The NFP and healthcare sectors are some of the most at-risk occupations of burnout. Here are the main causes and some strategies for preventing burnout to protect your team members, improve workplace happiness, increase productivity and retain great talent. 

According to Safe Work Australia, social, health and welfare support workers are the most at-risk occupations for mental health issues. When hiring and nurturing employees, it is important to prioritise their mental health to retain them over the long-term; not to mention, attract more great talent in the future. 

Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and ineffectiveness in the workplace and chronic negative responses to stressful workplace conditions. 

While not considered a mental illness, burnout can be considered a mental health issue. 

Here are some of the top reasons why NFP and Healthcare workers can experience this problem and ways of preventing burnout. 

Burnout is more likely when employees:

• expect too much of themselves
• feel as if they work they are doing is not good enough
• feel inadequate or incompetent
• feel unappreciated for their efforts in the workplace
• have unreasonable demands placed upon them
• are in roles that are not a good fit.

Recognise the signs and symptoms 

Could you recognise the above symptoms in your team members? While prevention is the most powerful solution, it’s important to recognise reduced energy and enthusiasm, lack of motivation and increased errors. Other symptoms can include irritability and increased absenteeism. 

Left unaddressed, burnt out team members can deteriorate into decreased productivity, increase risk of accidents, low workplace morale and increase turnover. 

Offer counselling and support services 

Offer your team members outlets to gain emotional support (i.e. by offering an external counselling service or support groups) or running physical or creative activities specifically designed for stress release. 

Assess workloads and establish reasonable expectations  

For not-for-profit and healthcare organisations, more often than not, there will be competing priorities and limited resources. Can you assess what activities require the highest standards and when is it okay to lower the bar and still meet organisational requirements? 

Use good communication to establish workloads and ensure your team members feel comfortable with their delivery. Use conversations are a chance to check-in and ensure your team members are not expecting unreasonable workloads of themselves. Encourage regular breaks and ensure you are not expecting team members to consistently work overtime. Establish boundaries and enforce reasonable work hours if necessary. 

Encourage social support, respect and physical activity

Fostering a sense of community and inclusivity in your workplace will increase retention over the long term. Support and respect in and between teams will improve happiness and productivity. Promoting physical activity in the workplace has been proven to lower the risk of chronic disease and increase employee engagement and productivity.  Provide training and resources 

Train your leadership team to assess for symptoms of burnout and know how to provide support to your team members. (Also, it may be worth providing training to your leaders to help them understand how harmful behaviour can have negative consequences on co-workers). 

Provide professional development and ongoing training to ensure all your team members feel competent and comfortable in their roles.\

Offer reward and recognition

Do you currently offer your people reward and recognition through things such as awards nights, events or social posts to celebrate small wins? Reward and recognition solves the problem of your people feeling as if their work is unappreciated or unnoticed. 

Communicate with your team members to help them understand how their work plays a valuable role in delivering your overarching purpose. 

While strategies, such as encouraging social support and physical activity, are powerful and effective, they cannot be treated as a bandaid solution to unreasonable workloads and expectations. Train your leadership team to recognise the symptoms of burnout and provide support. Provide training and offer your people reward and recognition so they feel appreciated understand the value of their work. 

Preventing burnout will improve the happiness and satisfaction of your current team members, increase retention and empower you to attract more great talent to your organisation over the long term. 

Schedule a discussion with our Recruitment Specialists here, call us on 1300 366 573 or email info@employmentoffice.com.au.