What to do if your employee is burnt out

It is not always easy for a manager to assess how close his employees are to burnout. But it's pretty easy to notice that someone on the team is running low on batteries. Let's figure out how to help a person who is burnt out and cannot cope with the consequences himself.

Talk to an employee and find out the cause of the burnout

The burnt-out employee realizes that his performance has plummeted and feels guilty about it. Therefore, he may try to pretend that everything is in order and take on new tasks over and over again. It's just that it's getting harder and harder for him to deal with them.

Not every person in such a state will come to boss and talk about your burnout. He may be afraid that there is only one way out of the situation - dismissal. Therefore, the leader should start the conversation himself.

The main thing is not to reproach a person, especially publicly. As a rule, the employee is not at all happy with his condition. He would like to become energetic and active again, but he cannot. Therefore, it is worth supporting him - showing that you understand his problems and are ready to help.

Talk to the employee, but do not turn the conversation into an extraordinary report and analysis of errors. Try to find out what takes away his strength and energy.

Perhaps these are working reasons - for example, he barely manages to hand over one project, as planned deadline on the next. You have to constantly work in a rush mode and at the same time not make mistakes. Or maybe it's a personal or family problem. For example, an employee’s house is being renovated, and it’s impossible to relax after work. Or he has recently been ill and has not yet been able to regain strength.

In the first case, it makes sense to think about expanding the state. And in the second, an extraordinary vacation can correct the situation. Try with the employee to determine how to lighten his load and what to do to recover.

Adjust your work schedule

With burnout, it can be difficult for a person to get into a working rhythm in the morning, but after lunch he becomes much more productive. Or vice versa: he is ready to work actively after breakfast, but gets tired and exhausted by dinner. Determine with the employee when his stay in the office will be most productive, and adjust the work schedule.

Maybe, avoid burnout a flexible schedule will help in the future. In every company there are employees whose work is not associated with strict time frames. They may appear in the office every day, but do not spend the whole working day in it.

Let such employees be present at all key events - working meetings, presentations, seminars, brainstorming sessions - that are held offline. But at the same time, they can shift the beginning and end of the working day, provided that at certain hours they will definitely be in touch.

It is important that the weekly plans are met, otherwise the flexible schedule will have to be changed back to the standard eight-hour work day.

Discuss work tasks with the employee and give feedback

It often seems to the employee that his efforts almost invisible and hardly needed by anyone. Remember the famous parable about the three workers who carried stones to the construction site. One of them believed that he was simply carrying heavy boulders, another that he was earning food for his family, and the third that he was building a beautiful temple. The second and third are much less likely to burn out - they see meaning in their work.

Therefore, it is important that your colleagues and subordinates know that they are not just “carrying stones”.

Show that the employee has done a lot of useful and necessary for the company. Evaluate how his current tasks help everyone develop. Note which of his suggestions or ways of approaching work tasks turned out to be the most successful.

Set a rule to notice the successes and achievements of your team

At first glance, these are trifles. But they perform an important function - they show that the company appreciates everyone.

Set specific goals with clear results

Make a rule: work on every major project is divided into individual steps with measurable results. And employees at the beginning of the week report what tasks they are going to do in the coming days and what success they plan to achieve.

For example, call 10 regular customers and find out how they use the equipment they bought from you. Find out if they have new tasks and if they need additional services. Thanks to this approach, at the end of the week, the employee will see that he has achieved his goals - for example, he has agreed on a new sale.

For a burned-out employee, you can set a lightweight plan. Or break the task into very small steps. If a person sees that everything is working out for him, he will begin to feel more confident. This will help you deal with burnout and scale up your plan over time.

Establish a practice of regularly updating the team on current achievements

For example, do it at the end of the week or month. In each review, note which tasks were successfully solved and how they helped the company. Share what you get reviewsto show how customers appreciate the work of your employees.

You can motivate the team with small bonuses. But not only money will help workers feel needed. Congratulate in the general chat those who have passed the trial period or closed a difficult deal.

Tag everyone who took part in a long and expensive project.

If you are already using these methods, add something new. For example, ask a designer to design virtual badges and create a dedicated page on each employee's profile to store them.

These methods will not help a burned-out employee recover immediately. But they will facilitate his return to working form and reduce the likelihood of burnout in the future.

Help employees improve their physical and mental health

Sometimes burnout symptoms appear due to a lack of certain trace elements - for example, iron or magnesium. And constant fatigue can occur due to undertreated ARVI. Or because of other diseases, which so far manifest themselves only as a breakdown, but in the future can lead to serious problems.

In such cases, you need to consult a doctor who will give a referral for tests and examinations, and then prescribe treatment. Therefore, it is worth giving the employee two or three days off so that he visits a therapist, takes tests and visits other specialists.

It's great if your company issues VHI policies for employees.

Maybe the person is fine with the physical condition, but he needs help psychologist. It is worth finding the contacts of specialists in advance so that your colleagues know where they can turn. Or offer an online appointment with a professional psychologist on the remote counseling portal. It will be great if the company pays for the session.

Maintain a comfortable team environment

Give employees the opportunity to discuss more than just work tasks. Maybe they will be interested to learn about the materials of the new specialized seminar. Or visit a professional exhibition.

Or maybe go to a lecture on psychology together and then discuss your impressions and think about what you can use from what you hear when communicating with colleagues. Or just arrange picnic in nature, forget about business there, laugh and tell stories from life.

Let each employee be able to offer their ideas both on the arrangement of work processes and on the organization of recreation. Provide such an opportunity and try to implement all the interesting offers.

Informal events will help rally the team and give everyone the opportunity to show themselves from an unexpected side. And also - to relieve stress, distract from tasks, problems and burning deadlines. Such actions help employees to reboot and get away from burnout.