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Q. How can I help an employee who is experiencing burnout?
A. You can create an atmosphere
that promotes employee health. One that
emphasizes balance along with
competition.
A. A good way to burn off stress
and to re-energize employees is with fun and
laughter. On-site programs are fun and
energizing, replacing fatigue with vitality
through on-site relaxation massage and
boredom with excitement, through the medium
of exercise or stretch breaks right in your
office.
A. Create job diversity for
employees that must perform repetitive
tasks. This is not only good for the
employee but also for the company to have
their employees crossed trained. That way if
one employee must take and extended leave,
others are there that know how to perform
their duties.
A. Keep employees involved. One
way to decrease burnout is to increase the
amount of control that an employee has in
their work. An employee that feels they have
a choice in what they are doing even if it
is a small choice, is more likely to feel
better about what they are doing. Thinking
of where small choices can be added to an
employee's day.
A. Allow employees to chat at
work. Chatting about non-work related events
is one way in which employees can decrease
and prevent burnout at work
A. Lastly, make sure you are not
trying to do too much with too little. It is
okay to ask your employees to give 110%
occasionally but not every day. So make sure
that your company is staffed appropriately,
provides competitive personal leave and
vacation benefits, and that you remember to
recognize and reward employees for their
accomplishments and contributions.
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Preventing and Ridding Yourself of Burnout
One way to change stress is to change
the way in which we interpret any
stressful event. We change how we
interpret and event by changing how we
think about the event. Instead of
saying, "I can't do this, it won't
work out. " It is better to say,
" I will break this project down
into small steps and talk with my boss
later to negotiate more time. "
Even slightly changing how we choose to
evaluate an event, will greatly decrease
the amount of burnout we feel. Try to
eliminate words and phrases such as,
hate, can't stand it, " "no
way," etc... etc... Make a list of
those negative words or phrases that you
most often use, then flag them each time
they are said, and replace them with a
more neutral word or phrase.
Work to have fun at work. You do not need
to throw a party, but you can have fun by
talking with a co-worker, listening to
music, taking power breaks (on-site
massage/exercise is one type of power break)
and by just increasing those tasks that you
do enjoy at work. Attempt to complete tasks
that you do not enjoy right away, so you
don't think about them all day long. If you
honestly cannot find anything you enjoy
about your work, you might not be
experiencing burnout at all, but a true
feeling of needing a new job.
Work to create job diversity for
yourself. If you go in the same door every
day, sit at the same desk, and start the day
off with the same phone calls, is a routine
that can easily lead to boredom. Add some
job diversity to your day; for example, ask
to change your start time, redecorate your
cube, and ask to take on new job tasks. Do
not ask to take on additional busy work, but
ask to take on a new assignment you think
you will enjoy.
Realize that one reason that you are
burned out is because you are a creative
person whose creativity is not being used.
So, be creative. Wear a unique necktie or
outfit so you get some positive comments
from co-workers. Be creative by looking at
the work you are doing and think about how
to modify it or improve it. Take these ideas
to your supervisor and tell them that they
will increase productivity or save the
company money.
Ask for some control in you job. If you
need permission to take control, ask your
employer to take a risk by allowing you to
take control over your job for one week to
see if production increases. If they will
not allow complete control, ask for control
only over one small aspect of your job. Then
slowly ask for more and more until you have
as much as you want.
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