How To Recognise the Signs of Stress & Burnout in Your Employees

Stress and then burnout don’t happen overnight. They’re conditions that can build slowly, sometimes even without the person themselves noticing, until they start impacting performance and mental health. 

This translates to overall business performance too. Stress and burnout doesn’t just take an emotional toll either; it’s estimated that poor mental health costs UK businesses £51b per year.

As business owners and managers, learning how to spot the signs of stress in employees, and knowing how to help, can result in a happier and more productive team. This guide outlines how to spot employee burnout warning signs early, and provide solutions to help manage stress in your team.

The Signs of Stress & Burnout in Employees

The signs of employee burnout can be broken down into several different areas:

• Behaviours
• Emotions
• Physical symptoms
• Work-related signs

Behavioural Signs of Stress in Employees

Some of the first signs of stress in employees are behavioural, and spotting these early can help you intervene and provide support. Many people who are stressed may appear irritable, snappy or impatient, or they might withdraw from colleagues. For example, they may contribute less to meetings or group sessions, or lose the motivation and drive they once had. 

In many cases, speaking to your employee and finding out what’s causing their stress can be enough to start rectifying the situation. It might be that they simply have too much to do, or feel overwhelmed and unsupported, or there may be other, deeper factors at play.

Emotional Signs of Stress & Burnout

As we said in the previous section, irritability, impatience and snappiness can also be emotional signs of burnout. However, they may also display increased sensitivity to feedback, find it harder to manage professional relationships, or lose confidence in their abilities. You may also find that they can become disinterested or cynical in their role, and do the bare minimum.

In serious cases, they may show signs of other mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. These can be caused by workplace issues, as well as personal problems that seep into their professional lives.

Physical Signs of Stress & Burnout

Stress and burnout are notorious for causing physical symptoms as well. For example, employees may suffer from more headaches, stomach problems, aches and pains, tension, unexplained illnesses, or a general lack of energy. 

They may also experience sleep problems (either too much or not enough), changes in their appetite, or exhaustion. As a manager, you may notice an increase in sick days and/or lateness, or perhaps the employee is taking more time off for doctors’ or personal appointments. Lastly, you may also identify changes in their appearance.
 

Often, physical symptoms of stress or burnout present themselves later, meaning they may have been experiencing these for some time.

Workplace Indications of Stress

Lastly, work-related signs of stress can be an indication that a member of staff may need help. For example, they may make more frequent mistakes, miss deadlines, appear less creative, show increased forgetfulness or lack focus. 

Others may be simply less productive or produce less quality work. They may also lose their ability to problem solve, prioritise or manage their workload effectively. Some could show an increasing reliance on managers or co-workers to complete their duties, may avoid taking on new responsibilities or challenges, or find it harder to communicate with colleagues or clients.

The Common Causes of Workplace Stress & Burnout

There can be many causes of workplace stress,including:

• Changes in workload
• Tight deadlines and competing priorities
• Interpersonal issues
• Lack of training and support
• A lack of control, including being micromanaged or monitored
• Feeling undervalued and/or overworked
• An unclear job role, including responsibilites and expectations
• Organisational or management changes
• Job insecurity or lack of opportunities for progression
• A poor or unsafe work environment
• Discrimination

How to Help Stressed Employees

Knowing how to spot the signs of employee stress is one thing, but understanding how to help and support your staff is another. It’s important to remember that everybody is different, and what can severely affect one employee may barely register for another. Likewise, one ‘remedy’ may prove very effective for one person, but not another.

This is where understanding your staff members is vital. You may be best placed to know how to approach a stressed or burned out employee, but there are many universal ways to open that conversation. In all cases, it’s important to be empathetic and understanding, without acting on assumptions or blaming them. It’s also vital to offer a safe and confidential space to allow them to confide in you, or providing an alternative (such as Chrysalis Workplace Therapies) if that makes them feel more comfortable.

Check-in With Staff

Often, simply checking in an employee is enough to get the ball rolling. You could ask them how they are finding things, is there anything they are struggling with, do they need additional support or guidance? It may be the case that simple changes to workflows, deadlines, responsibilities or training is enough.

Create a Supportive Culture

Businesses with supportive and collaborative cultures are often best placed to deal with and manage stress. For employees, knowing that their managers understand and are on their side can help them come forward with problems early.

Ways to do this include:

• Encouraging regular, open feedback
• Listen to and act upon employee concerns
• Provide external mental health support
• Encourage a healthy work-life balance with realistic workloads and deadlines
• Offer flexible working and mental health days
• Ensure senior management are fully mental health trained
• Provide opportunities for personal and professional development

Workplace stress is inevitable, but when it becomes too much or too frequent, it can cause burnout. Understanding how to spot the signs that your employees may be struggling is essential to being able to intervene early.

In doing so, you can ensure your staff remain happy, motivated and driven, while also improving productivity and reducing the cost to your business. One way of doing that is by working with Chrysalis Workplace. We provide a safe and effective platform to invest in your employee wellbeing and give them the support they need. 

Contact us today to find out how we can help your business.