Employees are the backbone of businesses and leaders must know how to reduce workplace burnout in order to keep that backbone strong.

 

With National Employee Appreciation Day around the corner, business leaders should ask themselves, ‘how can we best celebrate our employees?’

 

Within an organization, the leader is a critical player in assessing and addressing employee burnout. Workload balance naturally varies throughout the ebb and flow of projects, business cycles and changes in team staffing levels.

But, when heavy workloads are sustained over a significant period of time, or other factors impact an employee’s engagement and satisfaction with their work, burnout can quickly develop and take a toll if not addressed by the manager.

 

Burnout can result in lower productivity and engagement as well as higher absenteeism and, eventually, higher turnover.

Addressing these issues are paramount to employee happiness and overall organizational well-being, particularly in fast-paced careers like adjusting.

 

 

Here are a few guiding principles that will help you identify burnout early and avoid any issues before they begin:

 

Prioritize mental health.

Discussing mental health in the workplace provides a safe space for employees to feel connected to their work and supervisors.

Leaders can gain a deeper insight into what their employees need to be more productive by asking employees such questions as, “How was your week?”, “What were your highs and lows?” and “What can we do to help each other?” you can take steps toward fostering a more supportive and open work environment.

Providing mental health resources to your employees, such as group or individual counseling, can make them feel more comfortable at work, too.

 

Practice open communication.

When information is withheld and communication is minimal, employee stress can rise simply because of the unknown.

Managers and leaders should make it a practice to provide open communication, ensuring employees receive timely, transparent updates, understand expectations and recognize how their performance is benchmarking against goals.

 

Learn how to recognize burnout.

Burnout can occur when employees feel overwhelmed, so knowing those factors can help leaders reduce the more stressful parts of their team’s jobs.

In kind, educating our employees on how to recognize burnout will help them know when it is time to take a break.

A sense of failure and self-doubt, feeling defeated and a lack of motivation are some of the main signs of burnout.

The key to preventing burnout is to recognize the signs and symptoms of emotional exhaustion and take action right away.

 

 

Burnout may be handled differently depending on the severity of burnout the employee is experiencing.

Setting boundaries, creating schedules and practicing self-care are all steps that can be taken to help an employee prevent symptoms of burnout.

The prevention steps need to be taken daily to ensure motivation and productivity are the main focus in all work being done.

 

The Brush Country Claims team is celebrating National Employee Appreciation Day by supporting the employees that enable us to perform our best.

Appreciation in the workplace not only improves productivity, but also motivates and engages employees.

 

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