If you’re reading this, it's likely because you're seeing some staff burnout happening at your workplace.
Now, more than ever, employee burnout is spoken about on a regular basis. A recent statistic shows that a whopping 67% of employees think burnout has gotten worse since 2020.
So, how to actually prevent employee burnout? Go straight to the source: your employees!
They are the best data-driven strategy for determining how to improve workplace culture and seeing more long-term employment.
In this post, we’ll cover how to overcome employee burnout through employee surveys and other strategies we've learned through voice of employee research.
Recommended Reading: What is the Best Approach to Conducting Employee Surveys?
#1: Understand why staff is burned out
Causes of employee burnout could be many, many, things.
This is precisely why employee surveys are crucial for determining how to prevent it.
They allow HR and leadership teams to see what specific factors could be playing into stress, low engagement, and why employees look for other jobs.
You don’t have to stick to vague questioning, you can get specific with what you want to include. Curious about staff opinion on pay, benefits, culture, or anything else? All of these questions can go in a survey.
For instance, you may want to include questions surrounding culture, like:
- How open communication lines are between staff and management
- Incorporating fun activities into office life
- Advancement opportunities
- Workload variety
Before anything, seriously consider using a third party for employee surveys, as they can help guide you through the survey process from start to finish.
The best part? It's all done anonymously for your staff members.
This simply means that employees will feel more comfortable answering if they see that their company is not directly responsible for the survey.
After feedback is in, you’ll be given actionable data that shows you what employees like and dislike about your company.
And at Drive Research, we don’t just give you a report with no suggestions. We’ll outline key areas of improvement that staff would benefit from, so you can tackle burnout effectively.
💡 The Key Takeaway: What causes your employees to become burnout? Find out with employee surveys. This type of market research provides employers with unique, accurate data that can improve job satisfaction and staff experiences.
Check out our pricing packages for our turn-key employee survey tool.
#2: Open communication
Employee burnout signs come in various forms, but what they all have in common is a lack of communication.
What do we mean by this?
Well, if employees are working in an environment where they do not feel they can speak up or share concerns, then that begins to fester.
And, here’s a shocker – this can lead to decreased performance and stress that creates burnout!
Recent research shows that up to 80% of employees in the US have anxiety in the workplace because of poor communication.
It’s really important, especially for leaders, to embrace communication methods.
This could be done simply by engaging with staff on a regular basis such as:
- Reaching out in person or IM about pop culture, hobbies, birthdays, etc.
- Sending emails (depending on the size of your company) about company updates
- Checking in with employees about workload
Surprisingly, simple, right? We promise it’s one of the top ways a company can get a handle on burnout and reverse it.
💡 The Key Takeaway: To really prevent employee burnout, you need to have open lines of communication. This lets employers know where employees stand and is a great way to nip issues in the bud.
#3: It’s not all about work
If you’re desperate to learn how to overcome employee burnout – take the stress out of it and have some fun!
Seriously.
Being able to step away from work duties and projects can actually help boost employee productivity levels and reduce burnout.
It’s pretty simple: when employees are having some kind of “escape,” they’re able to return to the office refreshed and in good spirits.
Here are some ideas, off the top of our heads:
- Team lunches
- Holiday parties
- Happy hours
- Office games
Get creative, and have fun with the different ways you can get employees laughing and having fun.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Sometimes, employees just want to have fun–and that could be exactly what they need if they’re facing burnout.
#4: Room to grow
If employees feel they don’t have room for growth, they can begin to feel stuck.
The best way to combat this issue is to begin thinking of creative, engaging strategies to get employees motivated to move up.
These can come in the form of monthly training sessions, where management discusses important aspects of staff positions.
Again, have some fun with it! The more interested leadership is in creating training and growth strategies, the more employees it will attract.
Simply communicating this information will begin to show employees that you want to see them succeed, not just for your company, but for their growth as well.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Implementing training opportunities for staff is another great tool to prevent employee burnout. When staff knows they can move up the ranks, they have more motivation–and less stress.
#5: Change it up
What starts with a V and can prevent employee burnout? Variety!
If employees are expected to do the same task over and over and over again, they’re going to burnout -- and fast.
We know that this is dependent on the type of company you’re in, but if possible, come up with ways employees can get some variety in their workload.
Assigning different projects, tasks, and other duties to employees (based on their roles) could actually help with burnout because their mind is busy tackling different types of projects.
We’re not saying to overwork your employees, remember -- we’re suggesting you come up with different ways each staff member can contribute to team goals in more than one way.
For instance, if you don't have a dedicated marketing team, is there someone on your staff who loves to get creative but their current role doesn't allow them to? Perhaps they can manage your brand's social channels and email outreach.
Whatever you choose to incorporate, make sure it’s enough to change things up (in a good way) for your employee’s average work day.
💡 The Key Takeaway: Employee burnout signs can begin to show because the staff is completing the same task repeatedly. By assigning them a variety of tasks (both high and low priority) they’re less likely to lose focus and become burned out.
Contact Our Employee Survey Company
To really prevent employee burnout, you have to listen to staff. And guess what? We have the answer (but you probably already knew that).
Ready to help you tackle your employee woes, Drive Research is a market research company based in New York. Our team boasts years of industry experience and can easily craft a customized employee survey for your business.
Want to know more about our market research services? We want you to! Get in touch with us through any of the ways listed below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Lark Allen
As a Content Marketing Specialist, Lark has a strong background and passion for creative, professional, and journalistic writing. She is also a self-proclaimed music freak and 90s enthusiast.
Learn more about Lark, here.
