If you have a cynical, disengaged, or unproductive employee on your team, it’s time to discipline. Right? Well, not necessarily.

These are three signs that your regularly positive and productive employee could be burnt out. For these reasons, it’s not always a time for discipline, but rather a time for conversation.

Decreased Productivity and Quality of Work

If your worker isn’t completing work on time, or their work is done poorly, it’s a good indication that something isn’t right. When an otherwise top-performing employee shows these signs of burnout, it could be because they are being overworked or don’t enjoy their job anymore.

Uncharacteristic Disengagement

An excited team thrives off of brainstorming, feedback, and challenges. If that’s the team you’re used to, but you notice that instead, they are much less engaged or motivated, it’s usually a sure sign of burnout. An employee may be silent during a meeting when they used to share their thoughts. They may stay in their office a lot more instead of participating in office culture. You may even notice that their email communication is abbreviated.

Increased Complaining

While everyone has a bad day, if an employee has consistently been complaining, when they used to be more of a positive force in the office, it could be that they are feeling burnt out.

Simple Steps to Turn it Around

While an office that is burnt out is a problem, it doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Noticing when your team is feeling burnt out is a good thing because it means you have a chance to recover and get your productive and enthusiastic team back!

Dig Deeper

When you notice the signs of burnout in an employee, make some time to discuss it so you both can figure out what is causing a decrease in performance or mood. Anything from a personal matter, to a variety of events at work, could be contributing to your employee feeling burnt out. Once you both can uncover the reason, you’ll be able to work together to find a solution.

Talk About Balance

If your employee has too much work to do (consistently, or seasonally), he’ll often do anything to complete it, whether that means cutting into evenings and weekends with family or rushing through his work. Obviously, both scenarios aren’t ideal. Discuss the importance of balancing work and personal life with your employee, so they understand that you respect their life outside of work and that while it may seem well-intentioned, it is ultimately unhealthy and unproductive.

Change Things Up

When an employee feels bored or continuously stressed by their job, it’s important to switch things up. You could assign a creative project to someone who does mainly clerical work. Or a salesperson who usually handles big accounts could get a few smaller, easier accounts, just to give them the chance to breathe. As always, be sure to discuss with your employee what change-up would spark creativity or give them a boost of energy and motivation.

Looking to Hire New Employees?

If you need to add new workers to your team to help with the workload, contact Cabildo Staffing. We can help you find the qualified workers you need.