Will you partner for wellness? People who aren’t feeling their best aren’t working their best. Unfortunately, most people who work in high-stress jobs eventually become overworked and burn out, which has a negative impact on their productivity, well-being, and job satisfaction.
Burnout prevention starts with self-care. As an employer, it’s in the best interest of everyone to make sure your employees take care of themselves. Not only will your office be a happier place, but you and your investors should notice a difference in the bottom line as well.
We are seeing what experts are calling the “Great Resignation” where millions of people are quitting their jobs. Employers need to act quickly to prevent key personnel from leaving their companies, and potentially losing customers, too.
Employees and Employers Need To Partner For Wellness
Burnout is a bigger problem in some industries than in others. In finance and healthcare, for instance, many workers put in long hours and have stressful, demanding jobs. Nurses, for instance, have a particularly hard time dealing with stress. More than a third of surveyed nurses have experienced burnout at some point, due to the demanding and emotionally-charged nature of their work.
It can be quite helpful for the team to work together on building morale and preventing burnout because people might feel they don’t have the time to meditate, go for a walk, or think about stress-reduction strategies on their own.
If your employees form a tight-knit group, then consider leading group meditation or yoga, hold a session for discussing stress relief ideas, and solicit feedback about what is causing burnout in your workplace. Participation in these kinds of activities should always be no-pressure and voluntary, and it’s important to create a safe and compassionate space for employees to fight against burnout.
Are You Inspired?
People feel burned out when they’re working hard, yet feel like they’re not making any personal contribution or gaining any career progress. For a happy, healthy talent pool, people need to feel inspired, motivated, and challenged – but not overwhelmed.
The key is to give your employees meaningful work and to ensure that you do not lead them into burnout. Engaging all employees in what they are contributing to the company’s mission is vital.
It is important to give your employees constructive feedback and praise when needed. You should also be transparent about company goals and try to assign projects that allow people to contribute in more ways than just their day-to-day work.
Promoting Wellness via Culture
A culture of stress and burnout has unintentionally led to high turnover and low employee engagement at some companies and organisations. In fact, 10% of HR leaders believe burnout contributes to more than 50% of annual turnover.
Investing in company cultures that encourage employees to take care of their physical and mental well-being while keeping them engaged is a smart move for companies that want to thrive.
You cannot be passive about building a positive company culture if you want to boost morale and prevent burnout. Work out what kind of culture fits your organisational values and how you want your employees to view company leadership.
Leadership at all levels of the organisation needs to be on board and collaborate to determine the changes that must be made to achieve these culture-shifting goals, whether that means being more flexible with schedules, changing the format for providing feedback or creating policies to prevent overwork.
Prove You Care, will you partner for wellness?
It is true that money is nice, but respect and well-being are even more important to most employees. Yes, you should compensate your workers well. But if you want them to remain and contribute to the best of their abilities, you need to show you care about them.
It may seem expensive to invest in creating a positive workplace culture or to offer professional development opportunities, but these investments can pay off handsomely in increased productivity, engagement, and loyalty.
