Burnout happens in the workplace, but your leadership can take preventative measures before it goes past the point of no return.
You first need to realize that your teams do not have an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm to bring to every task if you are not stepping up and supporting them when there are gaps in their performance or productivity.
Almost 60% of leaders report being or feeling burned out. In 2021, 1,000 high-potential leaders were interviewed, and they found that 86% felt exhausted at the end of the day. That is a significant increase of 27% over the previous year.
Front Line Leaders Feeling Burned Out in the Workplace
We helped a manufacturer who had a very significant burnout issue when it came to their supervisors. Either they would abruptly quit, resign from their post, or stay and become demotivated. Their leaders felt under supported.
The company identified this root cause and provided the skill-building tools they needed while also reversing the burnout to reignite the energy and motivation they originally had.
Preventative Burnout Measures
Number One: Quantify the Workload
Inevitably, we keep increasing the workload and expectations of our teams until they break. Often this occurs because most of our hires do not tell us they have been given too much to do.
You need to look at the workload that you have assigned to your leaders and ask, “Is that a reasonable thing to expect from them daily?”
Number Two: Leave Time for Leadership
A lot of supervisors are so busy doing a lot of admin tasks, project work, meetings, and committee tasks, that they do not end up spending enough time on the floor interacting with their people. Reevaluate some of those tasks and delegate.
Number Three: Shift Tasks to Support Departments
Suppose we surround supervisors with the support they need. In that case, they can focus on their leadership responsibilities, and other departments or groups can take away some of the work that is often offloaded onto the supervisor.
Be cautious not to over-delegate your leaders, as this could result in their burnout and could affect their team-building development or capabilities.
Leadership Training and Development
Our Front Line Leadership program can help get you on the right track. We offer training in English, Spanish, and French. Choose training In-Person, Virtual, or our new On Demand format.
It all starts with a conversation on our website at uniquedevelopment.com.
