increased stress and anxiety.
- Difficulty concentrating due to exhaustion and stress.
- Increased irritability. You may notice that the employee in question tries to blame others for their poor performance.
- Depersonalization, which is when the employee distances themselves from everyone else.
- Physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomach problems.
If you notice any of the above, it’s important to avoid knee-jerk reactions. Sure, an employee who’s performing poorly and has become increasingly irritable and snappy may initially seem like insubordination, but it could also be that they’re suffering from employee burnout and are unsure how to communicate that to you. If this behavior is out of character for the employee in question, the issue needs to be dealt with carefully so as to avoid making things worse.
Dealing With Employee Burnout
Once you’ve recognized the signs of burnout in one or more of your employees, what do you do next? Here are some effective strategies to try:
Flexible Work Schedules Can Make a Big Difference
Flexible schedules are a great way to tackle employee burnout. By giving employees some form of control over their work schedules and allowing them to decide when/where they work, engagement and mental health will quickly start to soar.
This flexibility will also make it much easier for your employees to establish a solid work-life balance. They’ll be able to align their work schedules to their personal lives, ensuring coherence all around.
Allow Employees to Work From Home When Possible
If you really want to go the extra mile when it comes to flexibility, giving employees the opportunity to work from home can really seal the deal in helping to keep employee burnout at bay. Statistics suggest that 95% of employees appreciate the opportunity to work remotely at times.
If this isn’t feasible for your business, you can make up for this by acknowledging the fact that employees will sometimes have commitments related to their home/personal life. Rather than frowning upon this, you want your employees to feel free to take that time off. This will prevent them from feeling like they’re being pulled in every direction, greatly minimizing their stress levels.
Promote the Importance of Fitness and Mindfulness
With the link between stress/anxiety and employee burnout being so strong, helping your employees to deal with/manage stress can go a long way in preventing that burnt-out feeling from taking over. One way to do this is by promoting the importance of fitness and mindfulness.
With that said, simply encouraging your employees to live a healthier life isn’t going to be enough. Take things further by treating them to fitness/meditation apps or footing the bill for wellness classes.
Alternatively, choose Circle Hub’s coworking space as your company’s base and your employees will have access to our on-site gym, as well as our yoga sessions.
Provide Incentives
While the opportunity to work remotely is one incentive that will help to keep many of your employees happy, there are other ways in which you can incentivize your team too. Monetary bonuses are an obvious one, but you need to be careful that this doesn’t add to their stress.
Lower-pressure incentives could include an office that’s stocked with free snacks or amenities that employees might enjoy, such as a gaming room. Again, run your business from Circle Hub and both you and your employees will be able to benefit from both!
Encourage Regular Breaks
Back in the day, breaks were frowned upon. Employers wanted their employees to make full use of their working hours rather than wasting time taking a break.
Thankfully, these days, things have changed. Now, the many benefits that regular breaks can provide, to both employer and employee, make this something to embrace. Research confirms that a break can help to lower stress, restore energy, replenish mental capacity, and decrease fatigue. All of this can really help to counter employee burnout.
Be Careful of Zoom Overload
In many ways, Zoom and other video conferencing programs have made working life easier and more convenient. However, it’s important not to forget that constant Zoom calls can be draining. They require a different sort of energy and focus – one that can be hard to sustain.
To prevent Zoom overload, which is a surefire way to bring on employee burnout, consider setting ‘no Zoom’ days. You could also look into streamlining your Zoom meetings to ensure that employee time isn’t being wasted.
Outsource When Needed
Every business will have deadlines that need to be met, along with times when the overall workload seems to increase dramatically. While you may want to divide the extra work between your existing employees, this could cause you to overload them. This would then lead to feelings of burnout.
Instead, when all hands on deck doesn’t seem to be cutting it, consider outsourcing the extra work. Find freelancers who can take on the additional burden. This will save your employees from all of that stress.
Encourage Communication
Poor communication is one of the reasons why employee burnout has become such a big problem. Many employees feel unable to properly communicate their initial feelings of discomfort with their employers. However, keeping things to themselves only accelerates the issue. Not only do the original issues remain unfixed but feelings of resentment come into play too.
This is why it’s so important for employees to feel comfortable communicating with their employers. Create an environment where employees are able to openly discuss their concerns without fear of retribution. Give your employees plenty of opportunities to share their feedback..and then listen to this. By doing so, you’ll be able to prevent many of the problems that lead to employee burnout in the first place.
Hold One-on-One Meetings
Of course, sometimes, simply encouraging open communication and starting a conversation might not be enough. If some of your employees are very introverted, they still may not feel comfortable discussing their issues with you in an open forum.
In this case, one-on-one meetings can be useful. Hold these regularly with each one of your employees, rather than singling certain people out. Keep things casual and relaxed, encouraging your employees to use these meetings as a chance to induce positive change in your workplace.
Lead by Example
Leading by example is a popular leadership style. It sees the leader acting in a certain way in order to influence their team to do the same. This is a technique that you should take advantage of if you want to prevent employee burnout.
How? Start by working realistic hours. Stop pulling those all-nighters as your employees will feel pressured to put in the same hours. Tend to your own well-being, showing your employees how to strike a healthy work-life balance. Utilizing various stress management techniques and encouraging your employees to do the same will also help to keep your team happy.
Recognize Hard Work
There’s nothing quite as discouraging as putting long hours into a project and producing quality results, only for this to be dismissed as unimportant. Sadly, this is what many employees have to deal with. It’s no surprise that they soon end up feeling burnt out! If their best efforts aren’t earning them recognition, what more can they do?
This is why it’s so important to praise hard work. Recognize when your employees have put in extra effort and make sure that this doesn’t go unrewarded.
Keep an Eye on Company Culture
It’s easy for workplace culture to slide. While you may have had good intentions at the start, things can quickly change without you realizing it. If you find yourself expecting an immediate response when you send a message to an employee, or expect them to check their emails late at night, this is a sign that it’s time to check your company culture.
Transparency is always the best way to establish workplace culture. Make these known to your employees and ensure that what you come up with is fair for all.
Host Fun Activities/Events
While hosting a fun activity for your team isn’t going to suddenly make a burnt-out employee feel ‘normal’ once again, it’s a great way to keep burnout at bay for everyone else.
Whether it’s once a week, fortnight, or month, arrange an event that your whole team will enjoy. From a spa day to a trivia game, there are so many options out there. They’ll promote team bonding, foster communication, reduce stress, and give you happier employees!
Summary
If one of your employees is struggling with burnout, it’s important to discuss this with them directly. Figure out the cause and, together, come up with steps to rectify this. It would also be worth implementing some of the above strategies. Not only will this make your burnt-out employee feel more valued, but it will also prevent other employees from taking this downturn too.
Need a change of scenery for your team? Click here to book a tour of Circle Hub’s coworking spaces. With our facilities and amenities, beating employee burnout will be easy!