Ever since the 2020 pandemic, work from home (remote) and hybrid work cultures are now part of the new normal. Remote work is associated with a range of benefits. Apart from fostering flexibility, it is cost-effective, enjoyable, and caters to a personalized workspace. The sudden transition has however left many managers and company owners concerned about work productivity.
To maintain productivity rates, many managers believe that micromanaging is the answer and since employees don’t commute, they can work for more hours to prove their efficiency. Remote work is already a therapy in disguise, but when incorrectly practiced, it can lead to burnout. It has been found that it is difficult for some remote employees to strike a balance between work and personal lives.
Some misuse the working hours with the hope of reimbursing them with their free time. However, this makes them work more and at times, lose a balance between their professional and personal lives. This in the long run increases stress and burnout. This blog looks at one of the commonest challenges among employees- “burnout” and how managers and bosses can help their remote employees keep burnout at bay.
Burnout
Excessive and prolonged stress refers to burnout. It is generally a state where one is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. Many times employees mistake burnout for stress. However, there is a clear line between the two. Prolonged and mismanaged stress results in burnout, a condition where one may find it hard to deliver work as expected.
Burnout is one of the most prevalent workplace occurrences and its impact can vary depending on the cause and severity. In fact, a Deloitte study discovered that 77% of its respondents had experienced burnout at some point in their current jobs with more than half stressing that it was more than a single occurrence.
The truth is burnout can be a short-term challenge and if not dealt with effectively, can become long-term. This can not only affect company productivity but can also impact the workplace atmosphere.
Burnout in remote employees is also possible and the likelihood is certain when employees fail to adhere to the normal work schedules for extended days. Or when managers and team leaders fail to monitor workloads.
Managing remote work is crucial and if it’s not for an optimal balance between work and personal life, it’s for mental health. One study by Gallup found that working less isn’t an antidote to burnout or stress and in fact, stress and burnout are two different things that managers need to keep in check. Enforcing reliable measures to prevent burnout in remote employees can help them work effectively. But how can managers ensure this?
7 Reliable Measures to Help Remote Employees Keep Burnout at Bay
- Maintain Work Hours
As a manager or team leader, you can help your remote employees escape burnout by observing work hours. If the timings are from 9 am to 5 pm, ensure that the remote employees abide by the work schedule. When remote employees follow the official timings, it creates room for effective collaboration, organization, and optimal efficiency. This eliminates delays and work inefficiencies that can result in stress.
Also, it is essential for employers to avoid assigning work during non-working hours. If it’s inevitable, it shouldn’t be habitual and must be compensated for. This helps remote workers to create clear boundaries between their personal and professional lives which eliminates burnout.
- Hold Constructive Virtual Meetings
There are several ways of powering virtual meetings. Apart from detailing how work ought to be done, weekly or daily meetings can be made more empowering to remote employees. Don’t make them work-packed as this can cause disengagement and low morale. However, take the chance to motivate your remote employees, and share work techniques that they can leverage to ensure optimal productivity. This will help them feel cherished.
Besides that, you can offer daily stress management solutions and the possible habits that can ruin their overall health. In this way, your employees will feel valued, appreciated, and cared for. You can choose to hold video meetings for the employees to know more about each other.
- Check & Monitor Workloads
Although remote employees may enjoy occasional flexibility, ensure not to encroach on personal time. Workloads must be checked to avoid overloading some employees simply because they work from home. But however, tasks must be assigned equally to keep burnout at bay. Similarly, ensure to provide flexibility during the busy work seasons. Also, employees who work extra hours must be recognized, appreciated, and compensated if necessary. This can help reduce stress and keep burnout chances at bay, especially among the most productive employees.
- Recommend Tools
The contemporary world presents a range of tools that employees can use to handle repetitive tasks and complicated ones. Streaming from time management tools, project management software, communication, and collaboration tools, there is simply every software that employees can leverage to get more done in less time.
These tools ensure efficiency and can help reduce stress and burnout. On the other hand, task management tips like Pareto Principle (planning and prioritization) and using screen sharing tools like Nextiva can help offer better work experiences. Whether you’re a remote team manager, project manager, or employee, there are certainly many toolkits that can help optimize work efficiency.
- Leverage Employee Engagement Programs
Employee engagement is crucial if companies desire to promote the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of employees. On a good note, employee engagement activities and ideas not only motivate employees to offer their best, but they help keep their spirits high. This works excellently in curbing stress and burnout levels.
Therefore, in order to help make your workforce feel appreciated, connected, and valued, there is a range of employee engagement ideas you can consider. Consider recognizing your employees where necessary, spare time for fun activities, and offer constructive feedback and attractive perks. Additionally, push for awareness of poor work habits, time management, and work-life balance.
- Plan Some Get-Togethers
Get-togethers are great team-building avenues and whether you have a remote workforce or not, you should consider team outings. Company get-togethers or outdoor activities can help manage employees burnout and stress. More so, when done proactively, it can help prevent or keep burnout chances at bay.
With the fact that your employees are working remotely, they may feel lonely at times. Moreso, they may feel more stressed when handling challenging tasks and this increases mental exhaustion. As a manager, organize get-togethers to help employees break away from the regular routine and bond on other matters.
Group activities like sports, lunch, and vacations help strengthen employee relationships and enhance morale. This surely helps keep burnout at bay.
- Provide Breaks & Leaves
Ample room to break away from stressful daily tasks allows employees to rejuvenate themselves. Encourage your remote employees to take breaks and walk around to improve their sight and strengthen their muscles. Additionally, provide paid leaves. Paid leaves allow remote employees to handle personal matters conveniently. It also offers a gesture that they don’t have to work all the time to prove their loyalty and efficiency.
Bottom Line
Even remote employees are susceptible to burnout. Burnout can lead to serious problems like insomnia, irritability, fatigue, and anger, and all these hamper productivity and work/life experiences. It can also cause lethargy which affects work quality. Consider the measures detailed here to help your remote employees deal with stress and burnout. These will surely improve work-life balance and experiences exceptionally.
You may want to read more,
- 5 Ways To Overcome Career Burnout
- Ways to Boost Employee Creativity and Innovation
- Everything You Need To Know About Earned Wage Access
