Keeping Employees Motivated Instead of Burning Them Out

Burnout, engagement, productivity, quiet quitting, stress, and work-life balance. All of these terms are interconnected, and until a balance is achieved, employers are going to be playing catch up. According to a recent survey, stress levels are reaching critical mass. More than half—52 percent—of employees feel burned out. Engagement levels are dropping. To reverse this trend, managers need to make their team members’ psychological safety and security at work a top priority. You might assume that your culture is safe for everyone, but consider how equitably that safety is experienced. When everyone is free to be who they are and work how they want, that safety will be felt more uniformly. Find reasons for employees to stick around and grow roots. When they are empowered, appreciated, and rewarded, employees won’t have reasons to look for employment elsewhere. Also, consider how information spreads throughout the organization. Constantly being in the dark about important decisions makes employees feel paranoid and might have them questioning if they want to continue employment in an organization that doesn’t care to loop them into discussions that will directly impact their day-to-day.