According to a survey by Slack, job burnout is on the rise. Forty-three percent of middle managers report burnout, and female workers experience burnout 32% more than their male counterparts. In addition, younger workers—ages 18-29 years old—say they are experiencing burnout much more often than employees age 30 and older.
The Mayo Clinic notes that, unlike depression, burnout isn’t a medical condition—it’s attributed to individual factors such as job dissatisfaction, workplace dysfunction, individual personality traits, or a stressful family life. Regardless of the cause, it can take a real toll on an employee’s physical and mental health.
Fortunately, there are ways business leaders can help alleviate the symptoms of burnout for their teams.
Show Appreciation
Research by Gallup and Workhuman found that employee recognition can lower burnout and improve attitudes while building stronger relationships among co-workers. In fact, according to the research, when employees are positively recognized for their work, they are more likely to become a top performer and less likely to look for other job opportunities.
Be Empathetic
Team leaders can demonstrate empathy—or that they truly care about their employee’s well-being—by initiating regular one-on-one conversations. Ask how your employees are feeling about their workload and help them find solutions for any work challenges they may be facing.
Be Flexible
When working toward solutions for work frustrations, show flexibility. For individuals who may be facing personal challenges—such as being a primary caregiver for an ill family member—can you adjust their work schedule so that it allows them to find a more effective work/life balance? For employees overwhelmed by multiple projects, can you redistribute workloads or responsibilities or offer the assistance of less burdened employees?
Be Open and Authentic
Don’t be afraid to share and acknowledge your own challenges. It may not feel entirely comfortable confiding in what you may see as a weakness, but it can encourage your employees to open up themselves.
Make Them Aware of Workplace Resources
If you feel your employees are feeling frustrated, overworked or dissatisfied, encourage them to use the mental health resources your company offers. Short-term therapy can be a very effective tool for developing coping skills for situational issues—it’s not just for chronic mental health disorders.
Help Them to Prioritize
Oftentimes, workloads can seem overwhelming and employees are unable to prioritize what tasks they should focus on first, preventing them from effectively starting and finishing a project, as they jump from one task to another. Be clear—and more importantly, realistic—on timelines and work with them to make certain those timelines are reasonable.
Allow Them to Say No
High-performing employees are often afraid to decline a new task or project. Build trust with your employees by allowing them to let you know when they simply cannot take on another project and respect their honesty.
Respect Their Time
Work emails, phone calls, meetings and texts should be reserved for the workday. With few exceptions, you must respect your employees’ free time. A well-balanced life makes for a much more satisfied and rested employee.
Practicing these strategies can not only help relieve burnout, it can stop burnout from developing in the first place and keep your employees productive and satisfied at work.