How to Identify and Combat Employee Burnout in Your Marketing Team

By Shelley Grieshop

Burnout in the workplace, especially among marketing workers, is a pandemic side effect in need of a cure. A survey conducted during the pandemic found that 83.3% of people in marketing and communications jobs reported experiencing burnout—the highest burnout rate among working professionals.

Covid-19 instantly threw marketing teams into survival mode. To help their companies stay competitive, marketers were forced to revamp strategies to focus on new customer acquisition and improved ROI. The pandemic also prompted government agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, to step up their monitoring of marketing practices to protect vulnerable consumers. Even today, some marketing teams continue to be hit with new rules and policies.

Pandemic effects may be dwindling but we’re all still exhausted. The unpredictable economy and supply chain shortages continue to fuel chaos for marketing employees.

Combatting employee burnout

So how should HR and business leaders help their marketing employees combat any stress and anxiety they may be facing today? First they have to spot the problem.

1. Recognize the signs

Have you witnessed any of these signs of burnout in your marketing employees?

• Behind schedule
• Underachieving
• Unusual absenteeism
• Excessive drama
• Isolation/depression
• Numerous errors
• Quick to anger
• Increased criticism
• Neglected personal needs
• Defensive personality

Once you start seeing the signs of employee burnout with your marketing team, it’s time to get busy.

2. Ways to help

Wage increases, if warranted and within budget, are often a quick fix for employee burnout in a marketing team. But raises don’t always create happiness or repair underlying problems. There are other ways to help:

Keep your marketing employees informed. Create a committee (if you don’t already have one) to monitor new and changing rules targeting content, digital, and other forms of marketing, branding and advertising. Encourage everyone to share information they may encounter to keep the company compliant.

Visibly unite your team. Customized T-shirts with your logo or an inspiring message can build a team atmosphere among your staff. Designate "Dress-Down Fridays" or "Power-Up Mondays" as team clothing days. Whether you choose comfy tees, polo shirts, or personalized hats, every employee will feel they belong.

Listen. Sometimes the best cure for worker dissatisfaction is compassion, understanding, and empathy. Offer to discuss what’s bothering an employee who exhibits burnout symptoms. A little venting about the “sweet and sour” in their life is sometimes all that’s needed. If an employee needs more than your company can offer, suggest resources that might be helpful. Most importantly, schedule a follow-up meeting to ensure the issue is being resolved.

Pick up the phone. Email and other digital communications are adequate most of the time, but to iron out complicated issues or ongoing problems with employee burnout in a marketing team, you’ll make more headway in a simple phone call. Use a calm, casual tone to get the conversation rolling. End the call with a recap of how the matter will be addressed.

Break out into smaller meetings. A troubled employee may hesitate to speak up in a crowd. Consider downsizing the number of participants on video calls or in-person meetings. This will create an atmosphere that’s comfortable for everyone to share their thoughts and opinions. It’s easier to build confidence in a small group.

Offer one-on-one support. We all have a need to be seen and heard. A personal one-on-one meeting will let your marketing employee know their feedback is valued. Open the conversation with positive comments about the employee's work or recent achievements. Don’t try to pry or guess what the problem may be. Simply ask if there is anything the worker wishes to discuss regarding their job. Observe their body language and gauge their responses to get a better understanding.

Allow for “do-overs.” Everyone is entitled to a bad day now and then. Sometimes people just need time to recover from a bad experience or disappointment. Give all your employees a “do-over” period to cool down and get back to business. It’s been a difficult time for everyone, and minor bouts of drama are to be expected.

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• How to Help Your Employees Achieve a Better Work-Life Balance

3. Prevent employee burnout in the first place

You wouldn’t put on sunscreen after a day on the beach. Keeping your marketing staff mentally healthy all year starts with preventive measures. Develop and implement a few strategies now to help your marketing team cope in the long term.

Schedule connectivity events. Plan an out-of-the-box event once a week to connect and build relationships among your team. It can be as simple as a “Whatsup Everyone?” huddle at 9 a.m. every Friday to briefly discuss plans for the upcoming weekend. Downtime interactions give workers a chance to unwind and let their guard down.

Set boundaries for remote workers. Your dedicated remote workers may feel “on-call” 24/7 while working from home. Establish available hours for remote employees such as 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m.to 5 p.m., and share this information with everyone on your team.

Create an employee engagement committee. Every good boss needs eyes and ears on the floor—and no, not snitches. An employee engagement committee will monitor the tone of the marketing department on a daily basis. Is there a particular gripe being aired among workers? Are people voicing concerns over a new project? Being aware of grievances or brewing issues can prompt quick solutions and ultimately reduce employee burnout in your marketing team.

Committee members can meet once a month, give reports on their observations, and make suggestions. They also can be tapped to plan events that promote employee engagement throughout the department.

Respect and kindness go a long way

Since early 2020 it’s been chaos and confusion on many fronts. If we’ve learned anything at all, it’s how much happier we all are when we give each other a break. It’s not unusual for teams to disagree and get annoyed with each other at times. It’s okay as long as everyone remains respectful and shows common courtesy.

“Treat others the way you want to be treated” might just be the recipe for bliss in your marketing department.

RELATED: 5 Effective Ways to Prevent Sales Rep Burnout