How to reduce burnout in teams

how to reduce burnout recruitment agency dorset

July 17, 2020

While it’s not nearly as much as a danger as COVID-19, the World Health Organization has recently called ‘burnout syndrome’ a pandemic. More and more people year on year are suffering within business and leadership teams. So today we will look at how to reduce burnout across your teams.

With remote working becoming more common, technological advances and the increased pressure on workers, it should come as no surprise that the syndrome is becoming more and more common. Employees are skipping holiday, working overtime and continuing work at home after returning from the office. An extra hour here and there adds up. And so we ask, how to reduce burnout in our employees?

It’s also about Lonliness. Between 2008 and 2018, the BBC reported a 74% increase in the number of people working from home. While there are excellent perks and increases in productivity when working from home, it also leads to a very lonely existence and is reported to be a strong contributing factor to burnout syndrome. Recruiter magazine reports 50% of people across professions feel burnt out. That’s not to mention the recent huge increase in remote working due to the ongoing pandemic. The lines between work and home life are becoming increasingly blurred.

So, how to reduce burnout you ask?

Improve human connections at work

Because of the link between burnout numbers and loneliness, a key factor could be improving human connections at work whether working in an office or remotely.

Encourage friendly, understanding and collaborative relationships between colleagues
Onboard your employees to enable them to feel a sense of belonging and part of something great
Work shops can open up communication and increase the bond between colleagues and team leaders

Communicate & explain

Open the lines of communication to ensure your team is clear on what is expected of them, what is within reason and what is not.

Set realistic goals and discuss how to achieve these
Discuss your expectations and ensure each person understands. If they feel they are unrealistic, discuss and amend.
Ensure your team has the right resources and skills to achieve goals and meet expectations
Upskill or provide additional training where necessary

See the bigger picture

Get your employees to step back and look at the organisation as a whole. Then show them how they fit in, contribute and relate to the overall structure
Encourage stronger communication in each team, ensure employees ‘share the pain’ and can share their workload when needed

Better balance

Ensure working hours are reasonable and that employees can ‘switch off’ at the end of the day or weekend
Regularly review workloads to ensure they are balanced across a team and employees are able to come to you if it is too high
Strongly encourage taking breaks away from work. Don’t expect people to work through lunch or into the evenings/at weekends.

There are always going to times when an organisation is under pressure, but good communication, team work and finding time to re-charge will help to get you and your team through. And do not forget to look after yourself too!

Sources: Thanks to recruiter magazine and https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/managing-workplace-issues/burnout-response.