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What’s Next For Your Micro-Business
Are You And Your Employees Burned Out?
That heat you’re feeling as a small-business owner may not be the summertime sizzle. It could be the burnout from your employees.
In a recent nationwide survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com, more than half of employees surveyed said that they work under a great deal of stress. A full 77 percent reported that they feel burnout on their jobs.
So what’s causing all of the anxiety? The top workplace stress inducers included:
Difficult co-workers (16 percent) Unrealistic workload (15 percent) Tight deadlines (11 percent) Last-minute projects (10 percent) Overbearing or interfering boss (9 percent)
“High-pressure work environments are taking their toll on workers’ morale,” says Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder.com. “Twenty-three percent of workers say they frequently or constantly feel burnout at work. This can be detrimental to both workers, whose health and career progress may suffer, and employers, who pick up the tab in higher insurance costs and lost productivity.”
Employees aren’t alone in feeling the pain. As an employer, you can get hit with the same feelings of burnout. And the results won’t help you run a better business.
The American Institute of Stress reports that adverse health effects due to stress include:
Difficulty concentrating and making decisions Exhaustion Restlessness and irritability Physical ailments such as headaches
What You Can Do
You can’t eliminate all workplace stress. But you can minimize it. Haefner of CareerBuilder.com offers these tips:
Organize and prioritize. Tackle the more difficult and important tasks first each day to ensure you have time to complete them. Before you leave work, take a few minutes to clean up your workspace and create the next day’s to-do list. Manage expectations. Set reasonable short-term and long-term goals for yourself and your employees. Prevent deadline crunches. Develop realistic workloads for yourself and your workers. Minimize interruptions. Set aside a certain period each day devoted to returning e-mails and voicemail messages. That way, you won’t be constantly interrupted. Don’t neglect your health. Get plenty of sleep. Drink lots of water. Eat nutritiously. Get some exercise, even that means only a 20 minute walk every day. Encourage your employees to do the same.
If the stress of running your small business has taken the fun out of being an owner, get a new perspective with the free online Success Skills Seminar “What To Do When The Entrepreneurial Thrill Is Gone.” Presented by the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), the seminar is online now at www.entrepreneurialconnection.com/skills/module9/skills_home.asp. Topics include:
The stress factor Take a vacation Play hooky Combine work and fun Make a quick getaway Lapse into relaxation Try yoga Join a health club
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(Posted June 2006) |
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