What is employee burnout and how to avoid it?

Your employees can experience burnout when they feel extreme physical or emotional exhaustion and absence of motivation, and it could be caused by several various reasons like sudden changes in the work environment, the abundance of workplace stressors, poor communication inside the organization, or personal conflicts with co-workers, etc. When your employees experience burnout, they often feel incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of work they are responsible for, and this directly affects their productivity in the workplace. As organizations are driven to offer their employees a healthy and productive work environment, it is crucially important for businesses to acknowledge it and take the necessary steps to avoid it even before their employees experience it.

What is employee burnout?

Employee burnout is the extreme depletion of motivation, energy, and desire to complete goals. Employees experiencing burnout generally feel like they’ve got nothing left to give to their organization while working on a project or trying to achieve an objective. It is an indicator of extreme stress that was prolonged due to work-related issues, and it negatively affects the life of the employees both inside and outside the workplace. 

According to a survey done by Gallup, 23% of the employees experience burnout at some point in their work lives.¹ It has several common signs that might clue you about the existence of burnout in your workforce. Employees experiencing burnout often have a feeling of emptiness, they quickly get frustrated, and they feel exhausted both physically and emotionally. Burnout happens when your employees push themselves too hard for too long, and they are more likely to burn out with increased workload, stress, and pressure. Other contributors can add to employee burnout, such as long working hours, lack of work-life balance, and lack of employee engagement. 

Employee burnout is a severe risk for organizations. It can lead to increased absenteeism, decreased productivity, and higher rates of turnover. In the same Gallup survey, when employees are experiencing burnout or having personal issues, 63% consider calling in sick. Employees who suffer from burnout are less effective and more likely to be absent from work. Employee burnout is preventable, but it is hard to do without taking some action. In order to avoid this problem, employers need to offer employees a nurturing environment that helps them prevent overwork and over-exhaustion. 

How to avoid burnout at work?

There are different ways that an organization can take steps to prevent employee burnout at work; 

1. Engage in meaningful conversations with employees about what they are working on and how they feel about their work.
2. Become more transparent with the company’s goals by providing clear performance metrics for employees to track progress against these goals.
3. Provide meaningful and effective rewards for employees who are making progress toward achieving organizational goals rather than just giving them money or gifts.
4. Make work easier for employees by giving them more flexible schedules so that they can find the optimum work schedule that allows them to work with their full potential.
5. Health first! Ask them what they need to recover as quickly as possible. Make sure to take care of their mental health first and then proceed to solving the problem.

Avoid employee burnout with Kolay

With the workforce management software Kolay, you can stay engaged with all your employees by getting 360-degree feedback, and you can easily create competence or goal-based performance assessment reports to help you share your progress in meeting the company goals with your employees. Kolay’s modern HR solutions also let you access your employee records anytime from anywhere, track your company expenses, and manage your workforce’s shifts, compensations, and overtime. Try Kolay now for free, and stop worrying about employee burnout!

Sources

1- https://www.gallup.com/workplace/237059/employee-burnout-part-main-causes.aspx