With employees juggling in between multiple responsibilities due to the COVID-19 induced change in situations, they are struggling to achieve a proper work-life balance, and are stressing out, affecting employee health and wellness.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has now declared workplace burnout as a medical condition caused due to excessive chronic workplace stress, which cannot be managed well.
A recent survey by the University of Phoenix revealed that almost 55% of the employees US adults have experienced workplace burnout. Of these 55%, 48% said they experienced depression, 65% anxiety, and 68% had fatigue.
About Workplace Burnout
According to the WHO, burnout is a condition in which employees experience exhaustion or have feelings of depleted energy, increased negativity towards their job, colleagues, or workplace, reduced productivity or performance, and increasing mental distance from their own feelings, especially towards their work.
Although personal exhaustion and tiredness could contribute majorly towards workplace burnout, it equally affects employee productivity and their mental health.
Compiled from many studies, the primary reasons causing workplace burnout include – workplace stress, heavy workload, demanding personal life, and work-life imbalance. All these directly or indirectly affect employee health and wellness, thus, impacting their productivity, healthcare costs, and business growth.
Owing to these reasons, many employers are now taking adequate steps to address employee burnout issues by creating mental health awareness and by building a healthy workplace culture.
Here are the 3 key pointers to help your employees overcome workplace burnout and achieve work-life balance –
Understanding Stress
Stress is usually the outcome of our thoughts. It could be resilience to a situation, overthinking about a circumstance, or could also be a jumpstart to move ahead many times. By changing one’s perception about the situation, people can avert stressful thinking and prevent mental health issues. While for some people stress can be engaging and keep them active, for some, it may drain out their energy and affect their performance. By changing one’s perception about the situations and stressors, one can control how the stressor affects them and how they react to it. Encourage seminars or talks at the workplace that promote positive thinking and motivate employees to overcome their stressors.
Prioritizing for Work-Life Balance
Having a work-life balance is the first step towards overcoming stress and workplace burnout issues. Identify what is stressing your employees – Are they overworking? Are they overcommitting to their job? Are they spending enough personal time? While your employees may be thinking that multi-tasking would help them with their job profile in the future, it could affect their health and wellness in the present. Have your employees prioritize their primary things, and manage their time such that they feel satisfied about accomplishing their responsibilities, have a better work-life balance, and keep stress at bay.
Managing Energy
Staying active and energetic is important to keep away stress and employee burnout issues. By enhancing energy and rejuvenating oneself, people can refuel their overall positive thinking and achieve holistic wellness, while reducing burnout. Encourage your employees to lead a systematic schedule daily for their everyday chores, having a healthy morning routine, like eating a healthy breakfast, exercising regularly, having fun breaks at work, and other simple ideas to keep them energetic in between work and avoid burnout.
Employers can also incorporate fun wellness challenges and activities in their corporate wellness programs to give their employees a much-needed break from their work routines, thus, preventing a possible employee burnout condition. Also, by creating a healthy workplace culture, employers can contribute towards building activeness and interest in the employees, keeping them fresh and energetic through their work and after working hours. Acknowledge their efforts and ensure they have a proper work-life balance.
With fewer workplace burnout issues, higher will be employee engagement, productivity, and overall workplace wellness.