Here are some signs to look for in your own IT department and how you can help minimize the feeling of burnout.
Signs of IT Employee Burnout
IT professionals may have a variety of responsibilities within the company such as fulfilling helpdesk tickets, assisting new employees, and deactivating exiting ones, in house support, long term projects and more. There is a great value in having an IT team that can give fast responses and fixes, but this can’t be done if their plates are too full. When ticket resolution starts to take longer than usual or long-term projects are delayed, this can be one of the first signs that your IT department is feeling overwhelmed.
The Cycle of IT Employee Burnout
As a result of prolonged stress, employees may begin to experience emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. The negative effects of burnout not only impact individuals but can also filter throughout an entire team. Burnout is one of the top reasons employees choose to leave a company, so high levels of burnout directly correlate to high levels of turnover. Found in a study of over 36,200 IT professionals across 33 countries, done by Yerbo, 42% of IT workers who are facing high levels of burnout are considering quitting their jobs in the next six months. When employees leave the company as a result of burnout and it isn’t addressed at the source, the cycle continuously repeats itself. New employees are onboarded, learn the systems, become acclimated to the organization, but eventually become overwhelmed and quit. There are no winners in this scenario. Burnout results in great cost for the company and takes an enormous physical, emotional, and mental toll on individuals and their coworkers.
What You Can Do About IT Team Burnout
The most important thing your organization can do is ensure your IT department feels supported. The Ponemon Institute conducted a survey to understand more about work-related stress and burnout where they found that 68% of employees believed that their organizations provided them with insufficient time and resources to ensure that performance expectations and time frames were met. Having dedicated IT pros that are supported by the organization builds a foundation for success, decreases burnout and helps reduce overwhelming feelings associated with their jobs/workload.
If growing your IT department doesn’t make financial sense, you might consider an IT service provider to help supplement your existing IT talent. According to Infrascale, 68% of SMB and mid-market business execs believe working with a managed service provider (MSP) helps them stay ahead of their competition.
There are many benefits of partnering with an IT service provider. In addition to your internal team feeling happier and more supported, your systems will be more efficient, your data more secure and you’ll be able to reduce worries of downtime.
Have questions about how IT Managed Services can help your organization pinpoint inefficiencies, decrease costs, reduce risk and increase security? Give our IT experts a call today to schedule an assessment. 800.564.7002.
