Ways to Prevent Employee Burnout

Company Morale And Ways To Prevent Employee Burnout

Getting the right people to work for your company is important. However, that is not enough. You have to make sure that your skilled employees stay at the company. That means that you have to ensure that your company has a good working environment and high company morale in order to help prevent employee burnout.

Employee Burnout

Generally, burnout refers to a state of exhaustion. It may be physical or emotional. Employee burnout is often due to prolonged stress and frustration. In some cases, the cause is the work environment itself. Among the other reasons are highly stressful tasks, tight deadlines, and lack of support or resources. Meanwhile, there are also instances when burnout is because of employees’ expectations of themselves or other personal reasons.

There are various ways on how burnout can manifest. Here are some of the things you may have to watch out for:

  • Frustration
  • Indifference toward one’s job
  • Persistent irritability
  • Always being argumentative
  • Anger
  • Sarcasm
  • Exhaustion
  • Absenteeism
  • Procrastination
  • Difficulty working with colleagues

Many people used to mistake those characteristics for laziness and lack of dedication. However, they are more than that. In 2019, the World Health Organization officially recognized burnout as a medical diagnosis. It has been proven to have similar effects as other mental health disorders.

How It Affects the Workplace

Contrary to what many people may think, employee burnout is not a personal issue. No matter what the cause is, it will have an impact on the whole organization. Here are some of its possible effects:

  • Decreased employee productivity
  • High employee turnover rate
  • Low employee engagement
  • Negative health implications
  • Low company morale

Ways to Prevent Employee Burnout

The negative effects of employee burnout can be disruptive and far-reaching. Various aspects of the company may suffer. That is why it is important for a company to find ways to prevent it from happening and keep morale high.

  • Set suitable and reasonable workloads. You have to avoid assigning unfair workloads. It is natural for workers to feel stressed out if the company expects them to complete too many tasks in a short period. Start by taking into consideration how much a certain employee needs to do on a daily basis. Then, set feasible deadlines. As much as possible, you should not set deadlines that would require them to work overtime. You should also ensure that the workload is equally balanced among all the members of the team.
  • Have proper support in place. It is important for an organization to provide the right support that will help workers accomplish their tasks. Make sure your company has the appropriate resources for that. You should also evaluate if a certain task has to be handled by more than one person. If there is no support in place, an individual may have to make twice or thrice as much effort to finish an assigned task. If this continues, that person may end up exhausted.
  • Provide proper training. Another thing you can do to keep company morale high is by providing opportunities for your workers and managers to learn new skills. Additionally, doing this will equip them with the proper know-how that can help them in handling their workload. Workers, managers, and employers should also learn how to communicate well. This will create a more positive relationship between the staff and their superiors. 
  • Promote work-life balance. Telling your employees to have work-life balance is not enough. You have to set an example—a lot of workers tend to not get off work on time if their superiors stay long hours. You should also encourage them to go on vacation, especially after a particularly stressful period. Make sure your team takes breaks as needed.
  • Celebrate their success. People tend to value success in their careers, so it is important for a company to celebrate the success of its workers. That does not mean you have to throw a party every time someone reaches a certain goal. Small gestures will do. A simple public announcement regarding their accomplishment can make them feel that the company values their efforts.

Keep Company Morale High to Motivate Your Team

Keeping company morale high is crucial when it comes to managing a business. You have to make sure that your employees do not suffer from burnout. Doing this does not require you to spend a lot of money, but you can be sure that you will benefit from the results. Maintaining a positive work environment will help motivate your team to complete projects and tasks that will help grow your business.