How To Prevent Employee Burnout In The Workplace
Overcoming burnout syndrome due to overwhelming work is very important if a company wants to make sure of their employees’ productivity. Burnout refers to the chronic fatigue experienced by employees. It is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. This occurs when employees feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to keep up with constant demands. This condition may cause exhaustion due to unmatching expectations and what truly happened in the field.
Burnout makes employees experience the following:
- Reduced productivity
- Drained in energy
- Feeling helpless
- Cynical
- Annoyed
In the end, burnout can affect productivity, absenteeism, and employees’ high turnover rate. It will certainly affect the company if they can’t do something to solve the problem. This is because when employees’ stress continues, their interest and motivation to perform certain roles also gradually disappear.
Here are the ultimate 6 ways companies can do to prevent burnout among employees.
Understand the burnout effects
Companies need to be more aware of the effect burnout has on employees as well as company performance. Burnout can affect employee productivity and performance which will eventually affect the company’s condition. A decrease in employee productivity can make a company not able to produce the high-quality work that clients need. High-turnover rates will definitely affect the company also because finding the right type of person to join and adjust themselves to the company culture is not easy.
The company should also hold a workshop, which aims to teach employees about what burnout is, its dangers, and how to manage it properly. Ensuring employees get the full extent of knowledge can help the company to educate employees on how to take care of themselves and thus prevent burnout. The workshops can act as a provision for employees to face burnout.
Avoid giving work on holidays
Burnout occurs when people are not given enough time to rest and focus on other aspects of life besides work. Many employees are still checking email or taking phone calls, instead of taking a break from work during the weekend or their holiday. The main reason they do this is because they live in constant worry that if they are away from work they will get into trouble because they can’t meet the manager’s expectations.
This is why it is so important for leaders to create an environment that makes their employees feel safe and secure even when they are taking a break from work. Allowing employees to have the rest they need, will help to ensure they can come back stronger with new positive energy and spirit. This will help to enhance their work quality even more.
Providing growth opportunities
Lack of opportunity to progress and develop is one of the main causes of burnout in the workplace. In a time of rapid technological advancement, helping employees acquire new skills can help them adapt to the current modernized world as well as help them to develop their advancement opportunities inside and outside the company.
Set clear goals
Setting clear goals with your employees will not only make sure your employees know what to expect, but you can also increase employee engagement. Having goals to work on, and being vocal to involve the employees in achieving the goals can help to prevent burnout among employees which is caused by uncertainty about goals and career paths.
Pay attention to employee health
A company should know that nowadays, healthiness that we should take care of is not only related to body condition. Mental health is also a priority that needs to be considered. Ensuring employees have access to get the support they need, be it for maintaining their physical or mental condition is important if you want to prevent employee burnout.
What the company can do in order to maintain employees’ physical health is by supplying free healthy lunches, providing personalized water bottles in bulk to ensure employees can maintain their hydration levels, and supporting employees with good health insurance. On the other hand, to help maintain employees’ mental health, employers can provide employees with meditation or yoga classes, or give them access to talk with a professional psychiatrist.
Paying attention to mental health and treating it on par with physical health definitely will help prevent employees from experiencing burnout.
Create an appreciative culture
Lack of support or appreciation from leaders is also a trigger for employee burnout. This can be remedied by simply saying “thank you” when employees’ do a good job. Research shows that companies with an appreciative culture produce better performance. When they feel recognized and appreciated, many employees feel more able to cope better with the demands they face from their boss.
