Staving off burnout: Ways to help your fellow Utah employees

Everyone responds to stress and potential burnout in different ways. With the pandemic still a concern and impacting many areas of people’s lives, being aware of how it may affect you is a skill to try to practice daily.

In fact, burnout can be seen as an alarming health issue that will not go away even in better or more optimistic times. A story about work burnout in Utah Business points out how the World Health Organization has classified it as a disease and global health concern.

While there are advantages to the Beehive State when it comes to fighting burnout, it’s something that is still there lurking. There are ways that you can see the warning signs for yourselves as well as others and help be a solution.

Stress-free banking is also a possibility, especially with what First Utah Bank offers such as free checking for businesses.

Stats show burnout on the rise

It’s worth noting that stress in the workplace is at a high pitch, not unlike stress in home life or other aspects of a person’s journey. A recent Gallup poll as reported on CNBC drives this point home. Among the most interesting stats:

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57% of US and Canadian workers feel daily stress. This is up from 49% last year.
• Women are particularly affected, with 62% reporting daily stress in the workplace, compared to 52% of men.
• One mixed blessing: Employee engagement rose to 34%, despite higher stress levels being reported.

The article in Utah Business also points to this correlation between being more engaged at work but also suffering from burnout. A psychologist from Gallup, Ben Wigert, points out in the Utah Business story that employee engagement increased while overall life satisfaction is on a downward trend.

Jake Free, the staffing agency manager for Utah company Robert Half weighed in on this reality. Free notes that before the pandemic, tech employees were provided more vacation time to employees while others added more staff to spread the work out more. Things changed, though, with reductions in workforce in Utah, even though they were less common than in some other states in the union.

What it did lead to was a feeling that employees needed to work harder and longer hours to stay employed. “For the first six months, it was fine,” Free says. “They were just happy to have jobs. But six months later people started feeling that burnout.”

Healthy ways to deal with burnout

There are definitely things that business leaders can do to help with employee burnout. A big part of this can be improving that connection that people have to the workplace, according to Wigert.

“Advice to meditate and exercise is good advice in general and may help people tolerate a bad situation, but the root of the problem persists,” Wigert says. “A break from work can help alleviate exhaustion, but exhaustion will return if the workload is not manageable.”

Utah workers are lucky in that having recreation at the forefront of culture can create opportunities to alleviate those feelings of burnout. By balancing an activity that can be less strenuous — such as a walk or hike that isn’t a big challenge — with concerns in the workplace, you can restore yourself from the more taxing demands of work.

Encouraging mindfulness, in general, is also something employers can do. One wellness practitioner — Chanda Vaninman — who teaches yoga and mediation for Intermountain Healthcare – says it’s less about clearing your mind and more about being in touch with emotions and feelings, acknowledging them, and not judging yourself on feeling that way.

“The point of it is being aware that I need a break,” Vaniman says, “and being aware that I feel like I can’t take a break or everything will fall apart if I leave.”

Free checking for growing Utah businesses

As you work to help your fellow employees approach work in its most healthy way, it’s also smart to make managing financial positioning and cash flow easier and without additional stressors.

If your business averages fewer than 100 ACH checks and debits per month, First Utah Bank can provide you with free business checking as a method to maximize your time when managing these essentials. There is no minimum balance required for the free business checking program at First Utah Bank and it includes unlimited debit card transactions and deposits as well as free mobile and internet banking. The program is also insured to the legal maximum by the FDIC.

First Utah Bank also has you covered if you need an option different from this one. These solutions include a commercial checking account for higher transaction volumes that also gives you an earnings credit allowance based on your balances.

As your hometown bank, First Utah Bank has the knowledge and tools to keep your Utah business banking strong for any financial climate. Learn more about business checking for Salt Lake City at our website, or call First Utah Bank at 801-308-2265.