How to Discuss Burnout With Your Team

I came across this fas­ci­nat­ing arti­cle in the Har­vard Busi­ness Review that real­ly struck a chord with me. You know, it’s not easy for employ­ees to admit they’re burnt out. There’s this fear of being per­ceived as weak or inad­e­quate. But when some­one final­ly has the courage to say, ​“Hey, I’m burnt out,” it’s an oppor­tu­ni­ty for us to step in and pro­vide gen­uine support.

The arti­cle I read high­lights how cru­cial it is to han­dle employ­ee burnout with care. It empha­sizes the need to take it seri­ous­ly, tru­ly lis­ten to their con­cerns, and help them uncov­er the under­ly­ing caus­es of their burnout. We should work togeth­er to cre­ate a plan that address­es their needs head-on.

Now, here’s some­thing I want to add to the con­ver­sa­tion. If an employ­ee is seri­ous­ly burnt out, it’s essen­tial to help them access pro­fes­sion­al help. This could mean con­nect­ing them with a psy­chol­o­gist, coun­selor, or doc­tor who spe­cial­izes in men­tal health. We want them to receive the nec­es­sary sup­port and guid­ance to bounce back stronger.

Have you ever heard of Men­tal Health First Aid? They have this mod­el called ALGEE, and it’s like a super­hero toolk­it for men­tal health. It stands for assess, lis­ten, give reas­sur­ance and infor­ma­tion, encour­age appro­pri­ate pro­fes­sion­al help, and empow­er with self-help strate­gies. It’s a prac­ti­cal frame­work that can guide us in pro­vid­ing effec­tive assistance.

Let’s not for­get about our­selves too. We need to pri­or­i­tize our own well-being. Remem­ber the air­plane anal­o­gy? Put on your own oxy­gen mask first before help­ing oth­ers. We must make time for activ­i­ties that nur­ture our body, mind, and spir­it. Whether it’s spend­ing time with friends, pur­su­ing hob­bies, or find­ing per­son­al inspi­ra­tion, let’s pri­or­i­tize self-care.

This arti­cle serves as a reminder that when employ­ees open up about burnout, we must approach it with com­pas­sion and sen­si­tiv­i­ty. And always remem­ber, when stress becomes over­whelm­ing, seek­ing pro­fes­sion­al help is a valid and nec­es­sary step towards recovery.

Resources

• Men­tal Health Con­tin­u­um Model
• Your Oxy­gen Mask First Self-Assesment
• Men­tal Health First Aid: ALGEE in Action

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

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