6 Ways to Ease Burnout Symptoms in Employees

It is easy to blame the COVID-19 pandemic for the numerous cases of employee burnout symptoms, particularly in Singapore. According to payroll software company Employment Hero, 48 per cent of Singaporean workers reported being unhappy at work in 2020. With isolation, health concerns, and general uncertainty about the future occupying every worker’s thoughts, who would not feel exhausted and burnt out?

The truth is, employees in Singapore have felt overwhelmed by work even before the pandemic began. In 2019, tech company Kisi ran a study to determine which cities offered the most work-life balance to workers, and which ones had a predominantly stressful work environment. The study found that Singapore was the second most overworked city (Tokyo was the first.) Kisi repeated the study in 2020. Again, Singapore turned up second in the most overworked category, this time after Hong Kong.

Driving the point home, British professional services firm Aon conducted the 2021 Global Well-being Survey. Unsurprisingly, the survey results reveal that among the top five issues employees in Singapore face, one of them is burnout.

Burnout is a serious threat to business. Aon’s survey found that employee well-being directly impacts the retention and satisfaction of customers. In other words, the best thing a company can do to drive profit and secure their business is to take care of their people.  

Singapore managers have their work cut out for them. Aon found that 91% of Singapore companies run at least one program for wellness. But of these, only 16% fully apply their employee well-being strategies to their business and talent retention. On the other hand, 27% have well-being programmes that are doing extremely well.

Regularly check on your employees. Touching base regularly with each of your team members is the minimum. Be proactive in getting to know them—organise weekly e-coffee breaks, for example. Build trust, and over time, they will feel comfortable opening up to you if they are having a difficult time at work.

Acknowledge the contribution of each employee.  Normalise celebrating small wins along with the big ones. For instance, on your regular team huddles, make it a point to single out members who did especially good work during the week or month. Explain how this contributed to the company’s growth. Doing this makes everyone feel like they belong to a bigger entity, and are valued.

Offer perks. These days, health and wellness perks at work are valuable. Consider offering your employees regular mental health coaching with a healthcare professional. You could also encourage them to exercise more by giving “fitness reimbursements” for athletic equipment or a membership at a gym. Additionally, remind them to take vacation time, especially after a gruelling month of meeting quotas.

If possible, consolidate all tasks into one platform.  On average, employees use at least eight apps daily to carry out their work, according to Blissfully’s 2019 SaaS Trends Report. It can easily add to the workload, leading to overtime, stress, and, if left unchecked, burnout.

Regularly review each team member’s workload.  An overwhelming to-do list at work can trigger the symptoms of burnout. Consider lightening the load of each employee or hiring more staff if you regularly see your team members work overtime.

Teach employees how to manage stress at work.  Often, some stress comes with the job. As a manager, you can minimise this by being clear on your expectations and work requirements for each team member. Additionally, give them tools to stay organised.

To effectively eliminate work burnout, managers need to know why it happens in the first place. The very quality that sustains Singapore’s high work standards may be the same that causes employees to burn out. Being home to “one of the most intense workplaces in the world,” Singapore attracts high-caliber workers. Unfortunately, it seems it is backfiring for those who are sticklers for perfectionism.

As recently as 2019, workers have started acknowledging their need for a more balanced life. Brand Expedia’s 2019 survey on “vacation deprivation” found that 77% of working Singaporeans would take a pay cut to be able to file for another day’s leave. More than half of the respondents admitted that, even on holiday, they still check on work tasks through mobile devices.

When the government mandated that the majority of the office workers to work from home, it was the lack of a physical boundary that caused the problems. Without a workspace separate from their home, employees had—and continue to have—difficulty drawing the line between work and play. Additionally, perhaps due to the many distractions some may face at home, employees think they need to work overtime frequently because they feel they do not work enough during the day. 

There is hope, however. Amidst the onslaught of the pandemic, employers now have a renewed interest in the mental health of their employees. Even the government is in on it. On November 17, 2020, the government, with the Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), came up with a Tripartite Advisory on Mental Well-being at Workplaces. It helps guide employers in the policies and practices for mental wellness in the office. 

Part of the practices that promote mental health in the workplace is to recognise the warning signs of burnout in employees. This is why managers need to see to it that their staff are conscientious in both work tasks and wellness habits. Otherwise, the following may happen, signalling the onset of employee burnout:

They send work-related emails and messages outside office hours. This may mean they work hard, of course. But alarmingly, it also means your employees have difficulty turning off work when they should be relaxing. On another note, if your staff find it necessary to work beyond office hours, it may also imply they have poor time management skills. This can aggravate feelings of exhaustion and burning out.

Their work begins to slip.  It is a sign of low motivation when a star employee begins to consistently submit substandard work. They may also start to show up to work late. At the same time, managers may notice that they just do not seem to exhibit any joy as they work.

They stop bantering with their work friends.  Burnout and depression have similar symptoms. One of these is the loss of interest in what one usually likes to do, i.e., exchanging jokes with friends. If employees become uncharacteristically quiet during team calls, there may be something wrong.

They frequently get sick.  Intense stress can manifest through physical symptoms. Employees on the verge of burnout can complain of stomach aches, panic attacks, and migraines, among others.

In the mid-1980s, Ricardo Semler, Jr. inherited Semco, his father’s torpedoing ship-parts business in Sāo Paulo. He couldn’t be stopped, working himself close to burnout until he collapsed from exhaustion. In recovery, Semler had an epiphany. He went back to the office and implemented radical changes in his company including:

• Voluntary meetings

• Salary negotiations initiated by the employees

• Mandatory vacation time

• Two-way evaluation between bosses and their subordinates

• Internal publication of the company’s financials and a profit-sharing system available to everyone

During a recession in the last six years, Semco’s revenues jumped from $35 million to $212 million. From several hundred employees, Semco now has 3,000. Most revealing is the fact that employee turnover is about 1%. All the changes Semler introduced focused on his people. And so the same people responded by being more productive and staying loyal.

Outside factors may raise the risk of employee burnout. That has been apparent during the pandemic. However, as Semler demonstrates, managers who are empathetic and people-centred can see to it that their employees stay happy and motivated at work.

Learn more about how to keep your staff from burnout, plus other expert career advice, at JobStreet’s Career Resources Hub.

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