Utilizing Scheduling Tools to Reduce Burnout

Employee burnout is more than just feeling tired or overworked. Burnout can lead to a host of symptoms and consequences that create problems for both the employees and the business. Adopting effective scheduling tools can be one of your best remedies against burnout.

What Is Workplace Burnout?

As part of its study of burnout, the American Psychological Association acknowledges it’s a syndrome that can be “measured and quantified using validated scientific tools.” Though the word is often used in casual conversation to describe frustration or irritation, true burnout, says the APA, is identified by three dimensions:

• ​​Feelings of energy depletion or emotional exhaustion
• Increased mental distance from one’s work and negative or cynical feelings toward one’s work
• Reduced sense of efficacy at work

Physical and emotional symptoms may include:

• Absenteeism
• Job dissatisfaction
• Loss of confidence
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Psychological distress
• Anxiety
• Chronic fatigue
• Heart disease
• Headaches
• Musculoskeletal pain
• Increased risk of high blood pressure and diabetes

The Connection Between Scheduling and Employee Burnout

Industries with shift workers face a host of staffing and scheduling concerns. Healthcare, hospitality, food service, retail, transportation, and manufacturing businesses make up the approximately 16% of the workforce whose hours fall outside a typical 9-5 schedule. 

Many of these jobs are physically or emotionally demanding, no matter what time the shift starts and ends. Because shift workers frequently have variable schedules week to week, they must also spend more time and energy organizing and planning their lives, including getting adequate sleep.

A 2024 study found that 26% of shift workers were physically inactive. Additionally, 47% did not meet recommended levels of leisure-time physical activity, which led to “significantly increased risk overall for coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, specific types of cancer, injury, and reduced cognitive function.” 

Inconsistent scheduling can be a huge barrier to employees prioritizing their own physical and emotional health. Positive health outcomes are frequently a result of forming healthy habits, which can be challenging for employees whose daily schedules change frequently. People who struggle to sleep consistently, miss family or social events, can’t find time for doctor or dentist appointments, or aren’t able to prioritize physical activity are more likely to suffer burnout. 

“We need to reframe the basic question from who is burning out to why they are burning out,” says burnout scholar Christina Maslach, PhD. “It is not enough to simply focus on the worker who is having a problem—there must be a recognition of the surrounding job conditions that are the sources of the problem.”

It may be that the problem is inconsistent scheduling.

How Scheduling Tools Reduce Burnout

A mission to reduce employee burnout with consistent scheduling has some tangible employer benefits:

• Health: People who can prioritize sleep and healthier habits are less likely to become sick with minor illnesses and miss work last minute.
• Work-life balance: Employees can more easily attend family or social events and keep their work commitments when they have a more consistent schedule.
• Anxiety: A more consistent schedule can help reduce employee anxiety over shift days and times and alleviate concerns about unpredictable income.
• Culture: Consistent scheduling demonstrates a commitment to worker well-being. It can create a culture of trust and decrease turnover rates.

Improving Scheduling

Effective shift scheduling practices may look like:

• Posting the schedule two or more weeks in advance so employees have plenty of time to plan.
• Establishing and maintaining consistent shift patterns where possible; or a more consistent shift rotation at a minimum.
• Establishing and clearly communicating company PTO and sick leave policies.
• Utilizing technology that allows employees to input PTO requests easily and in one place.
• Instruct managers to respond to PTO requests on a tight deadline.
• Empower managers to prioritize employee well-being when creating shift schedules, and allow employees to provide feedback about their satisfaction with the patterns.
• Adequately staff every shift so managers and employees avoid last-minute shift additions and feeling overworked.

The powerful scheduling tools in WorkforceHub allow employers to:

• Keep track of employee scheduling, availability, and location
• Optimize shift planning
• Control labor costs and curb unplanned overtime while maintaining compliance
• Seamlessly find the best fit for schedule and shift needs
• Receive automated suggestions based on your preset parameters
• Easily apply shifts with automated conflict resolution
• Publish schedules with advanced notice
• Conduct employee surveys
• Promote employee recognition

For the employees, WorkforceHub offers a mobile app with useful tools:

• Self-service PTO requests
• Benefits management
• Paperless access to paperwork like W-2s and other HR documents
• Clear shift layout
• Punch in and out with the timekeeping functionality
• Anonymous feedback submission

Harnessing the power of technology to stabilize schedules can provide great benefits for employees and the company alike. By recognizing the causes of worker burnout and making real changes in policy and scheduling, you can provide greater balance for your shift workers. Explore how WorkforceHub can make that happen in your business.