How to prevent burnout syndrome in your team

Burnout syndrome is a phenomenon which requires no explanation. It is a result of long-term stress, non-sustainable way of working and emotional strain that manifests itself as sudden loss of motivation, apathy, unwillingness to work, exhaustion and inability to perform tasks. Burnout is more common especially among employees in services and professions which involve direct interaction with clients, e.g. social workers, health workers, customer service agents, waiters, salespeople or consultants. However, burnout can affect anybody, which is why this article looks at how to avoid it in your team.

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Balance between work and personal life

As Human Capital League states, the first step in the fight against burnout is providing employees with the opportunity to balance their work and personal lives. Offer flexible working hours, home office and other benefits that will allow employees not to become stressed by efforts to balance their professional and private lives.

Breaks and changes in routine

One of the paths leading to burnout is a constant, tedious routine, often requiring high concentration. Help employees vary this routine by enabling them to change activities, occasionally relax by doing something other than their main task, and gather energy during breaks.

Manageable workload

When fighting against burnout, it is essential to ensure the workload allocated to individual workers does not exceed certain limits and is manageable in the long term.

Ability to decide for oneself and adjust one's work

The risk of burnout is higher if the employee feels someone else is deciding for them and there is no room for their own initiative. Give employees the chance to find their own way and allow them power partially to adjust their work so it better suits them.

Raising mental health awareness 

Last but not least, you must raise mental health awareness among employees. Looking after their own mental health is their responsibility too, which is why you should organise mental health training and offer assistance to people who wish to look after their own mental health.

 

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Article source Human Capital League - online community for workplace management professionals
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