Employee burnout can have a huge negative effect on your workplace, from higher rates employee absences and turnover to decreased employee engagement and productivity. It can also make the workplace an uncomfortable place to be. We all hope to come to work each day with co-workers who are happy and motivated, not burned out. But how do the leaders in your organization find the right balance between high performance and happy employees?
Research from Gallup suggests that employee burnout has less to do with expectations for hard work and high performance and more to do with how someone is managed. Here are five things your supervisors can do to prevent burnout on your team:
Listen to work-related problems
One of the mail goals of supervisors in your organization should be to help employees manage work-related issues. According to the research, employees whose manager is always willing to listen to their work-related problems are 62% less likely to be burned out. Help your managers strengthen their listening skills. Encourage them to practice active listening, asking clarifying questions and listening first to seek to understand, not to prepare a response.
Encourage teamwork
One major factor in whether employees are engaged in their work or not are their relationships at work. Encourage supervisors to build high-performing teams. Also encourage employees to get to know one another and build friendships by creating space and time for co-workers to get to know one another.
Consider all opinions
Supervisors should be asking for feedback from employees on a regular basis. When employees feel like their opinion matters, they are more likely to take responsibility for their work and productivity and performance. Will improve. It is also a lot easier to give feedback, when you have been actively seeking feedback from employees about the workplace and how you are doing as a supervisor.
Make work meaningful
Help all employees see how their individual contributions support the company’s goals. Also make sure to communicate with employees often about the goals of the organization, so they can align their own performance goals to the organization’s goals.
Focus on strengths-based feedback and development
Communicate with each employee one-on-one about their goals and motivations at work. Identify what things they are good at and what things they like to do and help them discover ways their work can align with these. Employees who have the opportunity to do what they do best are 57% less likely to frequently experience burnout.
Don’t forget that supervisors can experience burnout too. They need the same things individual contributors on the team need in order to prevent burnout.
Looking for more ideas? Reach out to our People Strategy team to share your ideas for reducing employee burnout and get some valuable feedback.