What Can You Do to Stop Burnout From Affecting Your Team

If you think burnout only impacts senior leaders or people in fields like medicine, think again. It is estimated that nearly $200 billion per year is spent treating the physical and mental health impact of employee burnout at all levels. Burnout also impacts turnover. According to a 2017 study, anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of employee turnover can be linked to burnout.

Long hours certainly contribute to burnout, but it is usually linked to a combination of job demands, role ambiguity, lack of resources, misaligned expectations, poor support, team dynamics and other factors. While salary, benefits and a great culture can mitigate some burnout, employers should invest in strategies to stop burnout from affecting a team.

Cut Out Excess Meetings

Collaboration and communication are necessary for our modern business environment that is structured around teams. However, when meetings become excessive and even unnecessary, it interferes with employees’ ability to focus on daily tasks. It’s estimated that $37 billion is wasted every year on unnecessary meetings. Focus on cutting out unnecessary meetings and making necessary meetings more efficient.

Leverage Data To Analyze Real Productivity

If you took an informal survey of your employees, they’d all probably tell you they are busy. But do you know where they are spending their time? Use advanced data analytics to track exactly where employees are focusing their energy. This will help you understand how much time is being wasted on administrative tasks vs. revenue-generating activities. Great employees often feel frustrated and burned out when they find they can’t get anything done, even with the amount of work that they’re putting in.

Encourage PTO Usage

We tend to value employees who never take a break, who don’t take much time off and who eat, breathe and sleep work. However, those employees are the ones at the biggest risk for burning out. Everyone needs time away from work to recharge their batteries. If you notice that someone is not using their time off and they are showing signs of burnout, encourage them to take a few days. Watch what you say when employees do take time off – try not to send the message that it is discouraged. It can be inconvenient when a key player takes time off, but everyone deserves and needs a break.

Set And Maintain Clear Expectations

Even if you have clearly defined roles in your organization, lines can be easily blurred. Employees often take on additional responsibilities or inherit them when other employees leave. This can lead to ambiguity in expectations which can cause confusion, resentment and burnout. Once per quarter, sit down with each employee and go over their current role and responsibilities and make formal adjustments about expectations in writing when necessary.

Remain Fully Staffed

Staying fully staffed with top talent can alleviate unnecessary strain on your team. If you are looking for productive sales and marketing talent for your ag business, contact the expert recruiters at Morris Bixby today.

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