Burnout is different from just exhaustion. Key features include:
Cynicism - such as disliking the company, customers, or other aspects of the job
Disengagement - where employees focus on something entirely different from the task at hand
Tiredness - the physical inability to keep going, despite deadlines and other pressures
When burnout hits individuals, it’s bad. Productivity goes down, quality of work begins to suffer, and the worker takes on a combative, nihilistic attitude to everything that the company does. But when it affects the entire team, the results can be utterly catastrophic. Whole firms can fail because they pushed themselves too hard.
Fortunately, there are things that you can do to turn the situation around. Remember, pushing your team to the limit 100 percent of the time won’t allow you to achieve the results that you want.
Discuss The Importance Of Balance
You want a corporate culture in which people work hard. But in some companies, this can go too far. People feel awkward going home in the evening and will often sit at their desks, firing away emails, until they exhaust themselves.
Ideally, you want to stamp this out. Take drastic action if you have to. For instance, if managerial instructions for people to go home after 6 pm isn’t enough, turn off the electricity to the building so that people cannot work. Make sure that everyone knows that this is the policy and that it has your full backing.
You might also put penalties in place for people who clock in for too many hours of overtime, such as removing their bonuses. These approaches will encourage them to get more done during the day so that they can live more balanced lives.
Change Things From Time To Time
When employees do the same thing every day, they feel like they are on a treadmill. Another day, another dollar.
That’s why smart bosses mix things up from time to time. For instance, you might take your team away for a company retreat to a venue, such as Evins Mill. Getting out of the office – even if it’s just for a day – can have a profound effect on the psyche.
You might also want to rearrange hours. For instance, if people get into the office at 8 am and leave at 5 pm, you might want to change this to 11 am to 7 pm. For some people's body clocks, this might help to make them feel more alert during the day.
Find Out What’s Really Behind The Exhaustion
Work can be tiring: that’s normal. But for something to be exhausting, there needs to be an unpleasant psychological element to it as well.
Smart bosses know this. That’s why they always dig deeper. They want to find out why somebody who sits in front of a computer all day feels so rotten. It’s not the hardships of physical labor anymore.
If employees offer an explanation, take note. Really think about what they’re saying and what you can do to change the situation. It could be workload, managerial pressure, or repetition that’s causing the problem.
