Scribd
Upload
94 views6 pages

Preventing Employee Burnout

The document provides guidance for managers on preventing employee burnout. It discusses how burnout has increased during the pandemic and managers play a key role in addressing it. The document outlines signs of burnout, common causes like lack of autonomy or work overload, and steps managers can take such as understanding the root cause, advocating for employees, eliminating roadblocks, and encouraging use of resources. It also stresses the importance of managers taking care of their own well-being to prevent contributing to employee burnout.

Uploaded by

Anshumali Saxena
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
94 views6 pages

Preventing Employee Burnout

The document provides guidance for managers on preventing employee burnout. It discusses how burnout has increased during the pandemic and managers play a key role in addressing it. The document outlines signs of burnout, common causes like lack of autonomy or work overload, and steps managers can take such as understanding the root cause, advocating for employees, eliminating roadblocks, and encouraging use of resources. It also stresses the importance of managers taking care of their own well-being to prevent contributing to employee burnout.

Uploaded by

Anshumali Saxena
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

Workbook

Manager Essentials:
Preventing Employee
Burnout
According to a 2021 survey from the global staffing firm Robert
Half, more than four in 10 employees feel more burned out
in their jobs today than they did a year ago.1 And, nearly half
of employees experiencing increased fatigue blame it on the
heavier workload they’ve experienced in the last year.
Burnout – which the Mayo Clinic defines as a state of physical,
emotional, or mental exhaustion combined with doubts about
one’s competence and work value2 – has only seemed to grow
among the global workforce as the pandemic continues into its
third year.3 While some businesses have attempted to address
burnout with company-wide initiatives like mental health days,
managers are the ones who have to shoulder much of the
responsibility for preventing burnout.
But, fortunately, it’s possible to bounce back from burnout,
and managers can be instrumental in helping their employees
do so. Use this workbook to learn how to spot burnout in your
employees and help them overcome it.

1
Kathryn Mayer, “Burnout is continuing to rise; is HR doing enough?”, Human Resource Executive, June 1, 2021.
2
Mayo Clinic Staff, “Job burnout: How to spot it and take action,” Mayo Clinic Adult Health, June 5, 2021.
3
Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter, “How to Measure Burnout Accurately and Ethically,” Harvard Business Review, March 19, 2021.
Identifying and preventing
employee burnout
Has it just been an off couple of weeks, or are your employee’s
recent deadline lapses signs of a larger issue? It’s not always easy to
recognize signs of burnout in others, particularly when it comes to
distributed workforces, but it’s essential in today’s work environment.
Here’s how you can recognize burnout, identify what causes it,
address it with your team, and look out for yourself, too.

1.
Recognizing burnout
When your team seems to be operating in survival mode, is only trying to get by in their day-
to-day lives, and are no longer thinking about the future, they might be experiencing burnout.
According to the World Health Organization, signs of burnout at work include:

• Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion


• Increased disinterest in one’s job
• Negative or cynical feelings about one’s job
• Reduced productivity4

What are some of the signs that led you to realize you or a member of your team
were experiencing burnout? List examples here based on the signs noted above.

What’s helped you overcome periods when you’ve experienced burnout?

“Burn-out an ‘occupational phenomenon’: International Classification of Diseases,” World Health Organization, May 28, 2019.
4

Manager Essentials: Preventing Employee Burnout 2


2.
Identifying causes of burnout
If only the reason behind burnout was as simple as too much work. In her research on burnout
in the workplace, Christina Maslach, creator of the Maslach Burnout Inventory,5 identified six
common causes of work burnout:

• Little control or lack of autonomy


• Insufficient rewards
• Lack of community
• Unfair treatment
• Values mismatch
• Work overload6

Have you ever related to any of the six common causes of burnout? If so, which
ones and how did they affect your mindset and performance?

Imagine one of your employees comes to you expressing one of the six burnout causes
listed above. How would you help them address the cause and find a solution?

5
Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter, “Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for
psychiatry,” World Psychiatry, June 5, 2016.
6
Elizabeth Grace Saunders, “6 Causes of Burnout, and How to Avoid Them,” Harvard Business Review, July 5, 2019.

Manager Essentials: Preventing Employee Burnout 3


3.
Addressing burnout
The first step in addressing burnout with your team is for you, as a manager, to start with
yourself. How are your communication habits, expectations, and overall leadership style
possibly contributing to burnout? Once you’ve taken a moment to recognize your own role in
burnout, speak up and address burnout with employees by:

Understanding the root cause — Check-in regularly with your direct reports on their current
feelings toward work. Ask questions, listen, and encourage their feedback.

Advocating for your team — Show your direct reports that you’re on their team by protecting
their time with cross-functional teams and offering flexibility (whether with deadlines, project
ownership, or work hours) when possible.

Eliminating roadblocks — Leverage the strengths of the individuals on your team to


eliminate roadblocks for all. This might take shape by delegating a task to an employee who
excels at a specific skill or postponing a deadline to lighten a heavy workload.

Encourage use of resources and support — Whether it’s in team meetings or one-on-one
sessions, regularly remind your employees of the benefits and tools offered through the
company. For example, encourage them to schedule a vacation day or use another wellness
benefit.

What resources are available within your company that employees can use to
combat burnout? Talk to your HR team about wellness programs to share with
your team.

Draft a few open-ended questions to use in employee one-on-ones to assess


employees’ overall well-being. An example might include, “Which projects in your job
are you excited to own?” Another might be, “Do you feel like you have real ownership of
project ABC?”

Manager Essentials: Preventing Employee Burnout 4


4.
Take care of yourself, too
As the saying goes, “Put on your own oxygen mask first before assisting others.” This phrase
expresses a principle managers and business leaders should especially take to heart when
it comes to burnout in the workplace. Although it might seem easier to focus on your team
than on yourself, keep in mind how symptoms of burnout may trickle down from you to your
employees. For instance, when you mention feeling overloaded with work, it can create a
culture where employees feel like they can’t say “no.” Instead, lead by example with actions
that combat burnout. Take vacation time, respect work-life boundaries, and be open when you
push back on a project or deadline for your well-being.

How might your actions be contributing to feelings of burnout within your team?

How do you demonstrate a healthy commitment to work, while modeling the


principles described above?

Make well-being part of


your company culture
When an organization and its managers openly prioritize the wellness of the workforce, everyone
benefits — from employees to managers to the organization as a whole. Recent WHO research
suggests that prioritizing worker mental health results in increased productivity and greater
employee engagement.7

Talk to our learning experts for more solutions on how to develop managers who keep employees
engaged and influence your company’s long-term success.

7
“Mental health in the workplace,” World Health Organization, accessed February 7, 2022.

Manager Essentials: Preventing Employee Burnout 5


About Udemy Business
Udemy’s mission is to create new possibilities for people and organizations
everywhere by connecting them to the knowledge and skills they need to succeed
in a changing world. Fueled by the Udemy marketplace, Udemy Business helps
companies achieve critical business outcomes and stay competitive by offering
fresh, relevant, and personalized on-demand learning. The Udemy Business
subscription is a curation of top-rated courses taught by real-world experts
from the Udemy marketplace. Our content covers key business and technical
topics ranging from development and IT to leadership, marketing, design, stress
management, and much more. In addition to a curated content collection, we
offer a platform to drive effective learning as well as tools for leaders to host and
distribute their own proprietary content.

Learn more at business.udemy.com

You might also like