Make absolutely no mistake about it: Not only is employee burnout very real, it’s probably costing your business a lot more money than you realize. It’s also not a problem that you’re necessarily going to be able to buy your way out of, either.
According to one recent study, a massive 70 percent of the workforce in the United States is not engaged with their current jobs in any type of meaningful way ― and employee burnout is a major contributing factor to this. As stated, if you think that this is because people don’t feel like they’re making enough money, the chances are very high that you’re wrong. The same study revealed that 89 percent of employers THINK that people leave jobs to get more money elsewhere, but in reality, that’s only actually true about 12 percent of the time.
But perhaps the most damning statistic of all is the following: Collectively, disengaged employees cost organizations in the United States between $450 and $550 billion every year in terms of lost productivity alone.
So, once you’ve come to the realization that this is, in fact, a problem, you must then turn your attention toward taking advantage of any possible solution in front of you. The good news is that it is possible to mitigate the effects of employee burnout ― you just need to keep a few key things in mind.
Understand What Employee Burnout Looks Like
Not every employee is necessarily burned out ― even if they’re pulling long hours or giving everything to help you achieve your goals. But in an effort to avoid the major downsides of burnout on your business, you need to know more about how to spot it in its nascent stages.
If an employee is burned out, they’re probably exhibiting one or even all of the following signs:
- They’re exhausted, either physically or emotionally. The resources needed to cope with their work environment in these two areas are totally spent, and they tend to act accordingly. We’ve all been here, so you should know what it looks like.
- They’re increasingly cynical. They know what they’re supposed to do and why it matters, but they’re less convinced that it really matters to THEM in the long run.
- They’re growing more inefficient as time goes on. Burned-out employees tend to give up “trying” pretty quickly as a result of the cynical attitude outlined above, and the quality of the work they offer suffers as a result.
Put a Premium on the Mental Health of Your Employees
If you truly want to mitigate the effects of employee burnout, you need to focus not on correcting the problem but on trying to prevent it from happening in the first place.
This means placing a high priority on the mental health and wellness of all of your workers, something you can do in a few different ways.
Some experts recommend that you should hold walking meetings, for example. Instead of holding yet another meeting with your team in a stuffy boardroom with absolutely no natural lighting, get outside and take a walk around the block. You can still discuss all the same things (and thanks to cloud technology, you can likely refer to all of the same files on devices like smartphones and tablets), but the change of scenery will really make a big difference.
Along the same lines, don’t be afraid to encourage people to take mental health days ― especially during busy periods or the holiday season. Remember that a burned-out employee ultimately isn’t doing you any good anyway, so if they need to leave early one day or not come in at all, they’ll be at far more of an advantage than you are at a disadvantage in terms of lost productivity. Just knowing that you support their health and wellness like this will really go a long way toward mitigating this type of risk.
Likewise, you should always maintain an open door policy with your employees. If they feel like they need to come in and talk to you for any reason, good or bad, they should feel comfortable with their ability to do so. If they need something to thrive in their job every day, they shouldn’t be afraid to come ask for it because they should know you’ll work hard to get it. If they have a problem, they should feel willing to come talk to you to look for a solution. Again, the importance of this level of managerial support is something that you absolutely cannot overstate.
Everyone feels burned out every now and again ― this is not something you can avoid. But if you truly want to avoid letting employee burnout have a long-term negative effect on everything that you’ve already worked so hard to build, you need to recognize the problem and take steps now to do something about it. Oftentimes, success to that end is less the product of one big move and more about a series of smaller ones. Provided you follow tips like these every day, you’ll soon realize that a large portion of the hard work has already been done for you.
Isler Northwest LLC is a firm of certified public accountants and business advisors based in Portland, Oregon. Our local, regional, and global resources, our expertise, and our emphasis on innovative solutions and continuity create value for our clients. Our service goals at Isler Northwest is to earn our clients trust as their primary business and financial advisors.
Isler Northwest
1300 SW 5th Avenue
Suite 2900
Portland, Oregon 97201
