Is your business failing to produce the desired results? Perhaps your employees are burnt out. It is no wonder many companies blow it off, pushing employees over the edge, but negative feelings towards their jobs and workplaces overwhelm employees. When your workers become burnt out, they start running on empty. 

Employee burnout is a syndrome, according to the World Health Organisation, brought about by:

• Increased exhaustion
• Increased mental distance from your job
• Reduced professional efficacy
• A lack of management support
• A feeling of being solitude in the workplace

Burnout leads to disengagement and disinterest that take a terrible toll on the physical and mental health of people. The bottom line can be badly affected if employees are not productive. It is a serious concern that should be dealt with without more ado. Surprisingly, you can do it by creating a positive atmosphere in your company. 

Ways to prevent employee burnout

Here are some useful ways to prevent exhaustion among employees that lead to a lack of productivity. 

Set clear expectations for your employees

You should make efforts to make your employees feel that they are part of your organisation. Do not treat it like a job. It is something that is a core part of their value system. Your employees cannot perform effectively without a little guidance on what they are doing and what they are expected of.

• Set realistic deadlines. They should not be so tight that they end up doing overtime.
• Focus on improving the work culture of your company. Set organisational values to ensure everybody is working in that direction. 
• Offer reasonable pay for the level you are hiring. Offing a low pay scale and hiring multi-tasking employees will take you nowhere. 
• Focus on the values and make sure that work aligns with them.
• Ensure that everybody is in the loop about the company’s progress and they are all on the same page to achieve goals. 

Respect employee boundaries

How the relationship your employees have with their work is a crucial factor in determining if they are on the brink of burnout. Setting healthy boundaries is the key to healthy relationships between employees and their work. They feel motivated to do their job. Workers with better work-life balance are willing to go above and beyond their usual standards to achieve their companies’ goals. 

• Make sure your employees are not overwhelmed by too much of a workload.
• Treat employees with respect. Acknowledge their achievements and reward them.
• Be open and transparent about their work performance. Give constructive feedback. 
• Create a stress-free company’s culture. 
• Use technology to keep your employees efficient. 
• Offer flexibility to their working hours. 

Paid time off

Many employees complain about the leave system that companies follow. Employers treat their employees as slaves. They do not provide sufficient leave to them, which results in pay deductions when they are absent from their work. 

Employers should understand that vacations recharge employees. It prevents burnout. Some surveys have found that a lack of paid time off is also a reason for burnout. 

• You should encourage your employees to take leave.
• Extend the number of paid days off. Offer birthday, maternity and paternity leaves. There is no need to set harsh conditions to qualify for these leaves. 
• As a company, you can also plan a weekend trip so everyone takes a break from work. 

Flexible working hours

Flexible working hours improve job satisfaction. After the pandemic, many companies switched to a work-from-home policy that lets employees work flexible hours. Even if you do not agree to this clause, you can still allow flexible working hours. 

For instance, if somebody logs in early, they can log out early, too. You can allow it to independent workers. However, there are a lot of other things to introduce in flexible working hours as well. 

• Allow your employees to choose their own schedule, breaks and shifts. It will help them be productive rather than just quitting. 
• Consider job-sharing as it will ensure full-time availability if any of the employees have absented themselves from work or called in sick. 
• Consider both in-house and out-of-house job opportunities. In this changing environment, accepting remote work is a must.
• Relax a formal dress code. 

Social interaction

Social interactions at work reflect your employees’ relationship with work. Casual interactions with others incite a playful and lighter atmosphere. It makes your employees feel connected to the world surrounding them. To ensure social interaction:

• Create a sense of belonging. Take down the cubes’ walls.
• Build a team of a few people to handle a project. It keeps them productive and builds a sort of informal relationship. 
• Organise trips to help them create a bond. It will help all of them to get to know each other.

Encourage well-being

You should show your employees that you respect and take care of them. Their physical and mental health are both interconnected. They should be put on a good pay scale, but apart from that, your employees also want growth opportunities. 

• Make sure you conduct training programmes. On-the-job training will help them learn what they are expected of and how they should do their jobs.
• Assign new roles to them so they can grow professionally. For instance, writers can be taught digital marketing. 
• Provide other benefits like health insurance, life insurance, provident fund, workplace pension plans, etc. 
• Provide opportunities to onboard employees to hone their skills.
• Develop career paths for your employees to make progress. 

Providing training to your employees can be a bit expensive. However, in the event of a lack of money, you can take out a secured business loan at low interest rate. 

Get feedback from employees

You should be able to solve the grievances of your employees. You cannot blow their problems off just because you think that is an excuse to obtain extra benefits. You should listen to their feedback. Sometimes, their problems are genuine, which hampers productivity. At the end of every month, you should call for a meeting to discuss things they want to be introduced to at work. 

• Get feedback from employees and spot warning signs to identify if any of them are burning out.
• Act on their complaints to show that you look after them. 
• Have realistic expectations from them so they do not feel burnout. 

The bottom line

Employee burnout is a very common problem among almost all companies. Thankfully, it is something you can easily handle with. You should improve your company’s work culture. Make sure your employees get a chance to interact with others. It should not be all-time work and no play. 

Listen to your employees’ feedback. Sometimes, their concerns could be genuine and might affect your productivity. You should act upon this without further ado. Let your employees work in flexible hours. Provide them with health benefits and on-the-job training. 

You should also conduct training programmes to prepare them for new roles. Do not expect your employees to meet unrealistic deadlines. Make sure they do not have to handle major projects back to back.