The economy and job market have been through a lot of upheaval in the past few years, so it’s no surprise that employees are feeling the pain. Everyone is trying to do more with less while keeping their business running smoothly. Unfortunately, this has also led to employee burnout becoming a widespread issue across industries.
No job is without stress 100% of the time, but burnout is the result of chronic stress in the workplace. It can lead to disengaged employees, higher turnover, and even lower productivity. With a majority of workers reporting some level of experience with burnout, it’s crucial for employers to understand its causes and how to proactively take steps against it.
This article explores what employee burnout is, the signs to watch out for, and strategies to prevent and resolve it.
What Is Employee Burnout and How Common Is It?
Employee burnout is a psychological — and physical — state of exhaustion caused by prolonged workplace stress. While it’s natural for employees to experience occasional stress in the workplace, burnout is a bigger concern.
Beyond simply feeling stressed, burnout involves exhaustion (both mental and physical), reduced motivation and interest, and lower productivity. Burnout can be caused or worsened by excessive workloads, unclear expectations, poor working conditions, or feelings of a lack of control or recognition.
And it’s pervasive — in a recent survey, 44% of employees reported feeling burned out. In the same survey, approximately half of workers shared their feelings of being drained or “used up” at the end of a workday. A report by HR consulting firm Mercer was even bleaker, finding that more than 80% of workers are at risk of burnout.
Employee Burnout Signs to Look Out For
Leaders need to understand the signs of employee burnout in order to take steps toward prevention. A few of the most common symptoms of burnout include:
- Reduced productivity: Employees experiencing burnout may produce less at work, make more mistakes, or appear to put in less effort than before.
- Increased absenteeism: Burned-out workers may take more time off from work, often at the last minute to battle frequent illnesses, mental health challenges, or general disinterest.
- Changes in behavior: Employees who previously engaged with others as part of the team may become withdrawn, depressed, or irritable.
- Physical symptoms: Workers may experience more headaches, fatigue, or other physical ailments as a result of burnout.
- Higher turnover: Burned-out employees are more likely to quit, so if burnout is rampant, you may see higher turnover across the board. This can also negatively impact your ability to hire new employees if you’re seen as a company with high attrition.
All in all, employee burnout can result in lower productivity, difficulty retaining top talent, and a worsening culture.
5 Strategies for Preventing and Solving Employee Burnout
The good news is that there are several strategies to help prevent or reduce employee burnout.
1. Monitor Your Employees’ Workloads
The first step to staving off burnout is understanding your employees’ workloads. Check in regularly to assess how much work is on your team’s plate and make changes as needed. While there may be an occasional crunch time, workloads should generally be balanced and realistic across the team.
Talk with your employees to understand their capacity to handle their workload, and encourage them to take breaks or make use of their vacation time to rest and relax. Time off can go a long way toward improving employees’ well-being and morale. Make it easy for your employees to take time off by cross-training the team to cover one another’s workloads.
If you consistently see higher-than-desired workloads, it may be time to consider hiring additional employees. Although this incurs an expense, it would likely be more affordable in the long run than frequently replacing burned-out employees.
2. Foster Open Communication
Don’t let poor communication lead to burnout. Instead, foster a culture in which employees feel psychologically safe to bring their concerns to leadership. If an employee doesn’t feel comfortable speaking up about a heavy workload or challenging conditions, they’ll be at a higher risk of burnout.
Develop this sort of culture by instituting a feedback loop between employees and management. One way to do this is by running regular employee surveys to gather anonymous feedback. You can also hold regular one-on-one meetings and directly seek feedback from employees. Gathering this information as it comes up will let you address issues as soon as they arise and solve them before they escalate.
Remember that asking for feedback is just the first step; you’ll need to show your employees that you can act on it, too, for them to feel confident sharing feedback in the future. And it’s key to handle feedback with positivity, even if you can’t immediately make any changes.
3. Understand How Your Employees Are Experiencing Burnout
Not everyone experiences burnout in exactly the same way, and some employees keep it under wraps. Even if you know the signs of burnout, it can be easy to miss.
This is another area where communication and feedback are key. Conducting anonymous surveys or running employee focus groups can help you understand departmental burnout levels. Once you have a baseline, you can execute smaller pulse surveys every quarter to see how employees’ well-being evolves over time.
Poor relationships with managers can also lead to burnout, so you should ensure that all managers understand the signs of burnout and receive training on the best ways to respond. Don’t forget that managers can experience burnout, too, which can trickle down to the rest of their teams. Include your managers in your workload assessments and requests for feedback.
Identify the Causes of Burnout
If feedback sessions and employee surveys show consistent burnout, you should investigate the root causes and find ways to address them.
What causes worker burnout? Common causes include an excessive workload, chronic workplace stress, unrealistic expectations or deadlines, poor team dynamics, inadequate support from leadership, and a poor work-life balance.
There can be several systemic issues that contribute to these stressors, including inadequate company resources, poor management or executive leadership, and a lack of recognition or rewards for employees.
4. Provide Flexible Schedules for a Better Work-Life Balance
To offer a better work-life balance to your employees, consider providing schedule flexibility. This can include remote or hybrid work options, flexible hours, or a combination thereof.
Flexibility has the best chance at preventing employee burnout when you foster a culture that respects workers’ boundaries. For instance, allowing flexible hours isn’t so helpful when employees are fielding constant calls and emails in their off time. Similarly, allowing employees to work remotely can backfire if you intend to reward only in-office employees with promotions and other opportunities for growth.
You may need to implement formal policies to support this balance. Some companies encourage employees to take a minimum amount of time off each year, while others actively stress that everyone holds different working hours and should expect a response by the next business day (rather than immediately).
5. Consider Implementing Wellness Programs
Wellness programs can encourage employees to prioritize their mental health and take time to destress, mitigating the effects of work-related stress and emotional exhaustion.
Such programs can include workshops for stress management or mindfulness, as well as access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or counseling and coaching services. You can also consider offering perks like free or reduced-cost gym memberships. If you have the capacity, providing physical relaxation spaces can give employees an easy way to seek out some calmness in their workday.
And as noted above, it’s always helpful to integrate wellness into the overall company culture by encouraging time off, balance, and togetherness to mitigate burnout. Just offering these programs isn’t enough; you’ll also need to encourage your employees to use them and make sure it’s easy to do so.
Discover the Best Way to Improve the Employee Experience
The employee burnout statistics don’t lie — burnout is an increasing problem among the workforce. By staying on top of your employees’ workloads, fostering a culture of open feedback, understanding and addressing the causes of burnout, offering flexible work opportunities, and implementing wellness programs, you’ll be on track to a happier, more productive team.
If you’re looking for a way to improve the work-life balance at your business by providing flexible work, Industrious may be the solution. Whether your team needs private offices or meeting rooms, there are flexible workspaces to meet your needs. Every location even has wellness rooms to help employees relax and recharge. Plus, your team can leverage a fully stocked cafe with daily breakfast and coffee to keep its energy up.
Learn more about how Industrious can provide a positive office experience and help you banish burnout for good.