Employee Self-Care: 9 Ways Businesses Can Be Supportive

Have you ever heard of employees burning out? Is this a real thing? Yes, it is. 46% of human resource managers blame burnout for 50% of cases where employees leave a company. The top causes of burnout are poor pay and being overworked. How do you avoid this from happening at your organization?

Employees are the most important people in a company.

They dedicate their lives to ensuring that a business runs smoothly and makes profits. However, overworked employees suffer from burn out. Just as the employees dedicate their energy to a business, the business should pay them back in kind by ensuring their positive mental and physical well-being. Employee self-care is important to both employees and businesses.

Let us explore a few suggestions for improving the work-life balance for your employees.

Employee Self-Care: 9 Ways Businesses Can Be Supportive

If employees are struggling physically or mentally, then they cannot deliver their best. A business that prioritizes self-care in the workplace sets itself up for greater success. This article by Lifeworks elaborates more on the necessity of self-care.

Your business can reap the benefits of employee self-care. Avoid burnout in your employees with these 9 ways.

1. Improve Communication

Plenty of friction in the workplace that leads to burnout occurs from a lack of communication. Employees who do not know what is going on cannot effectively do their jobs and end up stressed. As a business, you cater to self-care by holding regular staff meetings. Commit to a weekly or monthly meeting with all employees where they are filled in on progress and any other important information.

Also, make it a habit to discuss workload, deadlines, and work environment with employees. Employees who can open up on workplace issues are less likely to suffer burnout.

2. Show Appreciation

Employers should let employees know when they are doing a good job. Positive affirmation in the workplace can be like a magic wand that helps alleviate stress. Employers who go out of their way to appreciate their employees cultivate a stress-free workplace. Employees who feel appreciated are better at dealing with stress. As such, appreciation from business owners aids in employee self-care

3. State Job Expectations and Requirements

Another reason why employees feel stressed with work is unclear expectations. When instructions and feedback are vague, employees are less able to do their job. This leads to a spiral of stress and burnout.

Clear expectations are an act of self-care for business. This is because employees who know what they are supposed to do can do it better, leading to better outcomes for the business and the employee.

4. Encourage Employees to Take a Break

Employees are not infinitely expendable sources of productivity. It is important to remind employees to take a break when they need to. Employers who encourage breaks send out a message that theirs is a pressure-free environment.

Breaks do not have to be extended absences from work. They can be as simple as getting up and taking a walk after hours sitting in the office chair. Failure to acknowledge the importance of breaks will make employees feel pressured to work continuously.

5. Provide a Flexible Work Schedule

Providing a flexible work schedule is also an act of self-care. Allowing employees to work remotely enables them to take care of their families and deal with emergencies. When an employee’s child falls ill, allow the employee to work from home or fewer hours that day. The flexibility in schedule enables employees to be more committed to their work, knowing that they can attend to family issues when the need arises.

6. Encourage Employees to take Vacations

An organization may have a policy that allows for vacation days. However, employees may fail to use up their vacation days because of pressure to work harder. A high-pressure environment leads to stress and high turnover. As an act of self-care, a business should encourage employees to take their vacation days.

One way to encourage employees to take their vacation is to implement a policy where all vacation days expire after each year. Such a policy will prompt employees to use their allocated vacation days.

7. Encourage the Use of Stress Relievers

Businesses can be supportive of self-care by encouraging the use of stress relievers at work. For instance, a business can put a pool table at the workplace where employees can decompress. A business can also allow employees to relieve stress in their preferred way. If employees listen to music to relieve stress, let them do so at work.

Having days where employees do not have to wear formal wear is also a form of stress reliever. The key is to let employees enjoy working.

8. Increase Compensation

Increasing compensation alone is not a cure for stress.

However, when employees are well compensated, they have greater motivation to get through difficult tasks. As a business owner, you can offer bonuses for performance; this provides that extra boost of employee motivation to overcome their challenges.

9. Provide Access to Exercise Facilities

Research indicates that one of the best ways to deal with stress is to work out. Employees who work out are less likely to fall ill and miss workdays. Providing exercise facilities in the office building is a benefit that enables employees to deal with stress. Less stress among employees translates to a happier workplace.

Encourage employees to use the onsite gym facilities regularly. Business owners can encourage employees to work out by holding competitions where the most active gym participant receives a reward or recognition.

Another incentive is entering employees into local charity races where employees take part in runs to raise money. Such activities are not only good for their health, but they are also crucial bonding opportunities.

Invest in Employees

Human resource training teaches that employees should be seen as an important resource. Human resource capital is just as important as financial capital. It has to be protected.

As a business owner, you should invest in your employees by giving them the tools and freedom to work. Employees do their best work when they know you can trust them to deliver. The suggestions in this article will help you implement employee self-care.

Check out our site to learn more about self-care in the workplace.