Mental health absence is the most common cause of long-term sickness in the UK workplace. According to the CIPD, work-related stress, depression, and anxiety accounts for 44% of work-related ill health and 54% of working days lost. Not only that, according to Gallup, only 4% of employees have never experienced burnout at work! At Lucid, we stand by supporting and uplifting our employees to reduce the chance of employee burnout. Below are 5 of our top tips we stick by to prevent burnout.

Leading by example is key to a strong workforce and this includes promoting a healthy work-life balance. It’s vital to keep firm but fair when it comes to balancing your personal life and work life – this could include setting some non-negotiable boundaries to keep the balance.

As your employer, they should respect your boundaries even if that means not answering the work group chat past 6pm. At Lucid, there is little to no pressure outside of working hours. Sometimes you will need to respond to the odd email from a client, however, we understand that to work well inside working hours, you need to relax and unwind in your personal time.

As a business, we understand the importance of flexibility, so where necessary, we offer working from home. Whilst in the office, however, we have access to a ‘Zen room’ full of reading material to get away from the busy office environment whenever needed. When you’re wanting a bit of fun and competition in your day, we have a table tennis table, pool table, darts, and Nintendo switch.

Lucid encourage everyone to take their annual leave and having mental health and well-being days, such as massages for the team. These are just a few of the many things Lucid see as key factors to supporting a healthy work-life balance.

According to Deloitte, productivity and performance are 14% higher in businesses when employee’s receive recognition than those who don’t. This doesn’t always have to be a financial reward either! At Lucid, no matter how big or small the achievement is, we always congratulate those who put in the work – a simple ‘well done’ or ‘congratulations’ can make employees feel appreciated and a valued member of the team.

Additionally, we hold sales promotions all year round with a fantastic bonus scheme. In particular, at Christmas time, we hold a series of competitions to win prizes and motivate the team that little bit more around the festive period. It’s important to encourage employees all year round; when hard work is rewarded, as an employer, you get loyal and honest employees in return.

An overwhelming number of work/tasks can have a negative effect on workplace motivation. Setting unrealistic expectations, such as KPI’s, from your employees can quickly result in employee burnout. Instead, here at Lucid, we monitor workloads and encourage communication between team members to ensure tasks are delegated evenly.

Having a Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning meeting to check in on where we are as a team and what everyone will be working towards for the week is a great way to balance and monitor workload and avoid burnout. According to peakon.com, multitasking is 40% less productive than monotasking. Get into a routine of prioritizing the most important tasks first – once that’s done, you will feel more prepared for the week ahead.

Simply acknowledging things that are happening in your employees personal lives can go a long way. For example, birthdays and personal milestones is a perfect time to show that you care and appreciate your workforce, especially at a time where they may be feeling less connected at work. Communicating regularly with employees can empower them to work harder and smarter, therefore producing better quality of work. As a leader, you should also check in with your management style.

Can you trust your employees to work independently? Or are you peering over their shoulders, constantly checking their work? Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, you could be contributing to your employees workplace burnout!

At Lucid, during our regular 1-1 meetings, employees have the opportunity to discuss what management could do better which allows an open and honest conversation to take place that not only benefits the employee, but the employer too.

It’s important to keep the door open for employees, especially if they are experiencing a hard time. Offering a comfortable and confident environment where they can discuss their problems, whether that be work-related or a personal issue, should be accessible for all. Encouraging employees to be open about their concerns without any judgment will make them feel like they are working in a safe and caring environment.

The more you listen, the less likely employees will bottle up their stress and worries, increasing the chances of burnout and potentially bigger issues further down the line. At Lucid, we adopted an open-door policy from day 1, allowing all employees to share their thoughts, good or bad, with the management team.

One way we have delivered this is creating a Lucid Small Council; several representatives meet once a month to share ideas on how the organization can improve, from businesses processes to team building exercises, Lucid welcome changes as we know employee well-being, inclusivity, and workplace satisfaction is the key to success.

Written by Lucid Support