Practical Ways to Fight Burnout
and Improve Your Team's Energy
See also: Creating a Motivational Environment
Every successful business is based on productive and effective employees.
Let's be honest, employees are the foundation of prosperity and business success. They carry the company forward and contribute to business in more ways than one.
Having engaged teams of people working for you can vastly benefit both you and your company.
However, overworking your employees or neglecting to provide care for them can lead to burnout that will force your employees to reduce their productivity as well as their morale and motivation. That's why it is important to have a good relationship with your employees and aid them in avoiding troublesome situations.
Work Culture
First and foremost, if employees enjoy going to work and are excited about it, then things are going very well ‒ if not, then there is trouble on the horizon.
When people say burnout, the first thing that comes to mind is overworking or pushing one's body and mind beyond the reasonable threshold.
This is completely true; if employees have to do twice the amount of work in one day to meet a deadline or demand, they will suffer from burnout. However, burnout can happen even without forcing someone beyond their limits for the day. Stress, for example, is the leading cause of employee burnout and an overall decrease in work productivity and motivation.
Work culture is the foundation of happy and satisfied employees, while providing better work conditions and environment means better productivity and engagement. If you want to avoid employee burnout and increase your team's effectiveness and energy, you must provide your employees with the best conditions possible. The best way to approach this issue is to treat your employees with respect and see them as your closest companions, not just means to an end. After all, your workers are indeed your most valuable asset and, without them, your business won't make it far.
If work culture is not suitable for the employees, then they will burn out easily as well as lose motivation and productivity. Stressful conditions can wear your employees out faster than hard labor. That is why it's important to enable your employees to work in a stress-free, relaxing and enjoyable environment.
Flexibility
Giving your employees a sense of purpose and accomplishment can vastly improve their motivation, therefore lowering their stress levels and increasing their productivity.
Flexibility is a great way to achieve this. Allowing your employees to fully utilize their innovative skills and creative ideas to solve problems and reach business milestones or goals will greatly reduce chances of burnout.
The "my way or the highway" attitude will force employees to follow strict instructions for doing things, and this monotony may lead to increased stress or even depression.
It's important to encourage your employees’ creativity in order to find the best way of doing things and not just the fastest. Flexibility can be mutually beneficial for both the employer and employees as it improves relations between them.
Flexibility allows employees to choose when, where and how to work. This, for example, can mean choosing the working hours such as 8 to 4 instead of 9 to 5, or working from home for a few days a week.
Flexibility also enables employees to decorate their workspace, thus improving work culture. They are also allowed to make decisions on how to solve a certain problem or reach a certain business goal. In short, flexibility gives employees room to improve and adapt work conditions in order to maximize their potential and productivity.
Appreciation
One thing is certain ‒ if your employees feel unappreciated and undervalued, they will burn out.
Everything your employees accomplish that goes unnoticed will crush their morale. So, in order to boost your team's confidence and energy, it is of vital importance to reward their efforts and appreciate their hard work.
Employees will feel empowered and even more motivated if their productivity is noticed and valued. Everyone works for a salary ‒ money is a necessity for survival in this world. However, money is not always the most important thing when it comes to employee satisfaction. Of course, if you pay employees less than what they are worth, they will leave and find another job elsewhere. Furthermore, increasing salary as a means of reward is usually a beneficial thing, but other tokens of appreciation can have more value than money.
Offering adequate rewards to employees in order to show them that the work they've done is important, and that their effort is appreciated, will strengthen the relationship between the employer and employees.
It's up to the employer to choose the right rewards based on the work that has been completed, goals achieved and their employees’ preferences. These rewards can include more vacation days, gift cards, company discounts, free lunch, and other innovative rewards that make employees happy.
The only limit to choosing rewards is your imagination ‒ don't hesitate to show your team how much they mean to you and your business.
Investing Further
Investing in your employees will ensure their loyalty and engagement.
Once you have a well-developed and educated team, you can improve it and build upon it even further.
A team that plays well and works well is an extremely valuable asset that can boost work productivity quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, giving employees an opportunity to advance and improve themselves will give them a sense of value and importance.
Career advancement and additional education will greatly benefit your employees by allowing them to learn new skills and take on more responsibilities. A good employee can advance through the ranks and set an example for others to follow, further increasing the overall productivity. With these opportunities, employees will have something to strive for and not just get stuck in one place forever. With a greater purpose and higher goal in mind, employees can avoid burnout and find their place in the company.
Further Reading from Skills You Need
The Skills You Need Guide to Stress and Stress Management
Understand and Manage Stress in Your Life
Learn more about the nature of stress and how you can effectively cope with stress at work, at home and in life generally. The Skills You Need Guide to Stress and Stress Management eBook covers all you need to know to help you through those stressful times and become more resilient.
Employees are the most valuable asset a company can have. Treating them as family members, and not just as tools to serve a purpose, can improve relationships, productivity, efficiency and prosperity of both the employees and the business.
Engaged employees can benefit a company in more ways than one, from better customer support and customer relations to increased productivity and profits. It's quite simple to avoid employee burnout ‒ it only takes a little bit of care, effort and appreciation.
About the Author
Emma Miller is a marketer and a writer from Sydney. Her focuses are digital marketing, social media, start-ups and latest trends. She’s a contributor at Bizzmark blog.
Continue to:
Avoiding Burnout
Maintaining a Work/Life Balance