5 Ways to Help Your Team Prevent and Address Workplace Burnout

Nowadays, everyone has heard the term #burnout. According to Fast Company, 90% of the workforce has experienced burnout in the past year.?

If it’s not a priority in your company to help prevent and address workplace burnout, it should be. In fact, it should be at the top of your list, because it is the #1 risk to your organization, teams, and leaders.

These days, employee burnout doesn’t even need a formal definition.?

Incurring the continual staffing shortages, supply chain issues, feeling disconnected or isolated, and work piling up (maybe from staff shortages) leads to massive stress and disengagement…and then having to do it all again tomorrow and the next day with no end in sight is enough to burn out the most motivated and energetic person.?

Leaders who are burned out lead teams who are burned out.?

So, what can you do??

Here are Five Ways to Help Your Team Prevent and Address Workplace Burnout:

1. Begin somewhere: You may not know where to start or the most important thing to implement, so you just don’t start. Implement something, anything. Just start. Acknowledge employee burnout is a real thing and your desire to make well-being a priority. Then develop a list of what well-being looks like in your company, your department and team. Share this idea with your other leaders to get them involved, creating a full company approach.

2. Form a Task Force: Once you have top-down buy in, where the leaders are on board with putting well-being as a priority, ask employees if they would like to be a part of the well-being task force. Share with them their role and the purpose of the task force, and before you know it, you’ll have a lot of people wanting to be a part of it. Having a task force allows others to lead, the chance to be involved and the opportunity to implement the action steps for your well-being initiative.

3. Send a Survey: It’s vital to get input from employees. At least quarterly, send out a quick survey asking four things

1. What are the organization and leaders doing well pertaining to well-being and burnout?
2. What does the organization and leaders need to do better to prevent and address burnout and enhance well-being?
3. What is needed to help you, as an employee, and the company prioritize well-being?
4. What training, program, or support do you need to help enhance your well-being and decrease burnout?

4. Listen: Asking your workforce what they need and want is only the beginning. You must be willing to really listen to their answers and implement suggestions. They have valuable feedback, and when they know they are being heard, they will feel appreciated and know they matter more than just how they produce, enticing them to stay at the organization longer, because they know you care about them as a person.

5. Implement: Once you’ve listened to their suggestions, find the common threads. Have more conversations around the things, like burnout and mental health, that are important to them. It’s not necessarily about having an app or medical help. It could be helping them with the day-to-day stress and managing their minds through continual daily challenges. Be willing to take action and implement those programs, ideas and support channels.

As you venture into the realm of burnout prevention and better helping your people work through burnout, give yourself the grace and space to find the best fit for your organization.

Burnout isn’t a one-size-fits all. It hits people in different ways and has various effects. Your programs and trainings for burnout shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all approach either. When you find the right initiative that specifically addresses burnout, you will create a happy, healthy, thriving workforce and culture, where your people engage longer, perform stronger, and lead better.?

Jessica Rector is the Leading Burnout and Mind Wellness Authority, Keynote Speaker, and a #1 Best Selling Author. Learn more about her work at www.BlazeYourBrain.com