Insights

Good workers don’t just turn bad overnight. There is a process of work burnout that degrades their work productivity. Work overload, mandatory overtime, and blackout dates when you can’t call-in sick or take a vacation without being punished are slowly burning your employees out.

Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed; your employees are doing the job of 2-3 people. Yes, you might have been short-staffed for a time and couldn’t afford to hire more employees, but how long do you think that excuse will fly over now that you have more sales? Wait, maybe you think that one employee OWES you for the huge compensation for that job position, so now the employee has personal assistant duties outside of their job description. That’s just toxic and could be a whole entire conversation by itself.

Nevertheless, when good employees turn bad, it’s because of work burnout. Burnt out employees hurt your bottom line. Any decrease in productivity is wasted time, which translates into wasted money. However, without focusing on the money too much, let’s explore what employee burnout is, the five signs of burnout and how to remedy it.

The World Health Organization describes Work Burnout as an ongoing emotional tiredness and mentally distancing of yourself, also being increasingly negative at work, and having feelings of never being successful, however the normal time away from work, like weekends are not enough to shake the stress of working.

5 Non-Verbal Signs of Employee Burnout in Productivity

1.    Not Meeting Deadlines or Quotas Anymore.

When good employees now struggle to meet deadlines or quotas, they are definitely overloaded with work and experiencing burnout.

2.    Postponing Tasks and Avoiding Other Tasks All the Time

When a good employee starts to procrastinate or avoid tasks, it’s probably because he/she feels overwhelmed. The motivation to tackle their workload is not there anymore.

3.    Presently Having a Lack of Innovation and New Ideas

When good employees who were once highly creative don’t have the initiative to even tackle their work, they are burnt out. The spark for work is gone.

4.    Doing More Non-Work than Work at the Workplace

When good employees spend more time on their phones, on social media, on talking to other employees about non-job-related things during work and seem distracted always, this is a sign of burnout. These employees are obviously disengaged.

5.    Performing Job Duties on a Inconsistent Basis:

When good employees fluctuate in their performance, with periods of high productivity followed by periods of low productivity, then they are burnt out. The struggle to sustain their momentum and focus over time is a sign they are overwhelmed, overworked, and stressed out.

These five signs of work burnout create a toxic work environment with low employee morale, increased employee disengagement and decreased productivity, which hurts your bottom line.

However, there are four ways to prevent employee burnout.

1.    Foster a supportive work environment:

Open the feedback loop and cultivate collaboration by delegating tasks evenly to support all team members.

2.    Promote work-life balance:

Offer flexible schedules and work remotely and stop making overtime mandatory and working mandatory holidays, it’s just evil.

3.    Provide opportunities for skill development and growth:

Train and coach more actively, so employees feel supported and want to be more engaged at work.

4.    Recognize and reward employees’ achievements:

When employees are recognized and appreciated, it reinforces a sense of accomplishment. They will feel valued for the work they do.

Work Burnout is real and it’s really hurting your bottom line, so paying attention to the signs and how to remedy them is crucial.

For more information about employee burnout and the remedies, check out our podcast, Reducing Profit Loss now available, not only on Spotify, but on iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Castbox, and Radio Public.