Resolving Burnout in the Workplace through Strengths

In our previous two articles on burnout in the workplace, we’ve driven one point home more than any other: managers ultimately set the precedent for their organization’s relationship to burnout. Of course, this means that they not only hold the power to prevent it in their own organization, but if they aren’t mindful of its presence in their own professional lives, managers can cultivate a working environment that allows burnout to spread rampantly across their teams. 

Now that we’ve developed a sense of why and how burnout can begin and grow when untreated, it’s equally important that we touch upon the ways that we can prepare managers to address and prevent it––starting with how it impacts them on an individual level.

How burnout in the workplace appears, and why you should use your Strengths to combat it

Our most recent article on the subject (read here: 3 Tell-Tale Signs Your Employees Are Suffering From Burnout), we noted three persisting symptoms of burnout: exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. 

Because the biggest tells of burnout in the workplace are most often feelings of exhaustion, disengagement, and inefficiency, Gallup shares the first step in rooting it out of managers is by returning to the positive and meaningful parts of leadership. These aspects of work are the most sustaining, and a greater emphasis on them allows individuals to rediscover a healthy balance between the stressful and energizing parts of the job. Whether it's experiencing greater involvement in decision-making, autonomy over one’s workload, a sense of community and collaboration, or meaningful growth opportunities, really leaning into these uplifting elements of leadership empowers managers to play upon their strengths––one of the biggest defense tactics against burnout. 

While a greater emphasis on the positive aspects of the manager experience is crucial in the fight against burnout in the workplace, Gallup’s insight doesn’t stop there: doing this while simultaneously mitigating some of managers’ greatest challenges can really magnify the effect. Here’s what they recommend starting with:

• Communicate expectations clearly and frequently
  Being able to regularly discuss top priorities, roadblocks, and successes is one of the hands-down easiest ways to actively engage managers in their work. By establishing lines of consistent communication and empowering them to take responsibility for guiding these catch-up conversations based around their own unique workloads, you’re able to personally support managers and give them stakes in meaningful decision-making processes.

• Step back and let managers control their own workloads
  Granting managers the flexibility, autonomy, and ownership to do the job their own way is a vital step towards employee engagement, a valuable tool to leverage while warding off burnout in the workplace. Except in cases where managers have the tendency to bite off more than they can chew, exhibit trust and belief in their abilities to succeed independently of explicit guidance.
  
  

• Lean into the power of collaboration
  Never underestimate the power of teamwork–– establishing lines of mutual support, and cross-functional collaboration is key to supporting the needs of managers with hefty workloads. Not only will a network like this normalize the act of asking for help, but it can also serve as a valuable practice in delegation, an essential skill all successful leaders possess.
  
  Recommended reading: 4 Best Practices for Delegation, So You Can Stop Micromanaging Your Team
  
  

• Invest in strengths-based development
  We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: leveraging strengths is one of our most powerful defenses against impending burnout. But in reality, managers are 46% less likely than other employees to strongly agree their work is delegated to them properly. Without opportunities to exhibit their greatest strengths, the risk of burnout in workplace leaders is heightened exponentially. By allocating resources for this kind of professional development, you’re showing your managers that you value their long-term growth and advancement while also investing in the overall success of your organization.

Leadology’s approach to combating burnout with Strengths work

When in full effect, the challenges of burnout in the workplace may seem insurmountable. But research-backed strategies advise us to return to the basics of strengths-work to weed it out of our organizations. Managers from across the globe are putting this approach into action within our premier leadership development program Activate, which is engaging networks of workplace leaders in purposeful conversations and equipping them with the resources needed to reduce workplace burnout on a mass scale. 

Schedule a strategy call with us to learn more about how Activate is preparing leaders to address and prevent burnout in their own professional lives before continuing this important work across their teams and entire organizations.

Carrie & Team Leadology