Managing Remote Employee Burnout

The majority of the workforce has been thrusted into working from home during the pandemic, and there are certain obstacles that come with that. There is a perception that working from home means less stress, and that may be true in some instances but not always. Many employees have reported feeling more burnt out while working from home when compared to commuting into an office each day. Below are some tips that industry leaders have been using to ensure that their team is staying refreshed.

1. Establish boundaries. Just because your employees are working from home doesn't mean that they should be accessible around the clock. Establish communication boundaries for your employees so that they aren't required to take calls or reply to emails during off hours. Your employees have responsibilities outside of work and when they have limited time to manage all of their responsibilities then they can feel like there isn't enough time in the day to get to everything and hence start to feel burnt out.

2. Make your employees step away from their computer for at least 1 break a day. Being able to step away from work for an hour will give your employees time to recharge and tackle remaining tasks for that day. Many employees have reported that they are actually working longer hours since working from home since they don't have to account for the time it takes to commute to and from the office. Be mindful of the number of hours they are working and encourage daily breaks to limit burnout.

3. Promote health and wellness for your employees. Some of the most successful people that I have had the pleasure of working with would take an hour or so every day to exercise. By promoting an organized team exercise, you will be able to show your employees that you truly care about their wellness while also building team inclusiveness.

4. When possible, form working teams for your employees. The employees who are working together on specific tasks will have each other to work with which will make them feel that their workload is more manageable. Outside of that, you will be dissipating feelings of employee isolation while also promoting accountability to complete specific tasks.

5. Try to schedule fun activities for your employees. Set a companywide goal for the week and reward your team with a virtual happy hour at the end of the week or something of this nature. Let your employees unwind and talk to their teammates about something other than work while on a virtual call. Not only will this help them to unplug and recharge, but it also promotes team inclusiveness.