Employee burnout occurs when employees work long hours with insufficient rest. Workplace stress can make it worse. This includes factors like short deadlines, difficult tools, micromanaging, and financial worries. The stress begins to accumulate until the person feels exhausted all the time. Burnout can bring feelings of hopelessness or futility. The mental health damage of burnout results in lost energy and productivity and can eventually result in the loss of a good employee.

Unfortunately, burnout is becoming more evident in today’s work environment. Employees are more likely to push themselves too hard as living costs and financial concerns increase. Inattentive leadership can also result in burnout. Unrealistic work expectations or poor technological tools make matters worse. The good news is that you can help by recognizing the signs of burnout and taking action.

Understanding Employee Burnout

Employee burnout is built-up work stress that has reached a critical level. It occurs when a person never fully recovers from work stress. They may be put in a situation where they can’t accomplish their goals. They may be dealing with unrealistic expectations or insufficient tools. Burnout gets worse in a toxic work environment. However, it can occur even in supportive work environments when an employee simply works too many hours.

Key Symptoms of Burnout

• Reduced productivity
• Disengagement, withdrawal, and isolation
• Procrastination
• Outbursts
• Fatigue, headaches, and frequent illness
• Difficulty sleeping
• Increased mental health concerns
• High blood pressure
• Decreased job satisfaction
• Helplessness and cynicism

The Impact of Burnout on Organizations

Employee burnout has a widespread negative affect on professionals and the business. You may see drops in productivity and morale. This occurs when employees lose the ability to focus on their work or give their best effort to each task. Burnout is a key element to job dissatisfaction and results in lost employee retention. Those experiencing burnout seek any other work environment that does not feel hopeless or oppressive.

Ignoring employee burnout results in significant operational and financial costs. Good employees lose effectiveness and then leave the company. Excessive cases of burnout can also result in a loss of employer reputation, which can make it more difficult and costly to hire in the future.

Recognizing Burnout Early

Fortunately, employee burnout is something that can be solved if you learn how to spot the signs early. From there, you can take steps to resolve whatever is causing high levels of stress and get your team back on track.

How to Spot Burnout in Your Team

Watch for signs of overwork and insufficient support.

• Too many hours: Watch for employees who are working too many hours. Work-life balance is essential. Deadlines may be too short. Employees who need financial assistance often seek overtime and can put their health at risk.
• Complaints: Complaints aren’t just water cooler talk. Listen for signs that your team’s tools, support, or resources are insufficient. Complaints can also reveal where toxicity is lurking in the workplace.
• Fatigue and Illness: Maintain awareness of your employee’s physical health. Constant fatigue or frequent illness is always a reason for concern. The cause might be burnout or a major health issue that requires support.
• Productivity decrease: There are many reasons for temporary drops in productivity. However, a downward trend paired with other signs can indicate employee burnout.
• Hopelessness: An employee starts expressing that goals cannot be met. Watch for signs of depression and fatalism.

Role in HR in Detecting Burnout

HR should be the most informed on matters of employee stress and personal wellness resources. HR can provide team leaders with the tools and education necessary to spot employee burnout early. Maintain an open-door policy and quickly respond to employees who express concerns. Listen for complaints of micromanagement, unfair policies, or unreasonable expectations. Help with concerns about personal health, financial insecurity, or requests for professional development.

Self-Assessment Tools for Employees

Employees can also maintain their personal awareness of burnout risk. Watch for the physical and emotional signs. Provide employees with self-assessment questionnaires, wellness resources, and channels to request changes to unreasonable work environments. This can help treat burnout at the source.

Preventing Employee Burnout

You can also take steps to prevent the conditions that cause employee burnout. A business can provide employees with the structure and resources they need to minimize built-up stress.

• Promote Work-Life Balance: Ensure that your schedule and expectations promote a healthy work-life balance. Employees should be encouraged to go home after work hours, and off-work requests or messaging should be kept to a minimum. On-call policies should be reviewed on principle. Tools like WebWork can help you easily plan and track working hours to ensure a healthy balance.
• Offer Mental Health Support and Resources: Ensure your employees have access to mental health support. Provide resources to seek help when needed. Employees who are able to address their stress and seek help for personal mental health concerns are less likely to experience burnout.
• Encourage Regular Breaks and Time-Off: Make sure employees take time away from work. It helps to take breaks, enjoy weekends entirely separate from work, and make full use of their time off. Breaks and time off allow employees to decompress, which prevents the accumulation of stress to an unhealthy level.
• Build a Supportive Workplace Culture: A supportive workplace culture avoids many of the burnout triggers. Set reasonable deadlines, make it a policy to assist coworkers and answer questions promptly. Minimize micromanagement. Respect employees’ off-time. Provide the tools they need to perform each task well and be supportive of time off for personal reasons.

Strategies for Managers and Leaders

Managers and business leaders can also help to reduce the risk of employee burnout by choosing supportive and healthy leadership styles. Implement open communication and active listening. You can create a more supportive culture within the company and individual teams. You can also lead by example when it comes to work-life balance and health through self-care. Leading by example is one of the best ways to prevent the “rat race” culture from re-emerging.

It can be helpful to implement flexible work arrangements. Allow schedules to adapt to individual needs. Reduce the stress from curve balls that life can throw – from sick children to car accidents to mental health days.

Employee Wellbeing Programs and Initiatives

Directly address and prevent burnout with wellbeing programs, resources, and initiatives. Explore employee burnout prevention programs that can help your employees destress and prevent stress from building up in the future.

Wellness activities, training sessions, and even a quiet room to decompress in the workplace can all make a big difference. Measure the effectiveness of these programs using employee performance and job satisfaction KPIs. Take measurements before, after, and during implementation.

Conclusion

Employee burnout occurs when workplace stress becomes overwhelming. Burnout can damage employee mental health and have a negative impact on productivity and employee retention for a business. By recognizing burnout early, it is possible to remedy the high-stress situation and save both employees and businesses from the harm that burnout can cause.

Businesses can reduce or even eliminate the risk of burnout by tackling the problem proactively. Supportive leadership, wellness programs, and an overall prioritization of employee wellbeing can help prevent and treat cases of burnout that have already manifested. Tools like WebWork Time Tracker can help you identify when employees are working too many hours or skipping their breaks so you can treat burnout at the source.