Leaders have a big role to play in employee burnout

Leaders - it's on?you?to build an employee burnout strategy. Work design, workplace culture, and leadership can be key contributors to employees heading towards burnout.

For employees to perform effectively and safely, it's on leaders to ensure the work is working well for people. If you're thinking - isn't it on the employee to avoid burnout? Don't fall victim to outdated and downright incorrect assumptions that burnout is the fault of the employee - or their sole responsibility to solve. Sure, employees have a role to play in learning and applying skills to handle reasonable work demands, pressures, changes and stressors. However, leaders don't excuse themselves from putting effort into exploring and understanding the impact on burnout that can be attributed to issues of work design, culture and leadership.

Providing care packs or perks are not a solution and don't even pass as a bandaid. Approach your burnout strategy from both the top-down and the bottom-up. Make time to ensure fundamental hygiene factors are in place. Make time to ask good questions and seek to understand what is going on from various angles - work design, culture, leadership, and employee experiences navigating the complexities of modern work and life.

Finally, make time to read this little article too - it has some really valuable messages that need to be discussed in organisations right now. Harvard Business Review - Burnout Is About Your Workplace, Not Your People

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