7 Ways Organizations Can Reduce Employee Burnout

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7 Ways Organizations Can Reduce Employee Burnout

By Newwe - Mar 03, 2023

Is employee burnout a new workplace stress? Not really. It was much more prevalent before. Whether your company believes in an employee-friendly environment or aspires to become a leader in the respective industry, responding to employee burnout is essential.

Employee productivity suddenly drops, you see an increase in task delegation, and lack of attention to detail, and eventually, your most potent employees seem to become the plagues of unproductive teams. Decreased productivity, disengagement, isolation, and increased absenteeism are a few signs of employee burnout.

If you have seen such signs in your workplace, you’re not the only one. These employee burnout signs are some common outbreaks seen across the industries post-pandemic. In this article, we will discuss how to address employee burnout and effectively tackle it.

What is Employee Burnout?

Employee burnout is often experienced due to a specific type of stress at the workplace. This psychological process is officially recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) - burnout, an occupational phenomenon and included in the international classification of diseases. This may be caused by chronic stress or long working hours.

Many times, we tend to think of employee burnout as an individual problem and thus, by developing healthy responses, yoga practices, health techniques and more such self-help can address solving the underlying problem. But there is mounting evidence that this self-help of addressing on an individual level is not helping and harming further.

It’s the time that managing employee burnout should shift away from individual towards organizational change. Leaders need to acknowledge this phenomenon and should invest considerable time towards preventing burnout.

Signs of Employee Burnout

Burnout when ignored or unaddressed can cause drastic consequences. Some of the signs of burnout include:

A recent Gallup study found that - “Burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take a sick day and 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job. And even if they stay, they typically have 13% lower confidence in their performance.”

How to Reduce Employee Burnout in your Organization:

1. Host a walking meeting

Walking meetings can help your employees to stay active, increase creativity by 60%, encourage better collaboration, and they help get the much-needed fresh air and sunlight. Walking meetings usually work best when implemented within small groups, where it will include an agenda, current challenges faced by the team and probable solutions to fix the challenges. Many brands like Apple offer casual meeting rooms and break-out spaces that foster collaborative environments.

2. Regular one-on-one conference

When an employee is seen less productive, disengaged and unlike usual selves, this could be a sign that employee is experiencing a burnout. To solve this issue, you need to personally discuss with them, know what is bothering them the most and assist them in overcoming the issue. This will eventually help in decreasing burnout rates in your organization and your employees feel more valued and confident to work.

3. Support a healthy work-life balance

According to a Harvard Business School Survey, 94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half said they worked more than 65 hours per week. Organizations must ensure they promote a healthy work-life balance, allowing employees to take time for physical activity, self-care, family, and more. This helps reduce stress among employees and prevent burnout in the workplace.

4. Prioritize employee wellness

Promoting employee well-being at work drastically improves physical as well as mental health, which eventually shows an increased productivity level. Often employees with a healthy lifestyle will have fewer sick days and are very productive as compared to their less-healthy counterparts. Just like other investments, workplace wellness is also an investment – where an organization puts the time, effort, and energy in hopes of exceptional results. Do you need a plan that helps you make the right wellness decisions for your employees and make all the difference? Check out Newwe’s way of transforming your workforce smarter and better through personalized employee experience.

5. Monitor workloads and effectively assign tasks

Lack of career advancements and growth opportunities are cited among the top five stressors at workplace, according to SHRM. Encourage your employees to stop needlessly switching between tasks and multitasking. For example, you can ask your employees to go ‘mute’ from other communication tools to avoid distraction and the tendency to switch between things. Fewer interruptions and no unnecessary task switching means more productive, focused, and happier employees.

6. Encourage employees to take time off

Sometimes a heavy workload will not allow employees to use their vacation time. Lack of security or fear that they may be considered replaceable by their organization. You need to encourage employees verbally to take time off from work. Encourage employees to utilize this time as self-care days and ensure strict no-email policies during their vacation time.

7. Implement training and development programs

Training fosters an opportunity for employees to learn new skills and gain knowledge. According to a Randstad study, more than 57% say they need to leave their current job to advance their career, 69% would be more satisfied if their company better utilized their skills, and 58% of employees agree their employers don't provide enough growth opportunities so they can stay a bit longer. The advantages of implementing training and development programs for employees is tremendous and every organization should seek this option to reduce burnout rate and improve employee retention rate.

How Newwe can Help:

Employee burnout and well-being are intertwined. When you take care of your employees’ well-being, your organization will see increased engagement levels, a connected workforce, elevated happiness among employees, improved productivity, and more. Learn how Newwe can help you measure employee performance, foster well-being through various programs, improve communications at the workplace, and help you benefit from the lower rates of employee burnout and turnover.