3 ways to address employee burnout before your company gets burned

Employers are protecting employees’ health and safety from COVID-19 by requiring or encouraging them to work from home, but you should be aware the arrangement can pose an unintended consequence: employee burnout. If you’re wondering how to spot and address burnout before it leads to greater issues, here are some tips to consider.

People working longer, holding more meetings

A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows the average workday (from employees’ first activity to their last activity of the day) has lengthened by 48.5 minutes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of meetings has increased, too, by 13 percent, although their duration has decreased.

The results may not be surprising to many employers, who were required to have their employees telework under state and local stay-at-home orders or did so voluntarily as a safety measure to protect the workforce. With the shift to working from home, employees naturally need more connection to the workplace through virtual meetings, phone conferences, and e-mail.

Employees now have ready access to work at any time. In other words, they can start and end each and every day by checking e-mails or finishing up other work. Although a Netflix show, a dog walk, or an extra-long lunch may be thrown into the daily routine, they are nonetheless constantly connected to work. Smartphones started the trend, but COVID-19 exacerbated it.