Employee burnout can happen at any company, and CHROs must take action to help prevent it before it happens.
Reaching out to employees for suggestions and encouraging proper technology use can help alleviate employee burnout, among other strategies. Companies must then follow through to show employees that they care about burnout prevention.
Here's a deeper look at what causes employee burnout and what employers can do to alleviate it.
How technology causes, and alleviates, burnout
Technology makes it possible to work from home, but it also contributes to employee burnout.
The expectation of constant connectivity and video burnout are particularly toxic stressors.
Chat and collaboration apps, e-mail and even video conferences can increase productivity and engagement, but companies can also use them too much, said Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications, a learning and development company.
"Zoom is a blessing and a curse," Schwartz said.
Here are some other strategies employers can use to prevent burnout.
Ask employees -- and take action
Organizations should start by reaching out to employees.
Emplify leaders used the company's employee engagement survey platform to take the workforce's pulse in May 2020. Its employees needed official time off, according to the data.
"[Encouraging them to] take a break when they needed it [wasn't enough]," said Adam Weber, executive coach at Adam Weber Coaching and former chief people officer at employee engagement software company Emplify.
Emplify gave its employees every Friday off for a month, he said. Because everyone was off-duty, employees didn't have to manage emails and chats, which helped alleviate the feeling of constant connectivity.
Use reminder features
In some cases, the remote work platforms that can contribute to stress can also be used to prevent employee burnout.
For example, remote scheduling systems often have reminder features, said Jon Hill, managing partner at The Energists, an executive search firm based in Houston. Companies can set up reminders for employees to take regular breaks.
Employers can also use the feature to make sure employees aren't working more than their contracted number of hours, Hill said. Companies that track time can use that same system to examine how much work team members are putting in. They can keep a particularly close eye on high performers and salaried employees who won't receive automatic compensation for their extra time.
Align technology with company culture
Tech tools like behavior analytics and AI have limitations just like any other software or system.
The tools can help identify trends and the employees at risk for burnout, but they also need to fit in with the organization's culture and structure, said Marie-Helene Pelletier, an independent work psychologist and executive coach. For example, there may be stigma attached to using particular tools. Employers will need to address that or pursue other strategies.
Offer de-stressing options
HR leaders can get creative about the stress-reduction programs they propose.
For example, wellness tech, such as mindfulness apps, can help employees create islands of peace through the day. And some companies target one of the top stressors for many workers by offering financial wellness programs.
Create a burnout dialogue
The best strategy for preventing employee burnout is to create a culture where employees can speak openly about burnout with their managers.
"Pretending burnout isn't happening will only make it worse," Weber said.
Companies need to acknowledge that burnout happens, then foster employee-manager dialogue.