Kaya 959 Reporter
As the year comes to an end, paying attention to your employees who may be burnt out is very important, considering how busy 2021 has been.
Burnouts affect employees when they have exhausted their physical or emotional strength.
Sometimes the cause is the work environment. This usually occurs as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.
Stressful jobs, lack of support and resources, and tight deadlines can all contribute to burnout.
Also Read: Understanding burnout
The pandemic has also affected many employees across South Africa. HR Professional, Boniwe Dunster joined Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi to unpack more on the topic as well as give ways to deal with employee burnouts.
She spoke about the effects of the pandemic and working from home.
“That environment (working from home) is very problematic, cause you actually don’t have time to think. Because many places were closed, people may still undermine the importance of still taking leave while you working from home.”
“People forget that while you’re still at home, you are still working. You’re still expected to wake up in the morning, apply your normal routine, if you have kids you still have to drop them off, you still have to prepare breakfast and lunch.”
“Sometime you need to rest your body and your mind simultaneously, because our minds are always racing, we are not aware that we actually getting tired.”
“It really impacts on us quite a great deal, cause sometimes you find that family relations suffer from the burnouts and not taking enough time to spend with your kids, you physical world suffers and you end up developing certain illnesses.”
According to Vatage Circle, there are proven ways organisation can help deal with employee burnouts.
How can the organisation or line managers assist with managing exhaustion?
- Set clear goals for everyone and ensure employees understand their roles and the value chain.
- Always work on enhancing the wellness offering, drive the wellness message and ensure it is easily accessible.
- Encourage employees to take leave at the correct intervals and the right number of days.
- Where possible offer rewards that work against burnout.
- Line manager must be attentive to employee’s needs and changing behaviour: have regular check-in’s.
How to manage exhaustion on an individual level:
- Listen to your body and thoughts – don’t ignore them for too long ·
- Depending on the type of exhaustion – make use of your employer’s wellness programme offering ·
- Seek professional help when it’s psychological or emotional exhaustion Set clear goals and timelines, and celebrate small wins ·
- Talk to your line manager and if there is no alignment
