Today employees are at greater risk than ever of suffering from burnout symptoms, compelling companies to incur high costs to incorporate effective prevention measures. In this post, we will sum up the burnout recovery strategies that an organization should follow to reduce and fight job burnout.

How can I help an employee suffering from burnout?

As soon as we notice signs that our employee is suffering from burnout syndrome, it’s time to offer support and nip the problem in the bud before the employee reaches breaking point. Early detection and intervention is key. At an individual level offering personal recovery resources will help reduce these sources of stress. Some of these include:

  • Talk and listen to the perspective of the employee. Encouraging feedback on how they perceive, understand and react to the behaviors of others. That is, how the subject interprets information received from others.
  • Build social support around the employee. Trying to reduce the feeling of detachment, integrating the employee into the team and promoting the inclusive organizational culture.
  • Explore physiological deactivation techniques. For example, relaxation techniques such as Jacobson's technique, to help reduce physiological activation that produces stress.

What are some recovery strategies for a team suffering from burnout?

  • Encourage team collaboration. This way, the employees who are more collaborative will help to manage the stress of other employees who may experience burnout symptoms.
  • Develop a meaningful team strategy. Real situations of stress can affect the team as a whole, thus devising strategies to deal with these situations together, as well as establishing a coping mechanism when a similar situation occurs.
  • Capitalize on group sessions. That is, to instill resilience and perseverance in the group through training incentives to efficiently deal with and easily adapt to stressful situations.

What improvements can be made at the organizational level?

When the problem of employee burnout is no longer individual but organizational, preventive actions must be applied to the entire organizational structure of the company.  Some examples include:

  • Implementing burnout prevention programs aimed at defining the optimal problem-solving approach and promoting a healthy organizational culture.
  • Carrying out team collaboration programs, where the employees are encouraged to use their emotional intelligence and creativity‍ while solving current problems.

What else can I, as a manager, do to ensure burnout recovery?

Other actions that can be taken to reduce burnout and chronic stress in employees are the following:

  • Restructure your workforce's tasks.
  • Establish clear roles and objectives.
  • Make it easier for people to change their professional activities.
  • Encourage work flexibility.
  • Increase responsibilities, decision-making and autonomy of employees.

These are some of the measures that managers can take if they spot any burnout symptoms in their employees. These techniques can be implemented at an individual, team, and organizational level.

Interested in learning from organizations that have topped ‘Great Place to Work’ lists? Check out our free executive’s guide here and apply best practices to your own organization so you can build a healthier, happier work environment.

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