Written by María Eugenia Raffaele
Did you know that 76% of employees claim they have experienced job burnout at least once in their life, and 40% was specially affected by it during 2020?
Let’s start by raising the following question: What is burnout, actually? Burnout is anything but new… In simple words, it’s a phenomenon that has been around us for many years, resulting from ineffectively managed workplace stress. People who are on the road to burnout undergo symptoms such as feeling helpless, disillusioned, and completely exhausted.
Unfortunately, accumulated work burnout suffered last year is likely to hit stronger in 2021, and people who are in a position of leadership are the keystone to tackle this occupational phenomenon before it triggers a downward spiral of serious consequences affecting people’s well-being and productivity.
Yes, if you are a leader reading this, it sounds like you have a hard year ahead, but the good news is, if you make your employees’ health a priority, then you are already on the way to deal with this phenomenon successfully. So, without further ado, with burnout on the rise in 2021, what can leaders do to enhance well-being and how can they prevent burnout in their teams? If you’re looking for answers, we suggest you continue reading!
Causes and signs of burnout
Let’s start by discussing what working conditions lead to burnout and how its signs are manifested in the working place. Among many causes, employees claim their burnout in 2020 was a result of a combination of several factors:
Burnout certainly doesn’t happen overnight but if the above-mentioned indicators are suffered over a period of time, your employees will likely become physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, and this can bring about a series of signs of burnout which will impact negatively at a corporate level, such as: attrition, low performance, apathy, lack of engagement, no sense of belonging or connectivity with coworkers, and little collaboration.
Tips to prevent burnout
Reflect and take action
The first thing we advise you to do is to reflect upon the working environment of your employees, and make sure you’re enhancing their well-being by considering the tips below each key point.
These triggering questions can come really handy.
Values: Are the concepts of integrity, intellectual freedom, open dialogue, diversity and inclusion part of my team’s everyday experience?
Clear objectives and feedback: Are objectives and expectations clear to my team? Do they know what I think about them?
Empathy: How connected am I with people in my team? Am I empathetic and understanding of their needs?
Motivation: Is my team receiving enough recognition for their work? Am I effectively enhancing their skills and helping them become the best version of themselves?
Peer relationships: Do I enhance social interaction, exchange and collaborative work among colleagues?
Make sure you have a healthy organizational culture and you’re aligned to it
As you can see from the triggering questions and tips above, preventing your employees’ burnout and fostering their well-being implies a combination of factors which are 100% associated with a solid healthy organizational culture.
If your organization has already gone through a cultural transformation, our advice is to continue reflecting upon your role as a leader, and always keep in mind that companies which center their attention on the employee, promote a collaborative environment, recognition, empathy and provide positive feedback, will certainly succeed at preventing burnout because the working environment is healthy for everyone. To put it simply, happy employees are less likely to experience burnout because they work in a healthy context they love being part of. If you get to see this as a leader, you’ve nailed it! You’re already upgrading people’s mental health and productivity.
A valuable experience at Globant
At Globant, around 7 years ago we faced a turning point in which we understood that employees’ well-being depended on providing them with a solid and healthy culture that would put them at the center – a culture that would listen to them and would know who they were, how they worked and what their needs were. That’s when we developed StarMeUp, and through our experience and our clients’, we can assure that a healthy organizational culture is the key to enhance your employees’ well-being, keep them happy, motivated, and productive.
So, we know the year ahead will be challenging but, mark my words: As long as your day-to-day actions are aligned to a healthy employee-focused culture that makes everyone feel part of, not only will you bring about that which is amazing in your people without undergoing stress, but also, they’ll love having you as their leader!
Ready to start 2021 with an awesome and healthy team? We’d be pleased to help you make it happen.
