Work stresses have increased in recent years, with the work and home boundary becoming increasingly blurred. All too often employees find themselves checking emails, answering queries, and holding meetings later into the evening. This has led to many workers quitting.
This situation is not good for mental health in the long-term, leading to burnout. Burnout is a condition experienced by workers and other professionals, in which they develop depression-like symptoms as a result of aspects of their role. Employees need to develop coping strategies in order to optimise their well-being. But how should this be attempted?
According to Professor Sir Cary Cooper, Advisory Board Member at Delamere, there are approaches that can be taken and which will help individuals struggling with a commitment to work.
Furthermore, it is possible to deal with the symptoms of work burnout and to avoid feeling overworked.
The first area that Professor Cooper considers is how workers can switch off under circumstances where they struggle to put down their laptop. Professor Cooper explains to Digital Journal: “If the last 20 months have taught us anything, it’s that we should be taking time to properly relax with our loved ones. People are now working harder and longer hours than ever before and should use their personal time as a way to disconnect from corporate life.”
He advises further, stating: “This means if you have emails or messages coming to your phone, switch them off so that you aren’t distracted or thinking about work when you should be relaxing. Having the temptation to look at work emails while off can mean you end up going back to work feeling drained because you didn’t fully disconnect.”
Looking at things from the perspective of managers, Professor Copper considers what employees can employers do if they are concerned about a burnt-out staff member.
Here Professor Copper says: “If you are concerned that a member of staff is falling victim to burnout, there are a few telltale symptoms that you can look out for including acting withdrawn, looking physically exhausted, as well as over-using substances like alcohol or drugs or using work as a form of escape.”
In addition, the nature of work as an addiction also needs to be considered. Despite the feelings of being under pressure, many employees continue to feel addiction to the ebb and flow of work.
Here Professor Copper advises: “To help keep work addiction to a minimum, managers should not send any kind of email outside of working hours. For those that might struggle with addiction to their job, receiving an email like this could cause the person to start working again when they should be resting.”
Looking to examples of best practice, Professor Copper calls out: “Countries including France and Portugal have recently brought in legislation that bans managers and employers from doing so, while some companies will choose to shut down the server altogether.”
