Employees often comment about feeling burned out, especially after an intense project. Are they really or do they just need a short vacation? True burnout means being in a state of chronic stress leading to overall frustration and exhaustion. It greatly impacts both professional and personal lives.

It may occur for several reasons, including feeling an imbalance between their career and life, performing in a toxic work environment, or being in a mentally and emotionally draining job. It’s more common than you think: FlexJobs reveals in their 2020 survey that 75% of workers have experienced it before.

Are your employees burned out?

While it’s barely any consolation, burnout doesn’t happen overnight so you have time to watch for and address the warning signs. Detecting it is more challenging if you’ve arranged for offshore staffing solutions though. To start, pay careful attention for the following:

Decreased productivity

When someone is burned out, they are not performing at their best, meaning they’re less creative and productive. They are more likely to leave their profession because they lack engagement. This may stem from having too much on their plate or long hours on the job.

Difficulty focusing

People who suffer from burnout often complain about feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and tired. These make it hard to concentrate on their tasks, let alone finish them with good quality. When your workers feel like this, they tend to make mistakes more often.

Poor choices

Stressed employees make the wrong decisions since they lack confidence in themselves, have no idea how to resolve an issue, or lack time to think about what they’re doing. They’re quick to react to whatever occurs or experience analysis paralysis which is a form of procrastinating.

Greater irritability

When a person is stressed or overwhelmed, they get angry a lot quickly. They may even blame others for distracting from their work and causing their poor performance. They have a hard time being held accountable for what they do, especially for subpar results.

How do you decrease employee burnout?

Wellness seminars, spa coupons, and training are great to have but they don’t get to the heart of burnout. To prevent it from happening, you need to address the source of mental distress. Here are steps for keeping Filipino virtual assistants and other workers from exhaustion.

Provide support

When you work with Filipino virtual assistant companies, they provide you with after-hire support to address any issues that come after the contract signing. You must also give your employees with support services, such as mentorship, wellness, or counselling programs, after recruiting them.

Enable flexibility

To help employees manage their work-life balance, consider flexible work arrangements. They might telecommute a few times per week so they have more time with their loved ones, for instance. Remote staffing in the Philippines might be given a flexible schedule so they have boundaries.

Promote self-care

Encourage your workers to practice self-care by doing exercise, mindfulness, and other stress-reducing techniques yourself. When they see that you’re able to juggle wellness with work, they may be motivated to do the same. Maybe you may do some stretches together while catching up with your VA from the Philippines.

Decrease workload

Evaluate the current workload of your team members to ensure they aren’t drowning in tasks per day or week. If you think someone is doing too much, it’s a good idea to hire a VA from the Philippines to manage the routine activities like responding to chats and checking emails.

Encourage communication

Allow your employees to speak up about any issues or concerns by providing them with a safe space. If they’re hesitant to speak to you on video or by phone, they may fill out a form or send you an email instead. Let them express their opinions about processes, workflows, and more.

Foster optimism

Make an environment where everyone feels supported, respected, and valued. Create a space where even your personal assistants in the Philippines feel like they are a crucial part of the team and company. Check in with them on a regular basis so they know they’re on your mind.

Give training

Facilitate opportunities where they may learn something new about their current job or a role they want to pursue in the future. At the same time, educate them about how moral distress affects their well-being. Teach them how to manage their stress better and how to ask for a break when needed.

Show appreciation

Recognise when they’ve done a good job and reward them for any outstanding performance. When your budget is limited so you’re unable to provide them with a raise or any other monetary reward, try sending out an email to the entire team and giving them an extra day off.

Clarify expectations

Avoid ambiguity and confusion by setting clear expectations for your workers. This prevents them from overthinking about what they must or mustn’t be doing thereby reducing the mental pressure. It also makes aware what they’re accountable for and what the consequences are for failing to meet the standards.

How do you prevent future occurrences?

Employee burnout is something you actually can avoid by looking for the signs ahead of time. If you’re looking to be proactive in fighting this condition, give the steps below a try.

Open dialogues

Start the conversation between workers, management, and stakeholders so they know about your goals for reducing burnout. This helps you set more reasonable turnaround times for projects and tasks. It also enables you to ask for funds to cover how much a Philippines virtual assistant cost.

Equip resources

Provide your team with resources about ethical considerations when making decisions. This ensures that they understand the implications of their choices before they act. This fosters an environment where everyone feels empowered and respected to decide according to their own standards.

Establish systems

For employees who are experiencing burnout already, you want to set a system on how to help them to mitigate any long-term negative effects. These systems may include access to psychological or medical treatment, peer support groups, counselling services, or time away from work where absolutely necessary.

How does offshore outsourcing in the Philippines help?

Reducing the workload is one of the most effective ways of decreasing and preventing employee burnout. However, you’d need people to take over the tasks that you’ve removed from your team members’ schedules. Rather than hire someone to work onsite, find a virtual assistant from the Philippines instead.

When you work with us at Remote Workmate, you’ll enjoy more than the usual benefits offered by outsourcing companies in the Philippines. Our team is AI-augmented so we screen candidates more quickly and accurately. Also, we provide after-hire support to ensure candidates suit your unique company culture.

Ready for virtual assistant services in the Philippines? Click the button below to discuss your virtual assistant PH needs.