When trying to develop a positive work environment that engages and retains talented employees the focus is on producing top performers that don’t mind putting in the extra effort. Providing employees with SMART goals, using coaching management techniques and automated performance management systems all support a transparent and collaborative environment. However employee burnout has become a huge issue for many companies and is often a major reason why employees (even top performers) leave. Burnout is an intense state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion combined with lack of confidence in the employee's own competency or value at work.
Here are 7 ways to rededicate yourself to your employees’ well-being to help them avoid burnout.
1. Learn to spot it.
As a leader, learning to recognize the signs of employee burnout is the key to preventing it. Using employee coaching techniques and fostering an open work environment that encourages free and frequent dialogue about performance can assist managers in spotting any worrisome patterns early.
a. Lack of motivation
b. Cynicism
c. Frustration
d. Impatience
e. Disillusionment
f. Change in eating or sleeping habits
g. Cognitive / memory problems
2. Train managers/supervisors.
Managers should be able to spot signs of burnout with their team. Meeting regularly with your employee and using coaching management style can help spot signs. Managers that notice signs of burnout should be instructed to immediately schedule a 1 on 1 meeting to work through issues with the employee. This meeting should be supportive and collaborative so that the employee feels safe to share feelings and is confident that the manager is listening and their concerns are acknowledged. The manager and employee should work together to identify the possible causes and work on solutions that have mutual buy in.
3. Look for the causes.
If you do not know what is causing a problem, it's impossible to eliminate it. There is no definitive set of motivators for employee burnout, although there are some common causes such as work overload, the lack of control, a values conflict, unfairness, insufficient reward, breakdown of community, etc. So it’s important to identify motivators in each individual case of burnout, both current and past. This will not only help you solve the cases of burnout you have on hand now, but also help you prevent future cases.
4. Don’t overload employees.
Although a simple solution, this is the solution in which the employer has the MOST control. Unloading responsibility on your employees can often position them for growth, but left unmanaged, it can also increase their chances of burnout if the weight becomes too heavy for them to carry on their own. And if your best workers burn out, their overall performance will begin to suffer, or even worse, they may choose to leave your company for greener pastures. Train management, that as a leader, they should try to spread duties out as evenly as you can and monitor how your employees react to new added responsibilities.
5. Encourage creativity
Explain this to managers and encourage them to set aside time for employees to work on creative side projects, or even allow them a little more creative freedom in their current projects. This helps your employees keep their mind sharp, keep them engaged and increase their motivation, which all can affect productivity and employee morale.
6. Focus on scheduling
When creating schedule, consider the employees and try to achieve a balance despite industry norms. Scheduling and time tracking functionality within the OnePoint unified HCM platform automates schedule building, providing visibility to staff coverage and monitors attendance with ease. Management can create alerts and reports to watch for burn out signals such as individuals working too many hours, not getting enough days off, employees who frequently miss work, etc.
7. Recognize top performers
If your employees are engaged, they won’t burn out. And one of the best ways to increase engagement is to provide individual recognition. Keep track of top performers and recognize your employees for their good work—by giving them frequent, comprehensive feedback, you can help your employees discover their true impact at your organization and help them identify and achieve future goals. The OnePoint system can track individual performance goals and time frames, etc, so that managers don’t miss the opportunity to frequently provide the employees with feedback.
How OnePoint Unified HCM Solutions Can Help
Coming up with strategies and programs to enable employees and boost engagement can seem overwhelming. However HR leaders recognize the importance of building a Human Capital Management strategy and putting solutions in place to secure tomorrow business success. Today’s workforce needs to be enabled to be successful and engaged. Investing in a unified HCM technology like OnePoint allows companies to automate manual tasks, easily track and analyze metrics like absences, and streamline workforce management processes to improve employee engagement and productivity across the organization. With the right strategies and tools your company can be prepared to spot and avoid employee burnout. Contact OnePoint for a personalized capabilities demonstration for your organization.
