There’s no hiding from the fact that working in silo, during the long and cold winter months, when we are surrounded by unhappy news is not good for our mental health.
HR Grapevine recently reported that experts warn that this period could cause an employee wellbeing ‘timebomb’. Gary Hemming, Commercial Lending Director at ABC Finance Limited, told HR Grapevine that spending all of your time in the same place, and not having proper barriers between home and work life, can make it difficult to switch off and separate these two aspects of your life. We all know this rings true!
Our lives have never been more blurred, we may be having lunch alongside our child that is online, homeschooling whilst taking a work call from our bedroom or participating in a Teams meeting from our living room. The separation between our work and personal lives has all but been eradicated and this can have an impact on how we feel.
Businesses have responsibility for their employee's wellbeing and some firms are making great strides to prevent feelings of being overwhelmed leading to outright burnout.
There has been the introduction of pandemic-specific peer groups by some, which give staff members a safe environment to talk about some of the challenges they may be facing such as childcare or feelings of isolation.
Other businesses are encouraging their staff to build in daily outdoor exercise into their routines. Whatever the approach is it is important to do something.
Spotting that things aren’t quite right is the first step:
Signs of burnout
Becoming increasingly irritable
Impatient with co-workers, customers, or clients
Lack of energy
Finding it hard to concentrate
Feeling Exhausted
Becoming cynical and critical
Disillusioned about the job
Overwhelmed with workload
Low productivity and results
Organisations need to look at the feedback they are receiving from their leaders and take time to work on a plan of action.
What needs to be done to avoid Leadership burnout?
Does it have to happen now?
Leadership Coaching can help leaders build coping strategies and provide the support needed to stop overwhelm turning into burnout.
If your a leader suffering from overwhelm and worried about burning out or you are responsible for leaders in your organisation and are concerned.