Keys to recognizing burnout in your teams
In this podcast, industry expert Cathy Ellwood helps managers identify the stressors and symptoms leading to overstressed and exhausted employees.
Over the last two years, the average workday seems to have grown even longer as employees balance working from home with their personal lives. The number of virtual meetings has increased and even as masking and social distancing recommendations related to the pandemic have lifted, meetings and events are not going back to normal. “Zoom” fatigue is setting in for many as they navigate meeting after meeting every day.
Companies in all lines of business are also dealing with the impact of the great resignation, which is also forcing companies to do more with far fewer personnel resources. This, in turn, places more stress on the remaining workers.
Learning to identify burnout in our people and understanding its consequences are vital to ensuring employees have the resources and assistance they need. Cathy Ellwood, founder of Ellwood Enterprises, and a financial services executive with decades of experience in developing and executing strategic plans, and fostering innovation and leadership in her teams, shared her insights on how managers can identify burnout in their teams.
“I’m not 100% convinced we’re seeing more burnout,” Ellwood shares, “we’re just opening our eyes and paying attention to it.”
She explains that the number one reason people leave a job is because of a toxic culture. “People don’t have to stay in the same toxic work environment.” Other contributing factors can be excessive workloads, too much reliance on a single person or even personal stressors like caring for aging parents or young children. “The remote environment can it worse for some people.”
Some of the symptoms that could be indicators of employee burnout are being tired, being critical of everyone, being disengaged at work or becoming overly sensitive to feedback. “Exhaustion is the number one factor that drives burnout,” she finds. Ellwood also says that managers who are concerned about burnout in their teams should also be looking for it in themselves.
She shares several resources executives can use to help identify and assess exhaustion and stress and offers suggestions to help co-workers on the verge of or experiencing burnout. For more information, listen to the podcast above or subscribe to Insurance Speak on Spotify, Apple Music or Libsyn.
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