Is your employee showing signs of disengagement or lacking the usual amount of motivation? Are they taking more sick days or committing mistakes more frequently? Do they show cynicism or low morale? They may be suffering from burnout!

What is Employee Burnout and Why Should You Care?

Employee burnout can be simply explained as excessive stress and exhaustion from work. But more than just the usual physical tiredness, employee burnout can include mental and emotional fatigue as well. When not addressed, burnout can lead to health problems including heart diseases, diabetes, alcoholism, and even drug abuse.

Burnout can manifest in many ways, often varying from employee to employee, but just the same: employee burnout is not good for your business. A study showed that two-thirds of all full-time workers have reported feeling burnt out at work and the effects to businesses are not to be ignored. Not only do burnt-out employees show reduced productivity at work; they could also cost you some valuable talents.

Employee burnout cost up to $190 billion in annual healthcare spending in the U.S. and is responsible for 50% of the total workforce turnovers in 2017.

Causes of Employee Burnout

Identifying the cause of the problem is the first step in coming up with a solution. When it comes to employee burnout, these are the common factors that you need to look into.

1. Massive and/or drastic changes within the department, team, or organization. While change is inevitable in most every work setting, different people react and adapt to these changes in varying ways. Changes are more stressful for some, thus causing employee burnout.

2. Work overload. Work overload is seen as the one of the leading and first causes of work burnout. Aside from its physical toll on the body, work overload causes people to spend more of their free time at work, endangering healthy work-life balance.

3. Too much pressure. There are many causes of work pressure including hectic schedules and tight deadlines, competition, and management.

4. Non-work-related pressures or stressors. Personal concerns, like marital problems and financial stresses, though non-work-related, can also cause employees to feel burnt out and unmotivated at work.

5. Boredom at work. This problem is particularly true for workers who do repetitive tasks as well as underemployed workers who feel unfulfilled because they are qualified for more highly-skilled jobs but feel stuck in jobs that are too easy (and thus unfulfilling) for them.

6. Poor working conditions. Poor working conditions can include anything from poorly-designed workspaces (e.g. lack of ventilation, poor ergonomic design, etc), to lack of camaraderie with colleagues and conflicts with the management. Poor scheduling like night shift jobs can also account for poor working conditions.

7. Negative work culture. Dysfunctional relationships can occur anywhere – including and especially the workplace where we spend majority of our days. And this is one of the leading causes of employee burnout. Negative work culture can range anywhere from working with a bully to unhealthy competition within the organization.

8. Lack of recognition. Upward mobility is an important factor in an employee’s motivation to work. Burnout results when workers feel like their efforts are unrewarded or there are very few opportunities to move up in their careers, making every bit of the job a torment and a futile endeavor.

9. Lack of engagement. This is especially true in jobs that require camaraderie amongst group members. When team members feel isolated or there’s too much tension between members, thus getting in the way of completing tasks, burnout enters the picture.

10. Bad management. Employee-management relationships are key to employee motivation and engagement. In a survey conducted on employees, results show that 23% of those surveyed attributed employee burnout to poor management. It is important that employees feel like the management cares about their welfare, is approachable, and is engaging with them.

How to Avoid Employee Burnout

When you begin to notice signs of employee burnout in your team members, the quick and correct response is critical because burnout is not simply a personal issue but a problem that revolves around and involves the workplace. Here are some things that managers can do to help employees experiencing burnout:

 – Promote better personal relationships within the workplace through team-building activities.

 – Reassess management practices that might be contributing to burnout.

 – Re-design your facility into an ergonomic workplace to help ease the physical factors that lead to burnout by investing in more comfortable chairs and desks, using anti-fatigue mats in work areas where employees are expected to be on their feet for prolonged periods, incorporating proper acoustics, etc.

 – Create opportunities for one-on-one consultation with employees.

 – Create safe spaces for open communication between employees and managers.

The success of your business should not simply be measured by sales and profits; it should also be measured by how happy and healthy your employees are. Contact Carpet Rentals today to learn more about the services we can offer to your business!