Beating Burnout
As responsible leaders, it is surely within our remit to ensure our employees are not stressed by the work we ask them to do. If you have noticed your colleagues snapping at each other, seeming tired and complaining of lack of sleep and no longer voicing concerns, you need to act now. All these are signs of stress, which needs to be dealt with before it turns into something more serious. As part of any self-care routine, we should be building emotional resilience. As a leader you can help your employees to do this in the following ways:
Conduct a safety audit – where support and development structures are clear and people operate within a friendly network. Conducting an informal and anonymous survey of your organisation may give you valuable insights into how colleagues are feeling.
Encourage an understanding of each other’s roles and importance – when people are allowed to explain their roles and importance, others will have greater respect and appreciation of what they are responsible for.
Introduce informal self-care – make sure your team knows where to signpost their own staff to get organisational support. Find out about well-being events on offer and arrange for team attendance.
Engage in relevant staff development – upskilling your staff is an easy way of making them feel valued.
Encourage teams to respect their boundaries – encourage your team to self-care in simple ways, stretch their legs, stop and have a drink, state clearly and maintain office hours.
You can find out more about this in: ‘The leader’s guide to mindfulness’ by Dr Audrey Tang
