The Effects of Burnout in Hospitality

The high-pressure environment, long hours, and constant demand for exceptional service can take a toll on your frontline team, leading to both physical and mental health issues. Understanding what burnout looks like and how you can combat it is crucial for maintaining a thriving workforce.

Signs of Burnout

1. Emotional Exhaustion - the feeling of being emotionally overextended and depleted of emotional resources. It is often caused by prolonged stress and intense demands at work. Team members might find themselves overwhelmed by their responsibilities and unable to cope with the workload, leading to increased irritability and frustration with colleagues, tasks, and even guests.

2. Depersonalisation - developing a detached, impersonal response towards one’s job and the people they interact with. Team members may become increasingly cynical about their job and the organisation. They might develop a negative attitude towards guests and colleagues, showing a lack of empathy or concern, leading to a decline in customer service and negatively impacting the team dynamics.

3. Reduced Performance - the decline in a team members work output and quality, often due to the physical and mental toll of burnout. Team members may struggle to complete their tasks efficiently, often falling behind on deadlines. The frequency of mistakes and errors in their work rises, resulting in a decline in the quality of service and disruption to the workflow, causing delays and additional strain on other team members.

Mitigating Burnout

It’s important for all organisations to adopt proactive strategies focusing on team well-being and support. Whether it be flexible scheduling to give team members more control over their work hours and shifts, acknowledging and appreciating the efforts and achievements of your team through recognition and rewards, or providing access to Mental Health Support to significantly reduce the risk of burnout by addressing any issues before they escalate.

As leaders, understanding how burnout may present within your team and conducting regular one-on-one check-ins with team members to gauge their well-being and address any concerns promptly is key. It is also important to regularly assess the workload of your team to ensure it is manageable, as this will change across different times of the year and seasons of life.

As covered in our Middle Management Movement program, leaders need to be able to encourage team members to implement boundaries and take their entitled time off to rest and recuperate, but also model this behaviour themselves. If you do notice a change in a particular team member’s behaviour, encourage open and transparent communication and demonstrate that you are actively and empathetically listening to their concerns. You may offer support in the form of flexible schedules, additional breaks, or temporary workload adjustments.

Equally important, is equipping your frontline team with the skills and knowledge they need to effectively manage the day-to-day stresses of their roles. Our tailored Customer Excellence and Engagement programs are designed to do just that through:

• Comprehensive training on the principles of exceptional customer service, including active listening, empathy, and problem-solving. When team members are equipped to handle challenging situations and difficult customers calmly and professionally, their confidence increases and the level of stress and anxiety is reduced.
• Personal and professional goal-setting that aligns their aspirations with organisational objectives. When team members are provided with opportunities for career growth and development through training, mentorship, and a clear career pathway, they feel more engaged and motivated, and are less likely to experience burnout.

• Building a positive team culture based on collaboration and teamwork that encourages team members to support each other. When your team comes together and learns how to communicate effectively, feelings of isolation and stress are reduced, and team members are more likely to engage in a healthy work-life balance.

Burnout in hospitality is a pervasive issue, at all levels, but with the right strategies and support systems in place, it can be effectively managed. By investing in the well-being of your team and providing targeted training programs, you can create a resilient and motivated workforce, ensuring exceptional service and sustainable success.