Tips for Preventing Employee Burnout
Employee burnout is a common problem in today’s fast-paced world, but it doesn’t have to be.
What Is Employee Burnout?
According to The World Health Organization, employee burnout is a syndrome due to chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been managed successfully. A few signs of employee burnout include:
- Depletion or exhaustion
- Decreased professional efficacy
- Mental distance from their roles
- Negative feelings or cynicism regarding their jobs
What Causes Employee Burnout?
Employee burnout can happen due to a wide range of factors. Below are the most common causes of burnout in the workplace:
Unfair Treatment
According to studies, employees who strongly feel they’re often treated unfairly are 2.3 times more likely to experience burnout. Unfair treatment can take many forms, such as bias, favoritism, mistreatment by coworkers, or inconsistent compensation and corporate policies. When employees face unfair treatment, the psychological bond that makes work meaningful breaks, leading to decreased trust in managers, teammates, and executive leadership.
Unmanageable Workloads
Gallup states that employees who feel like they always have too much to do are 2.2 times more likely to experience burnout. It’s not just about the number of hours worked—it’s also about the workload. Even high-performing employees can go from feeling optimistic to hopeless when their performance goals become unmanageable. Whether it’s long hours, never-ending tasks, or work difficulty, feeling overworked can take a toll on your employees’ mental and physical well-being. Gallup’s research also revealed that working more than 50 hours per week significantly increases the risk of employee burnout.
Unclear Communication From Managers
When managers don’t provide employees with the necessary information, work becomes difficult and frustrating. Consistent performance expectations and accountability are key to avoiding frustration and burnout. When employees have a clear understanding of their expectations, they can focus on delivering their best work.
Lack of Manager Support
When employees feel supported by their managers, it acts as a psychological buffer, giving them peace of mind during challenging times. Supportive managers listen to their employees’ needs, encourage their growth, and cheer them on throughout their journey. By providing continuous support, managers can help their team members stay motivated and prepared for any obstacles that come their way.
How to Prevent Employee Burnout
Employee burnout doesn’t have to be a reality for your workforce.
We’ll cover the following strategies to help you prevent burnout and increase employee retention at your organization:
- Make Employee Well-Being Part of Your Workplace Culture
- Design Your Employee Experience to Reduce Burnout
- Listen to Work-Related Problems
- Consider Your Compensation Strategies
- Get a Pulse Check on Motivators and Satisfiers
- Encourage Teamwork
- Make Opinions Count
- Equip Your Leaders With Workplace Management Training
Make Employee Well-Being Part of Your Workplace Culture
Creating a workplace culture that prioritizes employee well-being is essential for preventing burnout and fostering a productive, meaningful work environment. When you make employee well-being a central part of your workplace culture, your workforce is more inclined to take better care of themselves. A few ways you can improve your organizational culture include enforcing reasonable work hours, embracing flexible work arrangements, and valuing vacation time. By collectively modeling healthy choices, your workplace becomes a space where everyone feels supported in maintaining their well-being.
It’s important to create a strong organizational culture that your employees and customers resonate with. Check out our blog here for more information about building a strong workplace culture.
Design the Employee Experience to Reduce Burnout
Focusing on the employee experience significantly reduces employee burnout. The employee experience covers all the interactions your team members have with your organization, from the application process to their exit. Whether you need to improve your application process or implement support systems for exiting employees, every stage of the life cycle provides an opportunity to enhance the employee experience. By improving the following stages of the employee life cycle, you can proactively prevent burnout at your company:
- Attract
- Hire
- Onboard
- Engage
- Perform
- Develop
- Depart
Listen to Work-Related Problems
Studies show that employees whose managers actively listen to their work-related problems are 62% less likely to experience burnout. Unfortunately, too few managers prioritize ongoing conversations and check-ins with their team. To show your employees that your organization genuinely cares about them and their well-being, your leadership team needs to invest in them through awareness, time, and attention. Managers should get to know their team members as individuals, celebrate their achievements, and have regular performance conversations.
Consider Your Compensation Strategies
Implementing effective compensation strategies is a game-changer when it comes to preventing burnout. You can ensure your employees feel valued by offering competitive salaries, benefits, and performance-based bonuses or incentives. When your workforce feels adequately rewarded for their efforts, it can be a powerful motivator that reduces the risk of employee burnout.
Get a Pulse Check on Motivators and Satisfiers
According to psychologist Frederick Herzberg, job satisfaction and dissatisfaction come from two different sources: satisfiers (hygiene) and motivators. Employee satisfiers includes salary, workspace, and company policies, while motivators are growth opportunities, recognition, and meaningful work. By prioritizing workplace satisfiers and motivators, you can create an environment where burnout is less likely to rear its ugly head.
How’s your company doing with satisfiers and motivators? Check out our blog here to learn how you can improve employee motivation and satisfaction with Herzberg’s motivation theory.
Encourage Teamwork
Coworkers often provide better emotional support than managers when it comes to dealing with stress at work. However, that doesn’t mean your supervisors should be sitting on the sidelines.
In fact, it’s the manager’s responsibility to create an environment where teamwork thrives, and everyone has someone to lean on. To prevent employee burnout, ensure your leadership team takes the initiative to foster a positive work environment by encouraging collaboration and support.
Make Opinions Count
When employees feel valued and know their input makes a difference, they’re less likely to feel burnt out and take ownership of their work. Exceptional managers encourage creativity and actively ask for their team’s input, allowing fresh ideas to flow and positively impact the business. By ensuring your supervisors give employees a sense of control over their work, they no longer feel like work is something that just happens to them.
Equip Your Leaders With Workplace Management Training
Investing in effective leadership training can make a huge difference in preventing employee burnout. By equipping managers with the necessary skills and knowledge they need to retain and develop team members, they can create a positive work environment that supports employee well-being. Leadership training also helps managers understand the warning signs of burnout and provides them with valuable tools to address it. From effective communication to stress management techniques, workplace management training empowers supervisors to be proactive in preventing burnout before it even starts.
Key Takeaways
Preventing employee burnout is crucial for a healthy, productive work environment, and as you’ve just learned, addressing it often starts with your leadership team.
At AAIM Employers’ Association, we’ve successfully developed more than 15,000 people annually with our workplace management training. Our courses are designed to focus on many factors that contribute to employee burnout, such as lack of communication, poor collaboration, and active listening. With our leadership development training sessions, you can provide your supervisors with the skills and knowledge they need to address burnout before it wreaks havoc on your organization. Contact us to schedule leadership training for your managers today.
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