The Secret to Creating a Truly Flexible Workplace

Burnout is a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion caused due to prolonged stress.

According to the Gallup 2024 State of the Global Workplace Report, only 14% of employees feel that they are ‘thriving’ in life while the remaining 86% admit to ‘struggling’ or ‘suffering’ in their current work environment. This survey highlights the urgency and high need for measures to understand and mitigate the results that are currently seen in this aspect of life.

Let us understand what causes burnout at workplaces

To understand burnout, it is first important to understand that it is not caused overnight. Any kind of chronic stress or challenge is capable of causing depletion in an individual’s emotional and physical capacity and response pattern. If not managed in time, it leads to burnout.

Dissatisfaction with the nature of work/ role.
Micromanagement by the authorities that leads to a lack of autonomy and flexibility.
Favoritism and bias at work lead to stressful environments and work politics.
Not getting recognition and appreciation for your efforts.
Your work failing to meet your financial expectations.
Rigid company policies.
Lack of support and cooperation from colleagues, managers, and team members.
Lack of respect for your boundaries.
Lack of safety at work (psychological, physical, and social)
Competitive environment amongst colleagues that reflects jealousy and leg-pulling behaviors.

How to identify burnout?

Chronic loss of physical and emotional energy.
Not feeling rested even after sleeping.
Frequent body aches, muscle pains, migraine, or gastro-intestinal problems.
Lowered immunity.
Reduced ability to focus and decision fatigue.
Frequent anger outbursts and/ or emotional breakdowns.

To identify burnout, one needs to keep track of the symptoms they are experiencing and understand if there is any change in their frequency and intensity. These symptoms are more likely to escalate with time therefore you need to keep tracking them in order to assess your wellbeing.

Here is how organizations can ensure that they are one step ahead in creating policies and plans that will prevent burnout:

Offer flexible work arrangements:

Flexibility at work offers individuals an opportunity to maintain a healthier work-life balance. Flexible arrangements include offering remote work, flexible shift timings, or hybrid mode. This flexibility should stem from a place of care and support and only then it can be felt. Employers can decrease commuting stress and create a more inclusive work environment by enabling employees to work from home or choose their work hours. This can help reduce workplace stressors and allow employees to be in control of their time.

Mental health days and paid time off:

A reset can truly do wonders for employees. Therefore, employees can truly unplug and focus on themselves by offering Mental Health leaves and paid time off. Spending time away from work, commitments, and, deadlines can allow them an opportunity to deal with problems that they might be dealing with outside of their work. When employees show up for themselves, it always contributes to their overall well-being and satisfaction.

Taking some time off for Mental Health helps prevent burnout, anxiety, and stress from escalating into more severe issues.

Peer support:

When an individual is going through a challenging period, they are likely to feel isolated, left out, and vulnerable because of their burden. Encourage a culture of establishing trustworthy and supportive relationships amongst employees. These bonds can help employees seek support and reach out to a work buddy to share or vent about their work problems. Crafting this supportive listening space within the organization can be truly game-changing.

At Manah Wellness, we conduct a unique training program that empowers individuals to transfer into wellbeing champions.

Introduce Employee Assistance Programs to inculcate a culture of safety, growth, and healing:

Employee Assistance Programs are programs that offer free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals, and follow-up services for employees. These services are conducted by licensed Psychologists who are trained in conducting sessions, awareness programs, and evaluations. Manah Wellness offers various such programs to support employees and empower them. You can read more about them here.

FAQs

If you are experiencing burnout, how do you tackle that?

If you are already experiencing burnout, you need to honor your body’s needs. You need to stop multitasking, missing your meals, and committing to more work or plans. Burnout challenges you on physical, emotional, and cognitive levels so chances are that your resources are close to getting exhausted. Therefore you must slow down and take care of yourself. Eating healthy and nourishing meals, doing slow exercises, including deep breathing and relaxation exercises, re-connecting with nature and your old hobbies, spending time with your loved ones, catching up on sleep, and focusing on rest and recovery are some solid ways to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. The Parasympathetic Nervous System is responsible for promoting rest, recovery, and relaxation.

Can therapy help to overcome burnout?

A therapist can help you teach relaxation exercises. They can also teach you helpful coping strategies for self-care such as boundary setting, expectation management, and prioritizing yourself which are extremely important in dealing with burnout.