The World Health Organization defines burnout as “a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” In other words, this workplace phenomenon is a reflection on leadership, not a weakness in team members. Telling employees to “be more resilient” or to, “hang in there” just isn’t going to cut it right now.

The last few years have brought a fair share of challenges, to say the least. Burnout isn’t something that just happens overnight. It takes time to develop and can slowly creep into the workplace. What are some of the signs that your team is dealing with it? Be on the lookout for these 7 big ones:

• Change in demeanor or attitude
• Low-motivation or energy to do things they were previously motivated to do
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering tasks or completing projects
• Increased absenteeism or non-responsiveness
• Lack of participation in team projects, meetings or events
• High sensitivity to feedback or inappropriate reactions to criticism
• Low productivity or difficulty maintaining a normal workload

In our last article that we said that psychological availability means employees feel like they have the physical, emotional and mental resources to do their job. There are a lot of issues that are out of the control of leaders right now, but there are ways they can increase levels of psychological availability and combat signs of burnout. Here are the top 5:

• Ask how team members are really Check in and practice active listening.
• Don’t micromanage, but empower. One of the main causes of burnout is a perceived lack of control.
• Recognize efforts. Expressing gratitude helps team members feel that their work matters.
• Make human connection a priority. A lack of social support can be a big driver of burnout, even if workers are back in the office.
• Develop a shared sense of “why” and communicate to team members why their work matters.

It’s a myth that burnout is simply from overwork. Burnout comes from basic needs not being met over time. But with the right leadership strategies, it can improve substantially. Leah M Joppy and Associates can help you combat employee burnout and disengagement before productivity declines and turnover increases.

Call us at 301-351-9523 or email us at leah@lmja.com to learn more.

When you take a good, long look around your office, what do you see? Are team members engaged in projects or are they simply “going through the motions?” Do they have the proper technology to do their jobs and, at very least, a proper area to work? Is the environment inviting or dark and depressing?

All of these factors are just a few drivers of employee engagement. Last month, we looked at psychological safety and its impact on engagement. This month, we’re looking at psychological availability and the role it plays in a healthy, productive work environment.

So, what is ‘psychological availability’ and what does it look like? In short, it means that employees feel like they have the physical, emotional and mental resources to do their job. Here are some of the main factors that impact psychological availability:

• Support from leadership
• Ability to manage workload and stress
• Having a trusting, comfortable team environment
• Access to necessary equipment, comfortable workspaces, etc.
• Feeling like there’s a healthy work/life balance

Making psychological availability a priority comes down to organizations creating a workplace where team members feel supported – both through a healthy physical and emotional environment.

We hear the term “burnout” all the time, but we don’t hear about “psychological availability” all that often. However, the two go hand-in-hand: a lack of psychological availability in the workplace is a key contributor to employee burnout. And, as we all know, burnout can be lethal to an organization’s productivity, morale and overall culture.

That’s where Leah M Joppy and Associates can help. We get to the root causes of WHY team members are feeling burned out and disengaged. Then, we work with you to come up with ideas and strategies to address these problems quickly.

Learn more by calling us at 301-351-9523 or email us at leah@lmja.com.