Preventing Remote Employee Burnout

With the remote nature of work since the start of the pandemic, we are sure most working individuals have experienced symptoms of burnout. These motivational lacks have been amplified through remote working; you are mere inches away from your bed, stuck in your space and have no excuse to get fresh air or change pace. At Freightzy, we believe that there are many convenient ways to minimize productivity losses from remote work, and we have even implemented some of these techniques with exceptional success.

We have highlighted four main workplace strategies that we suggest to prevent burnout within your company.

1. Prioritize Employee Relationships: Remote work, and the pandemic as a whole, have created new opportunities for stress, anxiety and exhaustion. A company is only as efficient as its least productive worker. We prioritize the employee experience and make reasonable accommodations to ensure each employee feels a part of the community even if they are not physically in the office. By encouraging employee efforts, and prioritizing daily or weekly individual conversations, each remote employee will still feel recognized, valued and motivated to work for the company.

2. Invest in Physical and Mental Health Resources: Extending past the employee workday, this technique helps to facilitate healthy habits outside of regular office hours. Covering the costs of wellness programs or activities, such as gym memberships or therapy appointments, may provide a greater incentive for employees to use these features and reap the rewards. Positive mental and physical help create a healthier, more productive work environment due to less distraction, conflict and external pressures imposing on the requirements of the day. I am sure we have all experienced feelings of fatigue and drain due to lack of a physical or mental outlet/stimulant.

3. Leverage a Teamwork Approach: At Freightzy, we utilize a teamwork approach, meaning all employees have equal responsibility for clients and tasks. If a team member is sick, other employees can handle and take over their duties. This approach minimizes independent obligations and pressure for employees. Further, it greatly benefits our customers. A client does not have to experience delays when meeting the schedule of a single representative; they can have trust in the communication held with any member of the team and have a quicker response time to their inquiries. As every employee is aware of each conversation and transaction, we also minimize errors before facilitating a discussion with a client and immediately notice any operational mistakes so that they do not linger and become habitual. This strategy should be heavily considered within a service-focused company.

4. Consider a Four-day Workweek: If you have the talent pool, the number of employees or the level of work necessary to facilitate a four-day workweek, this strategy can be incredibly beneficial. In a study carried out by Forbes, they found that 78% of employees were happier and less stressed in a four-day workweek. Having this schedule allows task variation between employees and also provides a day of rest and catch-up in personal lives. This schedule also encourages employees to maximize their efficiency within the four days and better perceive their work-life balance, leading to higher satisfaction levels.

Depending on capital, revenue and size, there are many other, more specific, strategies for a company to adopt. However, these four techniques are easy to implement, customize and build upon for any company. We also believe that these strategies can, and should, be leveraged for physical work. Burnout is commonly experienced within companies that forget to reward employee achievements and identify (and minimize) employee stressors. Freightzy operates in a mixed environment, both in-person and remotely. We choose to adopt similar strategies for both employment types to maximize the employee experience.