What to do if you notice your employees experiencing burnout

It’s estimated that over 10% of the global population suffer from poor mental health.

As prevention is often better than cure, it’s important to spot the early signs of mental health struggles before they become mental health illnesses.

One common mental health issue to watch out for at work is burnout. According to Forbes, burnout is on the rise and it appears that the global Covid pandemic contributed to the increase across age groups.

Work and home life have never been so intertwined. And the blurring of lines have meant that many people are finding it hard to find the balance and disconnect, resulting in heightened stress and burnout.

What is burnout?

Burnout is often related to work and can affect all aspects of a person’s life, both psychologically and physically.

While stress can feel uncomfortable, it can be good for us in short bursts. When stressed, you might feel like something is ‘too much’ mentally or physically, but you can still imagine feeling better once you’ve worked through a challenge.

Burnout, on the other hand, is when you feel constant levels of stress. With burnout, that feeling of ‘not enough’ is longer term.

Some of the signs of burnout include:

• Finding small tasks challenging
• Waking up tired even after a good night’s sleep
• Social interactions feeling like a chore
• A loss of motivation  
• Irritability and impatience
  

Common contributions to burnout:

Work-related:

• Feeling of little or no control over work
• Chaotic, high-pressured environment
• Monotonous or unchallenging work
• Lack of recognition or feedback on performance
• Unclear or unrealistic expectations
  

Home-related:

• Lack of close relationships and/or time socialising
• Little or no time dedicated to relaxing, unwinding, switching off, stepping away from work
• Lack of sleep
  

Personality traits:

• High achievers or perfectionists
• Pessimistic and cynical viewpoints
• A need to be in control and struggle to delegate
  

What can you do to help prevent burnout in your workforce?

Check in and hold regular 1-1s

Burnout develops over time, making it difficult to spot the signs and gradual changes in a person. Therefore, It's important to check in with employees or point them in the direction of someone that can help.

We can ask ourselves whether someone is behaving out of character and appearing to struggle with the day-to-day work demands and social interactions.

Find a quiet space and a clear moment to speak to the individual. Don’t accuse or self-diagnose them but simply share what you have noticed and ask them what it might mean. E.g. “I’ve noticed this week that you haven’t seemed like yourself, would you like to talk about it?”

If the person doesn’t open-up immediately, let them know you are available if they need to chat in the future.

Celebrate Neurodiversity

It’s easy to hire more of the same people. But the magic, and sometimes challenge, lies in hiring a wide mix of people.

Different minds invite a variety of thinking, problem solving, learning and socialisation into the workplace. When supporting staff to prevent and manage burnout, it’s important to be aware that each person will respond differently to different approaches.

One question to ask yourself is how does this person like to communicate? What type of communicator are they? How are you addressing their individual needs.

Depending on how their minds’ are wired, they may like to be supported in different ways.

For example:

• Person A: Must be heard. Enjoys regularly voicing opinions and feelings.
• Person B: Feels more comfortable thinking out loud and problem solving as a group.
• Person C: Is more likely to speak up for other people than for themselves. They need to feel safe and supported to come forward.
• Person D: Needs time and space to reflect and recharge before coming to the decision about opening up.
  

Establish an empowered workforce

It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling like we ‘should’ do something. But when we act on ’should’s’ we can feel drained and resentful. It is much more empowering to do things because we want to, or at least because we choose to.

To help employees avoid feeling drained from lack of choice in their projects, have an empowering conversation with them. Allow them to share what is important for them and encourage them to seek the benefits of completing a project.

Even when asked to do a task at work that we’re not keen on, we can still find meaning in it. Vocalise that to employees and empower them to find the meaning and purpose in doing something for the team. Doing so can feel more empowering and improve motivation.

Encourage the word ‘no’

Overachievers often pile tasks onto their to-do lists. This can inevitably make them feel disappointed when something is left uncompleted. There can be so much focus on the tasks that weren’t completed, instead of the small wins and achievements. This sense of failure can lead to burnout, affect productivity and negatively impact mental wellbeing.

Encourage your workforce to set boundaries. This will not only protect their energy levels, but also help focus their attention on essential tasks that will achieve the best outcomes. Practice setting clear, measurable and realistic objectives. Do so collaboratively and be prepared to tweak them. The aim isn’t to micro-manage your workforce but to create personalised KPIs that will motivate and support them.

Increase levels of joy

Help your workforce reduce stress levels by increasing the levels of joy a person feels day to day. Working hard for something you enjoy leads to passion. Whereas, working hard for something you don’t enjoy leads to stress.

Consider the ways you can bring more joy and positivity into your workforce. What individual demands or challenges are your colleagues facing? How can these be supported?

Find out what each person loves most about their role and the reasons behind it. Then, discover what could be tweaked in the workforce, in order for employees to do more of what they love.