6 Ways to Address Employee Burnout

Half of workers around the world are suffering from burnout, according to research from the Boston Consulting Group.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as an "occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." 

Expanding your wellbeing benefits might seem like a logical solution to combat stress, but it won't necessarily address the core issue.

One of the key culprits behind burnout is an unsustainable workload, which isn't surprising given the low unemployment rate and historically high job vacancies in Australia. We're dealing with an imbalance between work demands and available resources.

Here are some practical steps you can take to ease the pressure and reset expectations for your team at the organisational level:

🐝 Implement a 'done for the day' time: Encourage senior leaders to initiate this daily practice, signalling the end of the workday for all.

🐝Embrace the 85% rule: Encourage your team to aim for 85% effort instead of their usual 100%, a much more sustainable level of productivity.

🐝Empower Line Managers: Brief your Line Managers to help rebalance their direct reports' workloads. This includes clarifying priorities, removing unnecessary steps and barriers, ensuring realistic deadlines, and reallocating tasks as needed.

🐝Set communication boundaries: Clarify when people are expected to be available by phone and email, and limit out-of-hours emails by using email scheduling rules. There's no need for an "Always On" culture.

🐝Watch your language: Save terms like "URGENT," "ASAP," and "high importance" for actual corporate crises. In most cases, it's better to keep calm and tone it down.

🐝Promote time off: Encourage your team to take time off, whether it's booking unused annual leave, offering bonus time off for all, allowing late starts or early finishes—everyone needs time to recharge.

A few small changes will help your team close out the year feeling re-energised and engaged.

#burnout #wellbeing