Employee and Organizational Well-being: A Burnout Prevention Strategist’s Guide
Companies everywhere are looking for innovative ways to improve workplace health and wellness. An epidemic of burnout and quiet quitting have companies searching for solutions that support employee well-being and, ultimately, the organization’s health.
Here are 3 practical and efficient solutions to help you tackle burnout and promote employee and organizational well-being.
1. Create a psychologically safe environment to talk about stress and burnout
Fear is the primary reason employees do not talk to their manager about the stress and burnout they’re experiencing. Fear of losing their job. Fear of losing respect. Fear of losing the next big promotion.
Fear is a powerful motivator. Even though employees are stressed, worn out, and burnt out, they’re afraid to talk about it. Rather than finding long-term solutions to their health and productivity challenges, they give as little as possible as they work on fumes.
The first step toward building a sustainable workplace health and wellness plan is to develop a psychologically safe environment to discuss stress, challenges, and burnout.
So how do we do this? By modeling from the top. Leaders must demonstrate that it’s not only safe to talk about stress but encouraged. Here are a few ways leaders can model appropriately.
- Update your out-of-office reply and email signature to clearly state your working hours. Perhaps include a statement, such as, “I will respond to your email within my working hours. There is no expectation to reply until you are at work.”
- Send an email to employees at the end of the day, saying, “I’m heading home from work now to be with my family. I hope you enjoy your evening as well.”
- Post as much on your social media channels about your rest life as your work life. Make work-life balance something to celebrate.
2. Train managers to have emotionally intelligent conversations with direct reports
Most managers care for those they supervise and want to see them succeed. Part of doing so is having conversations about productivity, effectiveness, and stress management.
During a recent workshop I presented to leaders of a national, multi-site corporation, a leader mentioned having gone to counseling to help with her stress levels. I asked what made her feel safe to not only access her benefits package counseling resources but share having done so with colleagues. She said her manager shared a story of a time of great personal stress and the impact a counselor had on her well-being. When her manager admitted reaching out to a counselor, she felt it would be ok to do so herself, which was a life-changing decision.
Here are a few recommendations for how managers can authentically open the wellness conversation while prioritizing effective work practices and employee well-being.
- Help employees understand expectations, discuss which tasks are high, medium, and low priority, and train employees to manage their day and week based on importance. While workloads may be high, acknowledging them and helping employees prioritize their work can create a huge advantage.
- Ask those you manage how they are doing, and genuinely listen. Respond with empathy to show you truly care. Ask what you can do to help.
- Authentically share how you deal with stress, including the resources that have helped you most.
- You will build trust by seeking to understand your direct reports’ struggles and responding with empathy. When employees trust your intentions, they are more likely to engage with resources provided by the company.
3. Implement quarterly burnout assessment checks to improve employee wellness and productivity.
A challenge of workplace wellness programs is collecting data on the plan’s efficacy. For example, how do you know what is causing employees the most significant workplace stress and which initiatives are making a difference?
Research shows six factors create burnout in an organization:
- Overwhelming workload
- Lack of control
- Lack of reward
- Lack of community
- Lack of fairness
- Conflicting values
These factors speak to company culture and cannot be fixed with a simple day off. Organizations often do not see a significant return on investment with their workplace wellness plans because initiatives do not address the root causes of employee stress.
By identifying and understanding the six factors affecting employees, organizations can manage workplace stress with short-term resource solutions and long-term culture design.
I have created the most comprehensive Burnout Assessment available and offer it free to companies worldwide. The assessment provides both a Professional Profile based on the six factors noted above and a Personal Profile, evaluating the effects of burnout on a person’s health.
Companies across sectors use the Burnout Assessment, including corporate, non-profit, healthcare, and educational institutions. It provides a free, people-focused, data-driven assessment to evaluate critical cultural factors causing workplace stress.
Start with leadership
Download the free Burnout Assessment.
- Engage the leadership team, which, depending on your organization, may mean the C-Suite, Directors, or senior management team. Explain that the company is looking to strengthen its workplace health and wellness plan and will use the Burnout Assessment to evaluate employee stressors and risks. The leadership team will be the first to complete the assessment to create an authentic and psychologically safe process for all.
- Ask leaders to complete the assessment, and be prepared to share their results during the next leadership team meeting.
- During a leadership meeting, ask questions about what it felt like to complete the assessment, what the outcomes represent, and how to have psychologically safe and emotionally intelligent conversations with direct reports once the Burnout Assessment is implemented company-wide.
Implement the Burnout Assessment company-wide
- Have managers send the Burnout Assessment to those they oversee, explaining the company’s vision to strengthen workplace health and wellness.
- Invite direct reports to complete the assessment and prepare to discuss the results in a one-on-one meeting. I recommend asking employees to disclose their Professional Profile only, which will give you the data you’re looking for, as the Personal Profile may feel too personal and private.
- Ask employees thoughtful questions, such as, “What did you notice?”, Do you have any concerns?” and “What changes would help you?”
- Offer support and resources to address the challenges exposed by the assessment. Point to company workflows and automation, benefits packages, and employee assistance programs.
- Re-evaluate quarterly and compare results to see where improvements have been made and what cultural shifts need to happen.
Over time, you will notice themes and patterns emerging as you implement the Burnout Assessment across your organization. You may find that certain factors arise in specific departments within the company, allowing you to address issues specifically and accurately. Because ultimately, happy, healthy employees create healthy organizations that thrive.
About Bonita Eby
Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention Strategist and CEO of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals at the intersection of health and leadership development.
Download your free Burnout Assessment today.
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