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Recognising and preventing burnout in the Netherlands

Burnout is an ever-present danger, with 1,3 million employees in the Netherlands reporting related complaints. That is almost 17% of the workforce which is at risk of experiencing burnout if the root causes are not addressed.

The key in combating burnout is a proactive approach, so being able to see the signs of these conditions is critical in helping you to prevent stress from taking over. The most important indicators look for are: bad sleeping patterns, higher irritability, lower work quality, and generally high stress levels.

Make sure to check in with your employees, and give them the methods they need to be able to report on their own welfare is important, whether that means more on-on-one time with their manager or a point of contact they can reach out to when they need to.

In addition to the general causes for burnout, the same research also states at least two specific and common reasons behind it:

  • 43% of employees report feeling a low level of autonomy, that induces stress which is contributing to their burnout symptoms.

It is easy to say: “just delegate more, and pass on more responsibilities!” but the truth is often more complicated than that. The key is to prepare your employees to take on additional responsibilities, which means providing them with the right training and advancement opportunities.

Don’t wait until the situation becomes critical, but make sure that your employees are on track to grow into the responsibilities that you will need to delegate to them in the future by getting them into the right training and licensing programs today.

  • 36% of employees reported a high workload as a contributor to their burnout symptoms.

COVID-19 changed the landscape for everyone, and the worker shortage has been a continuous struggle for organizations even as we enter a post-pandemic world. Planning and organizing your employees’ workload is an important factor in ensuring that they don’t become overwhelmed with the amount of work that is coming their way.

However, planning can only account for so much. When the workload is simply too big for the amount of people you have, you might need to confront that worker shortage.

Allen Recruitment can help. Our access to extensive Europe-wide databases and advanced talent intelligence allows us to use a data-driven approach to find the best possible candidates that would otherwise be nearly impossible for you to find. We can help you fill critical roles efficiently, so that you and your team can distribute your work fairly again and stop being overworked. If you’re interested in recruiting internationally, please read our comprehensive guide to hiring in the Netherlands.

Source (in Dutch) for statistics: National Inquiry on Working Conditions (Nationale Enquête Arbeidsomstandigheden or “NEA”).

 

Posted in: Netherlands

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