How Can eLearning Reduce Employee Burnout?

It’s more difficult to pinpoint the signs and symptoms of burnout than you may think. As teams are still struggling to adjust to a new normal in the wake of the pandemic, it’s important that your business does everything possible to reduce employee burnout.

Here are some ways that eLearning courses can help.

Common Signs of Burnout at Work

Employee burnout signs are more subtle than you may think; it’s important that you are aware of them so you can spot red flags as they occur.

The World Health Organization has outlined several signs of burnout at work, including:

• Feelings of depletion or exhaustion
• Less efficient or effective
• Mentally distant
• Negative, cynical feelings about their job

As these feelings build on one another, employees may no longer feel motivated to grow and learn in their roles. When feelings of burnout exist, employees use their mental and physical energy for basic tasks. This leaves no energy for employees to think creatively and strategically to improve their work and bring more value to the company.

Why Is Employee Burnout Important to Manage?

Reducing employee burnout is incredibly important to the longevity of your organization. When your employees are feeling stressed out and disengaged, it can lead to:

• Costly health issues: Did you know that the U.S government spends $125-190 billion annually to cover the healthcare costs stemming from physical and psychological stress associated with employee burnout? The employees who feel run down will often take more sick days and lean on unhealthy coping mechanisms such as smoking, drinking, or binge eating.
• High turnover rate: It will be significantly more difficult to retain top talent in your organization if you don’t prove to your employees that you care about their overall wellbeing and mental health.
• Decreased productivity: There’s no denying that employees who feel burned out will not produce the same quality of work. They may struggle with a lack of energy or focus that helps to produce high levels of engagement, letting small but important details slip through the cracks.

How eLearning Can Help Reduce Employee Burnout

Rather than waiting for your employees to become burned out, companies should invest in preventative measures to help engage their top talent and make their work experience that much more enjoyable.

There are many advantages of implementing eLearning courses at your company:

• Employees aren’t forced to take courses at a certain pace, they can instead go through the material at their own pace.
• Employees can take the eLearning courses from anywhere, no commute is required.
• They can focus on areas in which they need a boost while skimming areas that they already know.

In addition to the above benefits, eLearning also:

• Saves the company time and resources, taking 40-60% less time for employees to get through versus in-person training sessions.
• Increases productivity as employees can quickly apply the new skills they are learning.
• Offers higher retention rates than standard face-to-face training.

Ways to Leverage eLearning Courses in Your Office to Reduce Burnout

Here are only a few employee burnout solutions that eLearning helps to solve:

Review & Share Helpful Resources

Because eLearning courses are all online, they’re easy to pass between employees. Helpful resources such as employee handbooks or wellness programs can easily be reviewed and shared amongst employees. Not everyone will feel comfortable publicly asking for these types of resources.

Regular Competency Checks

See which employees are mastering the material and which employees could benefit from more guidance. For new employees will be healthy to explore eLearning solutions for onboarding. This is also an ideal opportunity to determine if certain employees are feeling overworked or burned out with their current schedule and workload.

Tailor Content

Another idea on how to manage employee burnout is to tailor the content toward stress and time management. If you provide your employees with the necessary resources and content to learn about topics that are relevant to them, you can help them internalize the material in a way that makes sense for them. The more they learn about navigating stress and time management, the more relaxed they will feel in their role.

Define & Celebrate Key Milestones

Employees like to feel acknowledged and seen. As soon as they reach a certain threshold that the company defines, make sure to reinforce how appreciative you are for their commitment and hard work. Leadership should embrace these milestone celebrations as it acts as further motivation for other employees.

Implement eLearning Courses to Combat Employee Burnout

While it may sound counterintuitive, eLearning courses can play an integral role in how to manage employee burnout. These courses can teach your employees important skills through personalized, relevant content. Ditch the cookie-cutter eLearning courses and invest in beautiful, custom courses from our professionals at Allegro Media Design.

If you’re interested in learning more about how our team can help, make sure to fill out our online form or call us directly at (614) 271-0161.