Burnout is when we feel an intense and potent dissatisfaction with what we are doing, which leads to physical, mental and emotion responses.
Extensive research has shown that 89% of employees have experienced burnout within the last year. With 70% of all professionals feeling that employers aren't doing enough to help prevent burnout. This personal stress and team tension that is caused by burnout has serious consequences in the workplace.
Some of the key symptoms to look out for in your staff are; low energy, frequent illness, disengagement, frustration, hopelessness and complete loss of motivation. When these symptoms come on individuals may feel defeated and somewhat alone in the situation.
Here are 3 reasons why your team may be experiencing burnout with some helpful tips.
#1 A Workload that is not Intellectually Stimulating
Workloads which start to impinge on one's personal life is one of the key drivers of burnout. When employees feel like their life is no longer their own and feel that they are no longer working to live but living to work - burnout is often imminent.
Commonly people associate burnout with excessive workloads and understaffing. However, one of the key components of burnout is when individuals are asked to do monotonous tasks which don't find intellectually stimulating. This has a numbing effect on the brain, the same way you'd feel if you aimlessly scrolled social media for hours. It starts to reduce the likelihood that employees will be engaged in their work and they won't want to put the effort in when required in challenging company times.
Often managing these issues is more simple than people think. Ensuring the basics are done like checking in with your team often and understanding their thoughts about the workload. Most importantly understand what each member of your team finds interesting and try and align these interests with their workload.
#2 Lack of Alignment
If your team members' personal values or interests do not align with the companies this is likely to cause burnout symptoms. When an individual values something highly, they are more likely to happily and comfortably work on a task. 3 out of 5 people feel that their workloads aren't aligned with where they feel their career development is going. This means that there is a discrepancy of expectations.
To help manage these challenges, try to understand what each team member is driven by and understand their value compass. If you know this you can start to attach some of their more menial tasks with something they find aligns with them. In the workplace its very easy to categorise people by their job title and not who they are. When we take a people first approach you are able to dig down to the emotion behind why they work and in turn output and employee happiness increases.
#3 Toxic Culture
This is the most important reason! Unclear job expectations, micro-management, negative environments, general office bitchiness, loneliness, unfair treatment or a lack of support can all lead to burnout. These issues are all based around company culture. When a company expands its hard to keep the tight bonds that a smaller company might have internally, cliques start to form, gossiping starts to happen and in turn people feel secluded, lonely and without support.
We spend so much time at work, often between 30 to 50 hours a week, it would be horrible to dread that time. With 21% of workers feeling worried about the lack of company programs to alleviate burnout, the case is that many individuals are dreading coming to work and subsequently completing their job with no drive and passion, leading to diminished outcomes.
It's key to build a culture that is sustainable and stamp out any behaviour that is unacceptable at the earliest point. Some companies require a company audit, someone external to come in and evaluate what is going on through data and interviews. When you are in a company, you often someone become blind to these things, not due to ignorance, due to familiarity.
Summary
Work place stress costs the US economy 300 billion (yes billion) dollars per year. Including employee absence, reduced productivity and work related health issues.
Employee wellbeing is no longer a want but a need. It's no longer a purely moral thing to do, it's smart use of business resources.
If you'd like to understand more about how the AWKN Group can help your company with these issues click the button below to enquire and get on a call today.
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