Burnout

[imamearcat]

I have a report who's performance has started to drop and he says he feels like he is suffering from burnout.

Just wondered if there were any HR type people who could advise on how to help him?

Have a few ideas, spoken to my manager and contacted HR. But just wanted to get more general ideas?

Burnout is awful. It can change a person to the point that they never recover and change the way they think and see the world.

Best thing to do is sign him off from work as soon as possible for a few weeks and ensure he doesn't feel the need to check emails, messages, etc. Restrict his access if necessary as he might feel he needs to, he needs a complete break from work.

Does your work provide an EAP? Next step would be some form of talking therapy I suspect which can be provided through that.

On return to work; ensure he isn't overworked, home-working set up is good, encourage him to take regular breaks, go for walks and not feel work is the be all and end all.

Thank for the input. I'm still waiting for a response from HR. I'm not sure if him having a few weeks off! See what HR say.

Having suffered from burnout, I'm not sure you as his manager get much say in his few weeks off work. You either put steps in place now so that he can be off for a few weeks and has a proper handover of his work, or he visits his gp on Monday and gets signed off for at least 2 weeks. I would have preferred my manager to offer me 2 weeks off unpaid when I first asked, rather than a month off sick and handing in my notice.

Hmmm. I've got a meeting with the HR guy on Monday. Will see what he says r.e. time off. We work for quite a large organisation so they will have standard policy around this kind of thing.

Good to know that might be one of the options put forward.