As you check in with your employees, here are the common signs of HR burnout to look out for and how you can help your employees avoid it:
Common Signs of HR Burnout
· Working more overtime than normal
· Mood swings
· Decrease in work quality and performance
· Fatigue and exhaustion
· Unusual sensitivity
· Lack of focus
· Withdrawing oneself from the job and team members
· Change in eating habits
· Absent or sick a lot
· Cognitive problems
How to Avoid HR Burnout
1. Recognizing the stress or burnout— One of the first things you need to do is learn how to recognize employee burnout. As soon as you are able to recognize employee burnout, you can help your employees address and deal with their stressors.
2. Check in with employees regularly— How often do you check on your employees? Ensuring that you are regularly checking in with your employees will help you to know how well or not well they are doing. You cannot expect all employees to tell you when they are burned out.
3. Encourage breaks— Allowing employees to take a break will help them to refocus, reduce their stress, and restore their productivity.
4. Be flexible and reasonable with work hours— It is important to have employees available to help keep your business running, but employees also need time for their personal lives. Try to give your employees flexibility with their work schedules so they can find a balance between work and their personal responsibilities. When possible, provide paid time off, sick days, and vacation days.
5. Appreciate your employees— Employees need encouragement from time to time. Let them know how you appreciate them. Recognize them and reward them for their hard work and big accomplishments. Make your employees feel valued and know that their work does not go unrecognized. It may give them the boost they need to keep working.
6. Avoid work overload— Make sure your employees can handle their specific responsibilities and work load. If you notice signs of them being overwhelmed, try delegating some of their workload among other employees (be careful not to overload these employees as you attempt to relieve the stress of one person). Let your employees know that it is okay to feel like they cannot do everything and not to be ashamed of asking for help.
7. Provide support for employees— Provide some form of support for your employees to help them deal with burnout and stress. This can be as simple as providing opportunities for them to socialize with co-workers, or to have access to other people they can talk to about their stressors.
8. Leave work at work— Are your employees taking work home with them when the day is over? When your employees go home, encourage them to focus on their personal lives and leave work behind them. Employees can spend so much time dwelling on work that work becomes all that they think about and they end up neglecting to make time for their personal lives.
At the Orsus Group, we understand how important it is for your employees to avoid burnout.
We know this information will help you to recognize HR burnout and learn how to help your employees address and deal with it.