You may have heard about employee burnout from work more lately with the amount of work rising recently and the lack of employees that businesses are in desperate need of. Do you know what causes burnout, and what you can do to prevent it?

Burnout is defined as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that’s not successfully managed. Let’s take a look at what creates burnout and how you can prevent it from happening to your employees.

What Causes Burnout

Some of the most common symptoms of burnout are:

• Lack of energy
• Feeling hopeless about work
• Negative feelings toward work
• Reduced professional efficiency

These symptoms can be caused by employers expecting perfection out of their employees and asking (or letting) them take on too much work at one time. Having extremely high standards for employees can create workplace anxiety and ultimately make work feel less rewarding and more like a punishment.

The stress that stems from expectations and workload can start effecting relationships within and outside of work. This stress can also reduce an employee’s efficiency to complete tasks and add extra stress to the stress they already have.

How to Prevent Burnout

There is no quick fix for burnout, so the best way to solve this problem is to prevent it from even happening in the first place. Here are some ways that can help manage your employees’ stress levels and prevent burnout:

• Encourage employees to get up and move around
• Schedule breaks throughout the day
• Let them leave work at work
• Establish work boundaries (i.e. workload, time limits, etc.)

Let your employees know that it’s okay to ask for help as mental health is important. They are not alone in feeling the effects of burnout, and they don’t have to manage it on their own either.