It goes without saying that employees’ health and attitude are essential for boosting business success. A happy and satisfied worker equals high-quality work, and as a result, satisfied clients.
Employee burnout is becoming a common problem. So we, as HR managers and CEOs, need to be aware of how to tackle this issue. How can we create an inspirational environment and improve performance?
We’ve examined the most common signs of employee burnout and came up with effective solutions how to deal with them. Let’s have a quick look so we can have the tools to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.
Nervous Exhaustion
Dark circles under their eyes, constant yawning and weight loss can be the signs of physical exhaustion. It can be due to the lack of sleep, or being under the pressure of rigid deadlines. Employees get easily irritated and find it difficult to concentrate.
Solution: Don’t hesitate to ask your workers whether they’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or snowed under. Find out whether they’re having difficulties to in managing their time, and as a result, can’t get enough sleep. Discuss the ways to ease their burden.
Increased Number of Mistakes
Being absent-minded can be a personal trait, but if a usually organized employee finds it difficult to focus, starts making mistakes all the time, or leaves tasks unfinished, it may be a sign that they’re burning out.
Solution: It would be a great idea to make a list of tasks together with an employee and see which assignments they find the most time- and energy-consuming. While doing this, make sure your worker writes honestly all the things they do. It will help to see whether there’s work overload.
Skipping Work
Skipping work and taking too many ‘off days’ is another distinct sign of burnout. Here’s how it works. A person gets overstressed and not able to face this stress any longer. As a result, the only solution they see is taking a day off, so no one can reach them. They do so because it’s already too much to handle.
Solution: As the main reason for skipping work is stress, feel free to organize meetings to talk about stress management. Teach your workers how to cope with stressful situations and how not to get themselves to the edge of a nervous breakdown. Consider having a room in the office where employees can relax during the working day.
Health Problems
Here are some common symptoms of physical exhaustion: chest pain, headaches, dizziness, being short of breath, or gastrointestinal pain. If you come across such physical complaints as well as emotional ones from usually healthy employees, it can indicate a burn-out state.
Solution: Concentrate on wellness initiatives like eating healthy, sleeping well and doing physical exercise. Mention the importance of well-being for good mood and easier work performance. If possible, provide your workers with healthy snacks, or create a possibility to do sports or other physical activities in the office.
wrapping up
It’s important to monitor your employees’ well-being. Remember that they aren’t machines, and they need to have time to rest. Make sure you show that the company cares about them by making them feel valued. Also, encourage workers to talk and discuss any problems regarding work overload or stress as soon as the symptoms occur. Finally, you can inform them about burnout warning signs as well, so that they can themselves monitor their mood swings, engagement and performance.
Author bio: Rhonda Martinez is a blogger, psychology graduate from Pennsylvania State University and a writer & editor for Legit Writing Services. Rhonda enjoys writing on subjects related to psychology and sociology. She is an author of several research papers and articles published in national journals.