August 24, 2022, Comment off

Helping Employees Who Are Burnt-Out

Burnout is caused by chronic stress that lasts a substantial time. It results in complete physical and emotional exhaustion.

A 2020 survey by Mental Health America showed that 75% of US workers experienced burnout at work. Forty percent said they began experiencing burnout during the coronavirus pandemic. Also, 37% cited working longer hours as a cause.

Burnt-out employees are unhappy, non-productive, and unfulfilled in their work. This means they typically do not perform their best and are likely to find new jobs.

Fortunately, you can recognize symptoms of employee burnout, address the causes, and help prevent the issue from recurring. This improves employee engagement, productivity, and retention.  

Discover some methods to help your employees overcome burnout.

Talk with Your Employees

Have private discussions with your employees who appear to be burnt-out. They may show emotional detachment through cynicism or disillusionment about their jobs.

Find out how your employees are feeling. They might express an inability to celebrate their achievements or feel a sense of belonging.

Acknowledge that any employee at any level can experience burnout. If you experienced the issue yourself, share your story. Finding common ground is an effective way to provide support.

Talk about what can be done to resolve the issues causing burnout. Do what you can to improve the situation.

For instance, you may offer training to develop the skills needed for advancement. Or, you might move your employee to a more fulfilling role within the organization.

Monitor Workloads

Having too much work to do may be why your employees are working long hours and feeling burnt-out. They need adequate time to recover from long work days. Otherwise, your employees’ lack of control over their working hours will decrease their level of emotional investment in their work.

If this is the case, consider reassigning some of your employees’ tasks to other team members. The more your team can share the workload, the better supported they will feel.

Provide Paid Time Off

Let your burnt-out employees take a reasonable amount of PTO. Encourage them to take the time to rest and fulfill their personal needs.

Assure your employees they will have their jobs when they return. Suggest they work on resolving any issues in their personal lives that may be contributing to burnout.

When your employees are ready to return to work, help ease the transition. This may involve a less-demanding schedule and back-to-work meetings to discuss any concerns.

Need Additional Advice?

Employee burnout is more common now than ever. It typically leads to decreased engagement, productivity, and retention. Talking with your employees, monitoring workloads, and providing PTO can help combat the issue.

Arlington Resources has experienced HR professionals ready to join your team and help your employees overcome burnout. Find out more today.

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