Burnout in the Workplace: Recognising the Signs and Taking Action

Workplace burnout is increasingly common, but it doesn’t have to impact your business.

In this blog, our HR experts at VeiraMal Consultancy explore the causes of burnout and how our tailored HR solutions can help prevent it. By streamlining processes and enhancing employee relations, we create a supportive work environment where your team can thrive.

What exactly is burnout?

Burnout is a serious issue affecting employees and employers alike. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as a “state of vital exhaustion” caused by chronic stress that exceeds an employee’s resources. Recognising the signs of burnout early is crucial to safeguarding your team’s well-being.

How Do I Recognise the Symptoms of Employee Burnout?

Common burnout symptoms include:

• Exhaustion
• Low self-esteem
• Changes in eating and sleeping habits
• Frequent illness
• Social isolation
• Reduced concentration and productivity
• Feelings of confusion or overwhelm
• Low mood
  

Here are some of our top strategies for burnout prevention:

Create realistic goals

Monitor your employee’s workload and analyse whether the expectations you set are realistic or whether they require employees to overextend themselves. Ensure the expectations placed upon your team are achievable and fall within their role descriptions to ensure they feel capable and respected. 

Practise and encourage open conversations

Fostering a culture of communication can make employees feel empowered to flag any challenges they may be experiencing and voice any workload issues that may be causing them stress. Checking in on your employees regularly ensures they feel valued, encouraging them to express their feelings and seek support when necessary. 

Build relationships between colleagues 

Social relationships are key to alleviating stress. Creating a thriving workplace culture can help employees develop relationships with colleagues to feel more motivated and connected. Organising quarterly team events, creating a lunch or coffee club, and scheduling wellness activities can break up your team’s calendar and boost overall happiness. 

Offer flexible workplace arrangements

Following the pandemic, many workplaces embraced a hybrid-work set-up, allowing employees to balance their personal and professional responsibilities more easily. By offering the option to work from home on certain days, companies can demonstrate that they value their employees’ needs, improving job satisfaction and stress management.

Wellbeing should always be a top priority in the workplace. By implementing strategies that support a healthy work-life balance and by looking out for symptoms of burnout in yourself, your colleagues, and your team, you can cultivate a healthier, happier work environment.

How VeiraMal Consultancy Can Help?

Analytics & Reporting

Got a new project to manage or is the leadership team asking for more in-depth HR data insights? If you don’t have Power BI or Tableau expertise or find your reporting too manual, our in-house analytics team can help. We’ve assisted multiple clients in reducing monthly reporting time from one week to one day through automation.

Employee Relations Management

Is your in-house employee relations team overwhelmed with investigations? Have an upcoming EBA negotiation? Let our team help you scale up in the interim, relieving some of the burden from your team. This approach gives you the flexibility to scale down once you’re back on track.

Audit & Governance

Have an external audit coming up or self-declared to Fair Work? Perhaps your internal team uncovered a processing error but lacks the capacity to fix it. Let us assist you in navigating the audit process and ensuring compliance moving forward.

HRIS Implementation

We streamline your HR processes, reducing administrative burdens and allowing your team to focus on their core responsibilities.

Remuneration and Benefits

We help you design attractive compensation packages that recognise and reward employee contributions, boosting morale and motivation. Our independent approach ensures a non-biased process that delivers the best employee value proposition without overloading your internal resources.

Prioritise Well-being

Implementing these strategies can significantly improve employee well-being and reduce the risk of burnout. With VeiraMal Consultancy, you gain a long-term partner committed to creating a supportive work culture, allowing you to scale up and down as needed. 

We are your “Surge Team”! Ready to combat workplace burnout and enhance employee satisfaction? Discover our HR solutions here or contact us today to see how we can help your organisation thrive.