4 steps to harness mindfulness in the battle against burnout

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Has your job ever made you feel so drained you have nothing left to give? If so, you may be suffering from workplace burnout, and chances are your employees are experiencing similar feelings. In fact, two-thirds of full-time employees say they have experienced burnout at some point in their careers, and those numbers have skyrocketed in recent years. Yet despite that growth, 36% of employees do not believe their employer has resources to help them avoid burnout.

For employers attempting to manage these trends, mindfulness can be a powerful resource. By helping individuals better understand their inner state, mindfulness can help employees identify the causes of burnout and equip them to better manage daily stressors, in many cases heading off burnout before it becomes an issue. For example, an eight-week mindfulness course helped health care workers improve their scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which measures factors such as emotional exhaustion. Another study found that mindfulness practices decreased emotional exhaustion and depersonalization while improving mood and empathy, all of which can help combat burnout.