A recent Reed LinkedIn poll of over 1,300 people asked: “How often are you feeling burned out at work?” Overall, 23% said that they felt burnt out every day, 33% indicated most days, 34% said occasionally and only 11% revealed they don’t feel burnt out at all. In total, 89% of people are feeling some sort of burnout – a very high figure.
Covid-19, a change in working patterns, too much work – all of these are factors that could be causing employees to feel this way.
Rebecca Harris, Health and Wellbeing Adviser at Reed Wellbeing, said:
Burnout at work is very real, and must be addressed by the employer to ensure staff remain happy and healthy at work.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describe it as ‘a syndrome’ resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
How to recognise your staff are feeling the burn
According to the NHS, burnout is “a feeling of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion.” A lot of the signs and signals of being pre-burned out are like those associated with depression. It is important at this stage that an employee seeks advice from a medical professional to ensure what they feel is burnout, which can be treated with lifestyle changes, and not depression, which is often treated with antidepressants and therapy, or a combination of both.
The symptoms of employee burnout include:
Fatigue/lack of energy
Feelings of negativity towards work
Increased mental distance from work
Reduced productivity
Rebecca adds:
You need to look at changes in behaviour, perhaps a member of your team is suddenly withdrawn in team meetings – not turning their camera on when they are remote, or perhaps they just look physically exhausted.
As a manager there are several signs you can look out for that may suggest a team member is struggling:
Employees saying they are overwhelmed
Not retaining information
Looking tired
Not volunteering for tasks
Becoming withdrawn
Irritable
Emotional
The approach
In the past, you may have not experienced team members who are burnt out, so what exactly should you do if an employee comes to you and says they are feeling burned out?
The answer here isn’t simple, yet you must thank them for being open and honest and ensure you demonstrate empathy.
Rebecca suggests:
When approached by an employee, it’s important you get to the root cause to make sure the issue is tackled appropriately and effectively.”
Once you have investigated how your employee is feeling and what is causing the stress, you need to look at how their workload can be adjusted to help alleviate the cause. Here you will need to explore practical solutions – can any deadlines be adjusted? Do you need to allocate work to another member of your team? Would you need to recruit someone in an interim role to help manage the workload? There are multiple options for you here.
We all know that at times, work can be hard and challenge us to our full potential but, where possible, a manager should lead by example and demonstrate behaviours that can help to prevent burnout e.g. encouraging the team to take regular breaks every day and only work extra hours as and when needed.
If you feel your employee needs more help than you can offer, it may be wise to signpost specialist support, such as a GP or occupational health – if your company has it.
And remember, as a manager it is not just your employees that need support in this area, it is vital that you also ensure you are looking after your own health and wellbeing.
Addressing the issue of burnout among your team members
When it comes to burnout, prevention is better than a cure. As previously mentioned, you should always take steps to understand the primary cause of your employees’ feelings.
Here are eight top tips for preventing the situation from arising in the first place:
Allow for regular breaks
Encourage your team members to have their cameras off during video calls to reduce eye fatigue
Promote a good work-life balance within your team
Create an environment of psychological safety where employees feel it is safe to talk about how they feel
Only contact employees during work hours
Promote wellbeing initiatives and allow for these to be accessed e.g. lunchtime running club, online exercise classes
Support employees to prioritise their workload so they feel less overwhelmed
Promote self-compassion and encourage employees to be kind to themselves and practice self-care
The importance of addressing the issue
If you fail to address employee burnout there can be detrimental effects which will not only have an impact on your team, but your company too.
Rebecca summarises:
Overall, looking out for your employees’ wellbeing and enabling a culture of psychological safety will counterbalance burnout. If you support your team and help employees feel that their health and wellbeing is valued, and that they are valued, you are already some of the way there.
Get in touch to discuss how we can support your health and wellbeing challenges.