How Can Organizations Identify And Prevent Employee Burnout For Safeguarding Their Mental Health

People spend a substantial amount of time at their workplaces ranging between seven to nine hours. This accounts for more than half of one's day after sleep. Due to this reason, healthy work environments help boost their psychological well-being, which in turn improves employee productivity.

Employee burnout has become a common phenomenon within high-pressure work environments with long working hours and the stressful nature of work. Long term impact of employee burnout can cause a significant decrease in psychological and physical well-being. In this blog, we will see how a career coach will help you from burnout.

What is Employee Burnout?  

Burnout occurs when an individual experiences high amounts of stress for a long period. Employee burnout occurs when this stress occurs in the workplace, leaving the employee feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally depleted. These effects also take a toll on their productivity and working capacity. As a result, they cannot concentrate on work, show reduced concern for co-workers, and frequently miss work. 

Hence burnout can present serious concerns for an individual's overall health and employee turnover and productivity within organizations. Early detection will help employers safeguard the individual's mental health and further improve his/her overall well-being.

You can detect the early signs of burnout by recognizing the warning signs, which include:

• Ensure that the employees are not burdened with job demands which may exceed his/her limits.
• Employers can look out for role conflicts within organizational setups, which may be causing a perceived lack of control and unhealthy competitive attitudes between employees. 
• Insufficient reward devalues the employee and his/her nature of work which can further cause the employees to experience low self-esteem and negative attitudes towards the organization and themselves. 
• Burnout can also be caused when the employee does not get sufficient support from the manager or the team.

Strategies to Prevent Employee Burnout

Employee satisfaction results from work satisfaction, organizational respect, employer care, and a healthy work-life integration. These four factors majorly contribute to feelings of belongingness and improved overall well-being. 

Some of the strategies to prevent burnout include:

Workload:
Workload mainly refers to duties, roles, and responsibilities. Within organizations, individuals may suffer from overload or even otherwise under load. When one's workload and capacity are in balance, it is easier to get the work done and set aside time for professional growth, development, rest, and recovery. Some of the best ways to manage your workload are planning your work, delegating tasks, saying no when you have too much work to complete, and letting go of ideas of perfection.

Control:
Feelings of inadequacy and lack of control can contribute to burnout. Lack of control can indicate a lack of autonomy or freedom in gaining a sense of control over your work environment will help you improve your sense of autonomy.

Mismatch:
Burnout is not just about being tired; instead, it can also be caused when the organizational values do not match with yours, and this may be the time when you must look or consider new opportunities.

Mental breaks:
At times, we feel like we are unable to stop, and our work life has consumed our whole life, and this is not a healthy way of functioning. It may seem that you must keep pushing ahead, but this may not be your reality; instead, you should use your spare time to pursue your hobbies or other leisure activities.

At Unlocked Potentials, the career coach will help you understand your negative behaviours and discover your inner potential to lead a fulfilling life.