How To Prevent Your Team From Burnout

It’s been an extraordinary few years that have involved all sorts, from working from home during various lockdowns to hybrid-working models. Now, many companies realise that their staff have been working longer hours into the evenings and juggling homeschooling—and quite frankly, this is leading to a massive amount of burnout.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that work-life balance is essential for a healthy and happy workforce. And we’re starting to see this mindset shift be put into action. Back in 2021, Bumble announced that they would close and give burnt-out staff a week's break. The link between company success and motivated, energised employees is more evident than ever.

But where do you start to prevent your team from burnout? What are the risks of employee burnout? What do you do when your employees are burned out? In this article, we’ll cover what you need to know and offer practical, actionable tips on creating a psychologically safe environment to support your employees.

What is Burnout?

Let’s go back to basics and review some definitions. First things first—what exactly is burnout? It’s a state in which an employee is physically and/or emotionally exhausted by their job. Often, this is the result of long-term work stress, but other factors can also be involved. Think about pressures from home, illness, relationships, families, etc. 

Think of burnout as a car running on empty. It can only go so far without shutting down completely. And that’s no good for anyone involved.

So, how do you identify employee burnout? And what does employee burnout look like? Everyone is different, so there’s no hard set of rules on how exactly burnout manifests. But here are some common behaviours to look out for.

• Less productive

• Uncharacteristic mistakes

• Feeling isolated from colleagues and the company’s mission

• Feeling disillusioned and unmotivated

What are the Risks of Burnout?

Exactly how serious is job burnout? And why should you be worried about employee burnout? To be straightforward, burnout employees don’t perform as well as motivated, energetic employees, ultimately costing your business money. Unhappy employees are also more likely to leave for other job opportunities, increasing employee churn and, again, costing your business money. Not investing in their well-being and psychological safety affects your bottom line. It just doesn’t make business sense to have burnout employees.

Most people are feeling the effects of juggling more than usual and the anxiety of the pandemic, which has been a stressful time. They are emotionally and physically burnt out. So, what's the solution?

Several clients have asked us what other companies are doing to ease the transition back into the office (if they haven’t done so already). Should they continue to offer flexible working-from-home options? 

5 Actionable Ways to Prevent Burnout

The good news is that there are practical steps that managers and employers can take to help prevent their line reports from experiencing burnout. Here are five actionable ways that you can implement preventative burnout measures in your team.

1. Set clear roles and expectations

People can struggle with burnout when they’re unclear about what is expected of them and their role within a team and a company. Setting out an individual’s role, the scope of their responsibility, and the expectations of what they should be doing helps shape their role and career path within an organisation and establishes the purpose of their job.

2. Be an active listener 

Feeling seen and listened to is vital for establishing psychological safety in a workplace, which is an essential part of preventing burnout from happening. Actively listening means showing you are paying attention to what your team members are saying and providing feedback based on what they’re sharing. This goes beyond just hearing what they’re saying, but showing that you’ve understood and have reflected what they’ve said.

3. Get to understand what your team is struggling with 

There may be specific bottlenecks or areas that your team is struggling with that can contribute to feelings of frustration and, therefore, lead to burnout. Understanding your team’s workflows and pipelines, talking to them about certain areas that they’re struggling with, and identifying structural pain points and potential solutions to these will not only help make completing tasks more efficient but also less stressful.

4. Make changes that are within your control 

Not all pain points can be solved quickly. However, if there are changes that can be made that are in your control, make them. This shows to your team that you have listened to them and recognised the areas they struggle in. 

5. Prioritise work-life balance for everyone on your team. 

Prioritising work-life balance on your team means that everyone, including you, gets to leave on time and that there’s no overworking. No one can work effectively when the tank is empty—it’s a smart business move to ensure your team gets adequate rest.

To Sum Up

Employee needs vary widely. Some employees are desperate to be in an office environment, see their colleagues, and enjoy a change of scenery. Others thrive working from home and are more productive in their own space with a quiet, at-home desk. Given the diversity and differences in people-at-home situations, we recommend that employers continue to offer a level of flexibility to their staff. None of us know what 'the new norm' looks like yet, despite being a few years on the other side of the start of the pandemic. However, we all must pay attention to ourselves and our staff and ensure everyone's mental and physical well-being is in good shape.

Ultimately, our shared goal is to emerge from the post-pandemic period thriving and ready to achieve great things. We don't want to crawl out of it burnt out, exhausted, and drained. So, let's pause, engage in meaningful conversations with our employees, and ensure that everyone is rejuvenated and ready to accomplish remarkable things.

Talent Hub and the team specialise in headhunting, executive search, and the recruitment of marketing, digital, and creative jobs and people, both in the UK and Internationally.