Introduction
Employee burnout is the tremendous stress that employees experience, which can eventually lead to their leaving. Not only that, but burnout has a big financial impact – lower production, depleted morale, and considerable product delays all cost money.
Burnout spreads like wildfire, and if you’re not careful, it may wipe out your entire team. Employees are your most valuable asset, especially in these unpredictable times. Making sure they have the resources they need to succeed should be your top focus.
Many UAE workers have suffered workplace burnout, even before the rush to work from home during a worldwide health crisis. In light of the coronavirus epidemic and the subsequent recovery curve, it is more vital than ever for managers to be on the lookout for indicators of employee burnout and to take actions to protect their teams from its hazards.
Leading a completely remote workforce is a tremendous task in and of itself. Many employees are already having to adjust to work-from-home life or even the act of returning to the office under exceptionally odd conditions. Managers of these teams are in a unique position to serve as mental health watchdogs for their employees and should be on the lookout for early signs of burnout.
Signs of Employee Burnout
Some organizations make the mistake of mistaking employee burnout for something else: tired, disengaged, or lazy personnel. Organizations frequently regard burnout as a talent management issue—or, more generally, a personal issue.
This could not be further from the truth. According to a recent Gallup poll, the top five causes of burnout are:
- Workplace discrimination Unmanageable workload
- Uncertainty about one’s role
- Their manager’s lack of communication and assistance
- Unreasonable time constraints
Herbert Freudenberger, a psychologist, defined burnout in 1974 based on three major symptoms:
- Inadequate motivation
- Job dissatisfaction
- a sense of inadequacy
What other warning signals can companies look for if their employees are demotivated, ineffective, or dissatisfied with their jobs?
1. A toxic work environment
Even when employers are under pressure to attract talent with increased compensation, medical benefits, remote work, or other job-specific advantages, employees are dissatisfied with their workplace environment.
According to recent statistics, approximately 15% of job searchers declined a job offer because of a company’s lack of a favourable culture and general work environment. Furthermore, 46% of job searchers stated that work culture is one of the most important deciding elements in their application process, while data reveals that employees who do not feel appreciated are twice as likely to quit their job within the next year.
2. Employees are exhausted
Being tired from working all the time is common, but when a majority of employees are exhausted, it’s time for employers and recruiting managers to intervene. Employees that experience high amounts of stress in the workplace are more exhausted most of the time. Some occupations are also getting more stressful as firms fight to retain personnel, putting additional work and stress on existing employees, only to have this have a negative impact on their health
3. Low concentration levels
Employees who are weary, anxious, or stressed are less likely to concentrate at work. This is easier to detect in the traditional office, as employers may detect employees who are failing to concentrate on the job.
Keeping track of employee focus, on the other hand, becomes increasingly challenging for firms that are either entirely remote or use a hybrid model.
4. Lack of motivation
A rapid reduction in motivation may indicate that some employees are not enjoying their jobs or are not interested in the work they are performing. If employees fail to complete tasks on time or if the quality of their work decreases, it could be because they are not motivated enough to apply themselves to the job.
5. Employees are quickly irritated.
While it is natural for some employees to disagree with their coworkers due to differences in beliefs or personalities, some employees may be even more irritable because they feel ineffectual, devalued, or unappreciated. Excessive rage, being short-tempered, or underlying anger towards coworkers are all signs of irritability.
Combat Burnout
Organizations frequently seek to assess burnout through yearly wellness questionnaires, which have numerous significant flaws. For starters, these surveys only assess passive types of burnout and disregard active forms. Second, they capture a single point in time and may not be administered when employees are experiencing severe burnout. Finally, we’ve discovered that employees who are burnt out frequently fail to complete things.
Prioritize People Over Productivity in Prevention
Overloading individuals with work, favouritism, misaligned values, a lack of workplace community or autonomy, and a lack of proper resources are all factors that contribute to burnout. In a modern work environment, many people are struggling to find a work-life balance. Why not help them succeed?
- Set clear, reasonable expectations, and ensure that those expectations are understood.
- Ensure that personnel get the resources they require.
- Provide continual training to staff to demonstrate their worth and contributions to the organization’s goals.
- Enforce proper work hours, including breaks.
- Assist in assessing workloads for employees who may feel pressed to work outside the usual business hours.
- Encourage team members’ social support and respect by using video chats.
As a manager, the position itself puts the individual in a delicate balance of understanding the employees’ needs, and the efficiency required to support the organization. A good manager would recognize that both the objectives as ultimately the same. So, what are you to do, as a manager, to make sure both goals are achieved?
Avoiding burnout is frequently easier than recovering from it. The measures listed below can help you identify it early, prevent it from worsening, and treat it if it has already taken hold. As you begin this process with your staff, remember to put on your own oxygen mask first – if you’re feeling overwhelmed by your job, it will be practically impossible to help others effectively.
Determine the symptoms. Passive burnout frequently progresses to more active types, which exacerbate one another. Feelings of failure, for example, can lead to drinking, which leads to weariness, which leads to sniping at coworkers, and finally to an office blow up. Be mindful of subtle clues and get to know your staff well enough to recognize when they deviate from their norms. Taking an employee’s temperature on a regular basis by just asking them about the one issue that is stressing them out the most may help ease some of the burden.
Consider your options before acting. When you spot a possible sign of burnout, put yourself and your staff on hold. Consider what just occurred and why. Consider what part you may be playing in their burnout. Perhaps you set unrealistic deadlines for the circumstances, or your own burnout is causing a lack of patience and snippy reactions. Then inquire as to what just occurred and why. What can I do to assist? Take the time to respond to minor situations with greater understanding to prevent burnout from worsening.
Develop and promote perspective-taking skills. After then, consider your options. It is critical to take a step back and look at the larger picture before deciding which actions to pursue. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds, so take the time to evaluate which jobs and projects are truly vital and which are secondary. Coach your colleagues on how to change their perspective, reframe challenges, and decide which requests to refuse and which activities to defer. Giving them the opportunity to develop this talent and the flexibility to do so benefits them greater control, which is a major cause of burnout.
Help them in their fight. Most burnout remedies are not one-size-fits-all. Knowing your staff well will allow you to work jointly to find methods to relieve their stress. Be inventive. Perhaps you can eliminate a specific cause of stress, offload conflicting demands, offer advice for dealing with stress, or simply share a joke about an issue that is causing you worry. If you are unable to act, provide emotional support in the form of empathy and attentive listening. Notably, genuine emotional support is essential in this situation. Well wishes such as “have a nice weekend” and “get some rest” when you’ve just handed them extra work won’t cut it – perceived inauthenticity of well wishes might actually heighten sentiments of frustration.
Combat the immediacy culture. Consider whether your team’s predisposition towards hurry or a focus on the clock is causing undue stress. Perhaps there are deadlines or projects that can be postponed. Can you design flexible schedules that balance work and home life? Can you rotate in personnel to assist overburdened locations and give backup? Taking a step back from the usual modes of operation and looking at the context with new eyes will help you find particular measures that may make a difference in the stress levels of your staff.
Conclusion
Have an open discussion about burnout with your team and make it a matter of culture rather than a meeting agenda item. Ask your employees what they require to keep sharp and encourage team members to discuss their accomplishments and failures with one another. This can result in the formation of a network of support that can assist each individual in balancing their challenging emotions in a healthy manner. Managers should also share stress-management resources with employees, such as mindfulness and meditation practices.
Employee burnout can be a destructive force, but learning to recognize the signs can assist managers in detecting it early and taking appropriate action. At BTS, we think that leaders who spend time and energy in the well-being of their employees have a better chance of avoiding burnout and operating a productive, engaged workforce.
