How to motivate burnt out employees?

In this article you will read about the methods of motivating employees who are already burnt out, that is real actions that can impove their mental state.

Burnt out at work – table of contents:

1. Diagnose the cause
2. Offer solutions
3. Prevent employee burnout

Diagnose the cause

The first step is to diagnose the cause of burnout. Perhaps, because of too many duties and doing overtime your employee has a problem with maintaining a healthy work-life balance? Or maybe their work has become too monotonous and feels as if it stands still without any progress? Maybe the reason is a conflict with their boss or a demotivating atmosphere in a team? A consult with a psychologist who should easily indicate the cause of our employee’s condition might help. After we learn where we made a mistake and what the employee is missing, we will be able to implement the right recovery plan so that the proposed solution would meet the employee’s needs.

Offer solutions

If our employee feels burnt out because of work overload, having too many duties and doing overtime, one of the best options is to give them a few days off. This will let them take their thoughts away from their professional life and recharge their batteries. After their return, it is worth introducing some changes related to the mode and time of work as well as division of duties. If the problem with work-life balance is associated with working remotely, perhaps it would be a good idea to offer our employee either to come back to the office or work in a hybrid mode. Separating work and personal life might prove crucial in restoring a good work-life balance.

Another method for achieving it is with flexible working hours since people have different lifestyles and productivity peaks. A good solution might be letting the employee start their workday between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., so they could go to the gym in the morning, take kids to kindergarten or simply sleep longer. A daily flexible schedule will certaily increase their productivity. In case of work overload, it is advisable to modify the division of tasks in the team and perhaps hire a new employee.

A common reason for burnout is also the feeling of making no progress, lack of development and monotony of performed tasks. In this situation, our employee should consult a job coach who will help them determine their career goals, areas of development and possible career paths. After such a consult, together with our employee, you should establish an action plan to reach their goals, present career prospects, propose a training budget, change or add new responsible duties and consider creating a transparent reward system.

Conflicts, understatements, communication problems, unhealthy competition and even mobbing are also common causes of employee burnout. In this case, it is worth concentrating on improving workplace relationships. Consider asking a psychologist for help or think of organizing a teambuilding party to boost team’s morale.

Prevent employee burnout

After diagnosing the cause of burnout and providing support for the employee, we need to take steps to avoid such a situation in the future, especially, when a large group of employees experiences it and there is a high employee turnover in the company. Such benefits as psychologist support, mindfulness classes, flexible working schedule and unlimited paid holiday policy will certainly support employees in maintaining a good work-life balance.

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