How to Help Employees Overcome Change Fatigue

Change is inevitable—and change in the workplace is constant. For millions of American employees, the changes that have transpired over the past 18 months have created a variety of new challenges. Between the pandemic, job demands, family responsibilities, and the rest of life, workers everywhere are experiencing change fatigue and burnout.

The ripple effect of the pandemic will continue to impact workers’ behavioral health for the foreseeable future, with nearly half of U.S. workers struggling with mental health issues and alcohol and substance abuse. Now more than ever, employees need support, and employers are poised to provide it.

Feelings of burnout and emotional drain are not only fueling trends in workplace behavioral health, but they can also play a key role in employee retention and overall well-being. According to the Mental Health America 2021 Mind the Workplace Report, four out of five workers reported feeling the early signs of burnout, while 56 percent have spent time looking for a new job (an increase of 16 percentage points from the same survey in 2018).

The signs of burnout are often misunderstood to be something else, so employers must have the ability to distinguish those symptoms. Signs of employee burnout include:

• Disengagement from work-related activities;
• Emotional exhaustion—minimal energy and feeling drained or tired;
• Reduced performance—difficulty concentrating and overall negativity towards daily work tasks; and
• Physical symptoms—stomachaches, headaches, and even digestive issues can all be the result of chronic stress and burnout.

How Managers Can Cope

Company leaders and people managers are on the front lines of a workplace greatly affected by the pandemic. However, managers are not immune to life- and work-related stress, so it’s critical for employers to train managers to recognize the signs of burnout and fatigue in themselves as well as those who report to them.

Because manager support is directly linked to employee engagement and well-being, it is also important for employers to communicate with, support, and empower managers. As the metaphor goes, it’s important for employers to encourage their managers to “put their oxygen mask on first.”

For their own mental health, managers should:

1. Acknowledge that engaging at an individual level with employees is important work and not an added or short-term responsibility.  Managers may be very focused on meeting deadlines and productivity goals, but the people aspects of their job is equally important, if not more important.

2. Give themselves a break.  It’s important to schedule time in your calendar to re-energize and step away from daily pressures. Take a mental health/wellness day. Download an app to remind you to take a break and stretch or simply get moving for a bit.

3. Utilize or create meaningful connections with peers.  Other managers in and outside your organization are facing the same challenges that you are. Connecting with others provides a dual benefit of hearing ideas and approaches that you may not have thought of, while increasing your own engagement and sense of belonging, as well.

Supporting Employees Facing Burnout

When people managers and employers recognize the signs of burnout in employees, they may need to explore some changes to the workplace culture. Here are four suggestions for creating a more connected work environment and checking in with employees:

1. Create a human connection.  Added stress and more remote work make it important to approach team members as people, and not just employees. Acknowledge that it’s a hard time, empathize, and point employees to resources your company offers. Emotional work is as important as any other work. Encourage employees to ask for help, and show support when they do.

2. Set realistic expectations.  Life disruptions can make people less focused and productive. Set realistic expectations for yourself and your team, and remind employees to be compassionate with themselves and others.

3. Hold friendlier meetings.  Employees working at home have lost the office’s built-in sociability. There’s no chatting in the hall, around the break room, or at the copier. Set aside meeting time for personal contact, like joking and sharing. Encourage people to talk about things such as family and hobbies.

4. Normalize conversations around mental health.  Remember, everyone struggles with mental health. Breaking the stigma surrounding burnout and mental health in the workplace is an important step to creating a culture of well-being and resilience. Implementing an anti-stigma campaign such as “Make it OK” and “Stop the Stigma” can help reduce the negative stereotypes associated with these struggles and help workers address problems they might typically hide.

There is still a lot of work to be done to improve workplace behavioral health, and the pandemic has taught us to expect more change and more adjustment in the coming months. If there were ever a silver lining, it’s that the awareness around behavioral health is growing, and we now have more information and insights on how to manage employees’ well-being in the face of life’s challenges.

Today’s employers are being tasked with finding that perfect balance between meeting the needs of their business and meeting the needs of the people who drive that business each day. Navigating that change in the spirit of togetherness is the culture shift that will help us not only get through this, but emerge better and stronger.

Brenda Smith is the Workplace Possibilities Director at The Standard. In this role, Brenda helps insurance advisors implement the Workplace Possibilities program with employers and oversees a team of return-to-work and Americans with Disabilities Act consultants.

From: BenefitsPRO