Blog
How to Prevent Employee Burnout Among Remote Workforce?
Over 40% of the workforce finds burnout to be one of the major reasons for quitting their jobs. And unfortunately, short vacations, breathing techniques, or yoga aren’t enough to cure it. The key to sustainable productivity is to prevent employee burnout before it breaks down the whole system. It’s even more critical, but equally tricky if you have remote employees on your team.
In this article, we will understand the causes, effects, and solutions for workplace burnout.
Table of Contents
What’s Employee Burnout?
Employee burnout is a constant state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that results from chronic work-related stress. It is often accompanied by feelings of cynicism, detachment, and reduced productivity and can have a significant impact on an employee’s job performance and overall well-being.
Also read: The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Remote Tech Talent
The common symptoms of employee burnout may include the following:
- Physical Exhaustion: Feeling tired and drained all the time.
- Emotional Exhaustion: Feeling overwhelmed, irritable, and hopeless.
- Reduced Performance and Productivity: Missing deadlines and making more mistakes at work.
- Cynicism and Detachment: Feeling disconnected from responsibilities, colleagues, and the organization as a whole.
- Increased Negativity: Having a negative outlook on work and life in general.
- Decreased Satisfaction: Low motivation on the job.
- Insomnia: Having sleep problems, anxiety, and depression.
- Health Problems: Frequent illnesses or physical symptoms like headaches, stomachaches, or muscle pain.
It is essential to recognize these symptoms early on and address them before they escalate, as burnout can have severe consequences for the employee and the organization.
“According to a survey by FlexJobs and Mental Health America, 75% of remote workers reported experiencing burnout, compared to 69% of office-based workers.”
What are the Causes of Employee Burnout Among Remote Workers?
A range of factors can cause employee burnout among remote workers, including:
1. Blurred boundaries between work and personal life:
In a remote setting, it is challenging to segregate work and personal lives. It results in longer working hours, overwork, and eventually burnout.
The employees can feel they are working 24×7 without necessarily achieving anything significant.
2. Isolation and lack of social interaction:
When team members come together to a location to work, they interact, have casual banters, and brainstorm. But employees feel isolated and disconnected from their colleagues and the organization in a remote setting.
Due to a lack of personal interaction, remote workers feel loneliness, stress, and burnout.
3. Technological challenges and communication difficulties:
People rely on technology to connect in a remote environment. But if the tech breaks down, remote workers are left stranded. With technical challenges such as poor internet connectivity, employees see communication delays at work.
It can make even a minor task seem overwhelming, ultimately leading to stress and burnout.
Also read: The Dummies’ Guide To QL vs. NoSQL
4. Lack of support from supervisors and colleagues:
Developing professional relationships becomes tricky when the team is spread across the country. Often it can lead employees to feel unappreciated for their work or unsupported by their supervisors and colleagues.
5. Absence of clear expectations and guidelines:
Explaining the project requirements need multiple calls and brainstorming sessions in a remote work environment. Even after numerous meetings, slight miscommunication can turn the project over its heel.
In such situations, remote workers might hesitate to bother the team repeatedly to clear doubts, leading to confusion, anxiety, and misaligned goals.
6. High workload and pressure to perform:
Everyday tasks might go unnoticed in a remote work setup. So, employees feel the constant pressure to take up more and bigger jobs to highlight their contribution to the team.
It’s very easy for remote employees to fall prey to burnout with the high pressure and workload.
What are the Effects of a Workplace Burnout?
1. Decreased productivity and efficiency
Burnout makes employees overwhelmed even by small tasks. They end up taking a lot of time to finish even minor tasks, declining their productivity and efficiency.
And you will see a lack of creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills among the team members.
2. Increased absenteeism
Employees feeling burned out tend to avoid the workplace. So naturally, it leads to increased absenteeism from work, or they will be physically present but not fully productive.
3. Higher staff turnover
If the work culture doesn’t focus on helping burned-out employees, it can cause them to leave the company. Difficulty in retaining employees will increase your cost of hiring and training.
4. Lower job satisfaction
Burned-out employees are not motivated to take up new initiatives or go the extra mile for better results. Naturally, they end their day with no job satisfaction or excitement for the next day.
Also read: 10 Skill That Will Make Your CV Standout in 2023
5. More frequent conflicts
When employees feel disconnected from their team and organization, camaraderie is lost. This hostile work attitude is a breeding ground for unnecessary workplace conflicts and ego clashes.
6. Negative impact on employees' physical and mental health
If the employees are not satisfied with what they are doing for 8-10 hours a day, its effects will trickle down into their personal lives too. It can impact their physical and mental health, causing severe issues.
7. Increased errors and accidents
Distracted employees can have more errors in their work. If you don’t invest extra resources to supervise their work, the mistakes can cause a big blunder affecting the company’s legitimacy.
8. Negative impact on customer satisfaction and quality of services/products:
Workplace burnout brings down the quality of work and affects the customer experience. The subpar work output can make the customers search for alternatives in the market, bringing down your revenue.
How to Prevent Workplace Burnout?
Workplace burnout can lead to reduced productivity, decreased morale, and increased turnover rates, which no organization would want.
To prevent workplace burnout, an organization can take the following measures:
1. Encourage work-life balance:
Encourage employees to take breaks, set boundaries, and prioritize their personal time.
They should be given flexible work arrangements, such as remote work, compressed workweeks, or job sharing. Organizing regular team meet-ups or virtual informal catch-ups is also helpful in building team spirit.
2. Develop clear job descriptions:
Ensure employees have clear job responsibilities and understand their roles in the organization.
It will let them prioritize their key goals and manage their time effectively. It’s a great way to prevent confusion and overload.
3. Provide training and development opportunities:
Offer professional development opportunities that enable employees to learn new skills and advance in their careers.
Upskilling with time will boost employees’ confidence and prepare them to match pace with the market requirements. It helps employees feel valued and engaged in their work.
4. Create a positive work culture:
Foster a positive work environment that emphasizes open communication, teamwork, and mutual support. Encourage employees to take breaks and participate in social activities to promote team bonding.
Organise team activities weekly or monthly, allowing team members to talk beyond work. It will increase trust and friendship among the team.
Also read: How To Create A Diverse And Inclusive Remote Workforce
5. Address workload and stress factors:
Monitor workload and ensure that employees have the necessary resources to complete their work. Address any sources of stress, such as interpersonal conflicts or inefficient processes.
Managers should regularly connect with the team members to understand the challenges and guide them in the right direction.
6. Recognize and reward employees:
Recognize and reward employees for their accomplishments and hard work. You can do it through various incentives, such as bonuses, promotions, or public recognition.
7. Employee assistance programs (EAPs):
Offer EAPs that provide employees with mental health support, counseling, and resources to cope with stress and burnout.
Enabling team members to discuss their mental health with professionals can prevent many issues before they start hampering their lives.
Conclusion
Hiring remote talent not only gives you access to a global talent pool but also saves your equipment and office cost. Having a diverse and specialized team accelerates the growth of any business.
But the key to a successful remote model is ensuring you nurture the talent and let them achieve their potential. Though it’s easier said than done and needs constant effort, it isn’t impossible to achieve.
Begin with hiring the right team for the job. Implement a tool that screens and shortlists the candidates based on the skills you are looking for. Most often, no matter how talented a candidate is, they will crack down if their abilities aren’t suitable for the job.
And once you have them on board, reach out to your team proactively and engage with them through positive activities. If you observe someone’s performance dipping, try understanding the root cause and how you can bring them back on track.
Remote work isn’t going anywhere, considering its benefits, so it’s better to equip yourself with everything you need to make the most of it.
FAQs on Employee Burnout
It is both the employer and the employees’ responsibility to identify and manage employee burnout.
No employee burnout and stress are different. Continuous burnout can lead to stress and other diseases.
Although there is no documented proof, but they can help in reducing the effects of employee burnout.
Burnout is not a medical condition in and of itself, but it can lead to physical and mental health problems if left unaddressed. In some cases, severe burnout may lead to a diagnosis of depression or anxiety.
In some cases, an employee may be able to file for workers’ compensation if their burnout is a result of their job duties. However, the laws and regulations around workers’ compensation can vary by state and country, so it’s best to consult with a legal expert to determine eligibility.
Yes, burnout can lead to turnover and decreased employee retention. Employees who experience burnout are more likely to leave their jobs and may have decreased engagement and productivity before they leave. Employers can address this issue by proactively addressing burnout and creating a supportive work environment.
Sariga Gopalan
