Burnout or a better bottom line? The choice is yours

Depending on your position and personality, you might flourish working under the gun. Rushing around, rising to the occasion and problem solving brings out the best in you. There is no mountain you can’t climb. No obstacle you can’t overcome. Your biggest challenge might be turning off your brain long enough to get a good night’s sleep before you dive in all over again.

What you find stimulating, inspiring, and exciting, however, can be overwhelming and stressful for others. It’s one thing to create a vision and quite another to be tasked with bringing it to fruition amidst the heat and hustle that spring brings.

It’s important to look at stress and burnout and how you can create an environment that maximizes productivity and improves your bottom line.

Stress is generally caused by having too much to do, and the worry and anxiety that accompanies problems in and out of the workplace. Stressed individuals lose their tolerance for frustration, take things personally, and either become agitated or emotionally shut-down. Not good for business, productivity, or employee satisfaction.

Burnout, the collapse of physical or emotional strength resulting from extended periods of stress or frustration, also negatively impacts your bottom line as it leads to exhaustion, loss of motivation, and ineffectiveness. Highly stressed or burned out individuals, are not good for employee morale, stellar customer service, or the bottom line.

Here are four top tips you can immediately implement to minimize workplace stress and burnout:
 

1. Take care of yourself physically, and encourage your employees to do the same. Get plenty of water, nutrient rich food, and a good night’s rest so that you aren’t burning the candle at both ends. Encourage your employees to do the same. A hydrated worker is a more efficient worker. Think of your employees like athletes. Coolers full of Gatorade aren’t just for dousing the coach after a big win.
 

2. Express appreciation regularly. Employees who feel valued and appreciated are motivated to work harder and are far less likely to be stressed or burned out than those who are treated like expendable objects. Appreciation is a wonderful antidote to stress and burnout.

3. Make sure everyone carries their load. It’s tempting to not want to rock the boat with a temporary employee or someone who is slacking off. Unfortunately, overlooking the slackers puts a lot more pressure on your high performers. It is also incredibly frustrating and demotivating, and leads to stress and burnout. Why should your best people perform at their highest levels if others are allowed to lollygag?

4. Address problems as they arise. Problems are never pleasant and are often ignored in hopes they will go away. Unfortunately, problems rarely disappear on their own. Taking care of problems is like weeding. Baby weeds are easy to pull, but once they take root, they can be a bear. If an employee is unhappy, have a conversation. Find out what’s wrong and if you can do anything to help. Unresolved and ongoing arguments drain energy and take a huge toll on productivity and work satisfaction.

Even though it’s your busy season, you have the power to minimize stress and significantly decrease the likelihood of burnout among your staff. Implementing even one of these tips will bring good results. Master all four and then enjoy watching your productivity, job satisfaction, and profitability soar.

Sherene McHenry, The "30 Minutes To Breakthrough" specialist, empowers others to maximize their potential, enhance relationships, and avoid and overcome burnout. McHenry is the author of Pick: Choose to Create A Life You Love. For more: www.sherenemchenry.com. Have a question? Email the author at sherene@sherenemchenry.com.