Interestingly, one of the most common problems in businesses nowadays is the issue of employees facing work-related stress and burnout. In fact, when there’s high pressure at work coupled with several workloads and extended hours of working, employees can have serious problems regarding their physical and mental health. That’s why employers have a significant role in ensuring that their staff can have a healthy work atmosphere to discharge their duties.
Indeed, most businesses always aim to ensure that employees have a great experience at work. However, giving them too much work and stress can lead to burnout, a high rate of turnover, and a drastic drop in employee performance which can be detrimental to the success of a business. Therefore, it has become your responsibility as a company owner to ensure that teams aren’t exposed to extreme work conditions which can affect their effectiveness.
What Employee Burnout Is All About
When employees face burnout, they aren’t quickly recognized by employers because they have no idea about it. Employee burnout is when workers experience physical exhaustion primarily because of stress in the workplace or working for long periods.
For employees, burnout is a gradual process as it begins at a slow rate and, over time, gathers enormous momentum to cause the following:
- Separation from team members
- Cynicism
- Feelings of helplessness
- Failure
Some factors cause employee burnout, and they include the following:
- Work-life imbalance
- Identity factors (e.g., pessimists and overachievers)
- Lack of support
- Inability to “let go”
Avoiding Burnout and Stress in Your Team
Notably, ensuring that your team doesn’t face burnout and stress is possible if you can be observant and ensure to eliminate their (stress and burnout) root causes. Immediately, you start noticing signs of burnout in them, it’s essential to start taking steps towards stopping it from escalating.
Some of the steps to help your team avoid burnout and stress are as follows:
1. Hire a Fractional Executive
Interestingly, company owners who are after their employee wellness look into a fractional executive for solutions. This is because fractional executives can provide options to help teams reduce their workload and increase efficiency through experience. Fractional executives ensure employers don’t overwhelm workers with responsibilities by supervising their activities. If you don’t want your team to experience stress, consider hiring a fractional executive.
2. Offer Work Flexibility
One of the best ways to ensure employees don’t feel choked with duties is by providing flexible work arrangements. Now that times are rapidly changing, it’s essential for business owners to look for ways in which they can keep their employees happy with their jobs.
Examples of flexible work arrangements can include the following:
- Telecommuting
- Working hours flexibility
- Sharing of jobs
Workers working from home can find it very easy to carry out other responsibilities.
3. Provide Health and Wellness Programs
Apart from ensuring employees can discharge their duties efficiently, it would be best if you also looked after their health and wellness. This is because when employees are stressed, they experience burnout, leading to a dip in their performance. You can look after your team’s wellness by offering them wellness programs that include health habits and gym memberships. Employees can find it easy to increase their mental being and effectively carry out stress management.
4. Set Clear Goals and Expectations
Before setting up a business, one of the things a leader needs to do is set up clear goals and objectives. To prevent employee burnout, having defined goals and objectives is essential to keep them from being confused about what to do. You must ensure that achievable goals and expectations are set to prevent your team from disorganizing. When employers set achievable goals, teams can improve their productivity and efficiency.
5. Allow Employees the Chance to Make Decisions
To help your team avoid burnout and stress, giving them a chance to make decisions by granting them autonomy is essential. Business owners should support their teams by encouraging them to take on jobs and allowing them the chance to make crucial decisions concerning them. For instance, teams can be allowed to do job costing on works brought by the client and execute the tasks without interfering as the business owner. By granting autonomy to your team, you can improve their engagement level and reduce their option of having to ask before making decisions.
6. Work on People Development Plans
If you are looking forward to moving your business forward and as well improving the well-being of employees by developing their skills, then it’s necessary to work on people development plans. A people development plan is a framework that helps to provide individual employees with the needed direction and focus on improving their career goals. Having a people development plan is vital to help your employees reduce their stress levels and carry out their duties with constant effectiveness. You can create a people’s development plan for your team by looking for growth opportunities and considering the available types of development.
7. Give Satisfactory Package and Benefits
When employees are performing their duties and aren’t well appreciated through paid packages, then it becomes easy for them to start having burnout. Providing teams with the necessary benefits, including health insurance and retirement plans, can help prevent them from undervalued feelings. Also, showing them recognition for their accomplishments can go a long way in motivating them to work more. When they can feel great about their duties, there’ll be an increase in their efficiency which is a positive sign for your business.
8. Advocate for a Work-Life Balance
According to a report by Gitnux, 72% of workers believe that work-life balance is essential when selecting jobs. If you want your team to avoid stress and burnout, then you need to encourage work-life balance by giving them breaks and setting reasonable hours. When employees get the support to prioritize their health, it becomes easier for them to prevent burnout. You can also provide activities that can help to ease their stress.
Final Thoughts
The most fundamental aspect of a company is the employees; when all isn’t well with them, there will undoubtedly be issues. Ensuring your teams are relaxed and experiencing burnout is vital to prevent them from derailing their duties. You can help your team avoid burnout by offering work flexibility, advocating for work-life balance, and working on people development plans.
