How do you deal with employee burnout?

5 practical tips for you as an employer, manager or HR advisor.

Prevention is better than cure. Especially when it comes to burnout. Unfortunately, as an employer, that's not always within your control. Just look at the numbersSince 2014, the number of employees experiencing stress or burnout symptoms has continued to rise. So, as an employer, there's a good chance you'll have to deal with this sooner or later. How do you, as an employer, manager, or HR department, deal with an employee experiencing burnout? These 5 practical tips from an employee will help you, as an employer, provide the right support.

Who better to tell you how to best deal with an employee experiencing burnout than… an employee experiencing burnout? Rosa (32) has been home for over six months now, after working hard for a large consultancy firm for over three years. "For me, it's a combination of not feeling completely at home anymore, high workload, and difficulties at home." Although her burnout has multiple causes, she finds that the way her employer handles it makes a big difference. "Ultimately, communication is the most important thing," she says. So, what should and shouldn't you do when your employee is experiencing burnout?

1. Give your employee enough space

This is where your employee's primary need lies. A comment like, "You're indispensable here," is probably well-intentioned, but it can actually increase the pressure. Employees often feel guilty enough about being absent. Rosa says she appreciated the occasional contact with her manager via the app, because calling was still too much. "Sometimes my manager would just send a quick message saying, 'I hope you're doing well. You can always call if you need to. And you don't have to respond to this message.' It was nice to hear that I was being considered, but that I didn't have to actively do anything about it."

2. Stay in touch

That's not difficult in itself. What is, however, is finding the right balance. It's important to realize that the contact likely requires a lot of energy from your employee. And that there's already a lot of contact with the company doctor, occupational health and safety service, and probably a coach or psychologist. Rosa understands that this is a tense situation for an employer: "Your employer, of course, has their obligations. But a manager, the hierarchy, the pressure—that can quickly make you feel pressured. And believe me, that doesn't help..."

She advises keeping contact accessible: "At such a time, you want to connect with someone you feel comfortable with. Someone you feel you can freely express your needs with. And someone who makes you feel like you, as an employee, are central to the process."

3. Make clear agreements together

"When I got a new manager during my recovery, I noticed the difference. Suddenly, I started getting unexpected calls. And my new manager now wanted to check in every two weeks instead of every six. That caused me a lot of stress," Rosa says. That's why she recommends making clear agreements with your employees.

So, do you have an employee experiencing burnout? Then keep in touch with them: who do you want to contact, when, and how often? And what form of communication would you prefer: work phone, personal phone, or email? Avoid making unexpected calls as much as possible. And always be clear about what your employee can expect from the reintegration process. For example, when it comes to contract renewal or applying for benefits.

4. Show that you support your employee

And that you take your employee's complaints seriously. For example, by being as judgmental as possible. And also by keeping the conversation as open as possible. It's better to ask an open question, "How are you?", than a suggestive question, "Are you feeling any better?" The latter question already nudge your employee in a certain direction. Keep the conversation open. And give each person the space to answer honestly and based on their own feelings.

Rosa: "Sometimes I could feel completely reassured after talking to my manager. That was because of the message: it's okay, take your time, this won't go away in a week. That really made me feel a sense of recognition. When you're experiencing burnout, it's so comforting when someone tells you that your health is the most important thing at that moment."

5. Provide an individual approach

Every employee is different. And so is every burnout. The cause could be perfectionism or excessive workload. Or feeling unsupported by your employer, organization, or colleagues. It could stem from a difficult situation at home, such as a loss or divorce. Or from a combination of all these factors. Therefore, put your employee at the center of the recovery process. Investigate the cause. And determine what that person, in this situation, needs right now to take the next step in the recovery process. 

A career coach can help if an employee feels they're not in the right place. An occupational health psychologist can be particularly helpful if the employee is also struggling with depression. Or perhaps a better workload distribution, additional training, or a different role are simply needed. Rosa can't emphasize enough that the focus should be on the employee's needs: "It's happened several times that I expressed my needs, for example, regarding how often I wanted contact, and they didn't listen. That's so frustrating."

6. Build it up again slowly

As an employer, you can't dictate how long recovery will take. And you certainly don't want to force it, because if that goes wrong, you'll be further from home. So start small. Have your employee stop by for a chat with colleagues first. This is purely to get a feel for the atmosphere. You don't want it to be about the workload piling up or about expectations about when someone will return.

If it's unclear at first what the employee can handle, start by working with occupational therapy. The employee will remain on sick leave for a while and can assess their abilities without too much pressure. "Ultimately, most employees experiencing burnout have the same goals as their employer. I feel like I'm sometimes misunderstood in that regard. I just want to get my life back and get back to work."

Are you experiencing downtime in your team? Recovery often takes time. Temporary support can ease the workload. We'd be happy to discuss your options with you in a no-obligation consultation.