The pandemic has taken a toll on workers, especially in healthcare settings. It is important to continually focus on burnout and fatigue and proactively seek ways to help your employees.
Start by recognizing the signs of burnout:
- Detached, isolated, and distant behavior
- Moodiness, irritability, sarcasm, easy to anger, tearfulness
- Lack of empathy for others
- Lack of pride in work or sudden or increasingly poor work ethic
- Complaints of headaches, backaches, upset stomach, and/or muscle tension
- Increased alcohol or drug use
- Forgetfulness or loss of interest in work/life
Then address the myths of burnout:
- Burnout in someone else isn’t your problem. In truth, there is much you can do to help someone experiencing burnout. As isolation and feeling alone is a significant part of burnout, you can help by ensuring your teams feel supported and connected and have a true sense of belonging. It is important to look objectively at factors in the workplace that are contributing to burnout, including workload, lack of flexibility, toxic managers, poor morale, etc.
- Burnout results from disengagement. Actually, your best, most engaged employees are at highest risk of burnout. You can’t assume that someone is immune to burnout just because they are a dedicated team member and hard worker.
- People who experience burnout are just less resilient or weak. Focus on emotional intelligence and addressing workplace issues that contribute to burnout. In other words, instead of blaming people for burning out, look at problems in the system that are contributing to stress and anxiety.
