The entire construction industry is feeling the squeeze right now with the resurgence of the ‘Great Resignation’ – an increase in resignations, smaller talent pool, larger volume of open roles, navigating a new hybrid working environment and the pressure of supplies and stakeholders adding to the challenge.

We all know that having an efficient team is key to building a strong culture, employee wellness, attraction and retention. The passion and thoroughness needed to excel at your job and higher workloads can make you vulnerable to burnout. It can be easy to neglect the needs of the most important person, yourself. Knowing how to identify and prevent burnout is vital to your own wellbeing, as well as your team and the organisation itself.

If you have a team that is stressed or disengaged because they are heading down the path of burnout, it will reflect negatively on the productivity and culture of an organisation. Job applicants and candidates will pick up on this low energy and it may lead to those offers being rejected, further contributing to the issue.

Let’s address the signs:-

It is easier to see signs of burnout in others, and less easy to identify them in yourself. We’re all troopers, high-performers and have some great self-talk to motivate ourselves, so how do you see if burnout is creeping up on you. It is helpful to take some time to reflect on the signs including:-

• A feeling you are getting less done in the time needed – slowing down
• Working more overtime hours than usual
• Working over the weekends
• Mood swings
• Irritability
• Reduced quality of work
• Feeling less social and more isolated
• Fatigue
• Increase in sick/personal days
• Disengagement
• Feeling unusually sensitive
• Being easily upset or angered
• Reduced efficiency 
• Lower energy levels
• Decreased motivation

How to Mitigate Burnout

1. Review:
   
   To manage or avoid burnout, the first step is to take an honest look at the workload assigned to yourself and your team. We easily get accustomed to high workloads, and for the short-term, this can be exciting. But there is a tipping point where it turns from excitement to stress, and this workleve has become the ‘new norm’. Take a moment to objectively reflect on whether the workload has crept up, do you have to do more than normal, are you genuinely overloaded. If this is a yes, are there any jobs or tasks that you could ask for help with?
   
   
2. Work-life balance:
   
   Has your work and home life become blurred? With the rise of hybrid work environments and more flexibility, it can also mean that organisations reach out more in your personal time than ever before. Consider whether your organisation has boundaries that allow you to genuinely step back from the workplace to refresh that decreases the likelihood of burnout. You don’t want team members to feel like they need to be always on, and likewise, you shouldn’t be expected to either. In fact, in France, “The right to disconnect” has been codified in law, and have banned after-hours emails altogether. Some organisations are encouraging team members to turn off message notifications after 6pm.

Workplaces that value their employees make it ok to take advantage of all the wellness initiatives available, including asking for help when needed. Reviewing and admitting to burnout is not a failure, it is an opportunity. The less stressed and burnout you, and your team members are, the more productive you are.

CONNECT with us via our contact page or booking links on our website if you are looking to recruit for or land the ideal construction job in 2022.

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