Preventing Employees’ Burnout: 8 Things You Can Do

The condition of employee burnout is very disturbing in many aspects, whether it’s for the individual or the company where they work. This is because burnout will decrease employee productivity and affect their work performance. But, unfortunately, it is very easy for employees to get burned out. Whether they work from home or work from the office – they won’t be free from the possibility of getting burnout.

When Employees Burnout, How to Overcome It?

Burnout itself is not just a condition of being tired from work that can be overcome by taking a short break. The following are some practical solutions for you as an HR professional or team leader to navigate your way around the employee who looks on the verge of a breakout. Check out the ultimate tips below!

  1. Find the Causes of Employee Burnout

The burnout condition has a lot of causes and the symptoms must be realized, afterward, the solution can be sought. You should first pay attention to your employees and see whether they are different from what they used to be or not. For example, do you notice that your team member has a decrease in performance? Easily lose focus or become overly sensitive? These changes may have happened due to a breakout. After seeing these changes, you may finally ask to have a 1-on-1 conversation with them to try to learn about what is the core problem.

  1. Ensure Employees Have High-Quality Break

Make sure employees get enough high-quality rest to calm their brains every day. The human brain is not designed to work too hard and continuously. In the short term, thus it is very important for employees to have undisturbed rest during their working day, to ensure their brain capabilities can be at their peak every time they work. To help them achieve thorough rest, make sure during break time, no one talks about work-related matters. Let them do whatever they seem comfortable doing during lunchtime.

  1. Recognizing the Personality of Each Employee

You can help the employees to avoid burnout by recognizing the personality of each employee. For example, some of your employees are perfectionists, critical, and skeptical when carrying out every work task assigned to them. As the superiors you should effectively help employees to control their emotions when working.

  1. Give One Extra Day-Off for Employees to do Their Hobby

Experiencing severe burnout sometimes isn’t just a result of overwork. The cause of employee burnout can also occur due to neglecting one’s right to have fun with their personal hobbies. With a balance of work and hobbies, employees’ mood definitely will be uplifted – thus they will be happier as a result.

As an HR professional, you can create a policy that gives one extra day-off for employees every month. With this extra day-off, employees are urged to do whatever their hobby is with ease. Thus the next day – they will be much happier and more energized to finish all of their work tasks.

  1. Pay Attention to Working Hours

Working from home or work from home (WFH) is vulnerable to making employees work beyond normal working hours – more so than when employees work for the office. The notion that WFH is more flexible and relaxed needs to be corrected. Companies need to provide clear terms of working hours. Employees who are still asked to do their work even after time to clock out, need to report to the HR Team and let HR deal with it. It is very important to do this, to ensure they are not burdened with continuous work.

  1. Appreciation

Ensuring that employees are given well-deserved appreciation is important to uplift their mood and make the employees feel appreciated. Proper appreciation from the superior, will make employees feel cared for and at the same time can trigger enthusiasm to give their best performance. If you’re looking for a simple and meaningful way to recognize your employees’ contributions, consider giving them a heartfelt business thank you card.

  1. Mental Health Programs

Employees who are part of a small team may find it easy for the manager to monitor the condition of its members. However, for companies with large teams, it is necessary to partner with a third party to create an employee mental health program.

By cooperating with trusted parties and experts in their fields, companies can obtain a variety of services. Starting from mental health checks, and self-help content, to counseling to professionals. Like physical health, mental health programs are just as important for employees

  1. Evaluation

There needs to be an interaction between employees and the company through evaluation opportunities. This interaction can prevent burnout because employees can actively convey things that need to be changed, adjusted, or improved so that the work environment becomes more conducive. Employee voice is very important for the progress of the company. Employees who feel valued, will have higher work performance and thus have a positive impact on the company.

There are several ways companies can deal with employee burnout, aside from the things mentioned above – you should also pay attention to the workspace condition. A clean and tidy office is one of the contributing factors that can help lower employees’ possibility of getting burnout. With proper office conditions, employees will be able to work comfortably and productively.