--- title: "Help Your Staff Team Banish Burnout" id: "7223" type: "post" slug: "help-your-staff-team-banish-burnout" published_at: "2022-04-18T00:00:00+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-14T21:57:39+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2022/04/18/help-your-staff-team-banish-burnout/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2022/04/18/help-your-staff-team-banish-burnout.md" excerpt: "Q: With employee burnout on the rise and a primary cause for turnover, what new strategies should organizations and managers be willing to try to retain their talent? A: You are so right. Burnout is a significant issue in associations..." taxonomy_category: - "Career Development" taxonomy_post_tag: - "ASAEcenter" - "employee well-being" - "Executive Skills" - "Interpersonal Skills" - "Organizational Culture" - "Staff Retention" - "Workplace" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Director" - "Manager" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Help Your Staff Team Banish Burnout **Q:** With employee burnout on the rise and a primary cause for turnover, what new strategies should organizations and managers be willing to try to retain their talent? **A:** You are so right. Burnout is a significant issue in associations today, and you are smart to want to do something to head it off. Many employees are feeling isolated and lonely and are dealing with lots of negative emotions. These feelings have the potential to lead to burnout which can, in turn, lead to resignations. Since associations work extremely hard to attract, hire, and keep valued employees, let’s look at some burnout-related feelings your staff may have and strategies that might make a difference. ### No Down Time Employees may feel as if they have little down time during the workday. Whether they are in the office or working from home, on some days, they may just go from one meeting to another with no time for a break. To mitigate this, instead of hourlong meetings, start scheduling 40- or 45-minute meetings and make it a practice to stick to the shorter time. Also encourage people to take a quick walk or stretch halfway through the meeting to keep a sharp focus. ### Lack of Processing Time Burnout can also be the result of staff feeling that they have no time to think or process thoughts or information throughout a day. To help with this, encourage employees to schedule “focus time”—time blocks on their calendars when the have permission to think and focus. They may need to focus on a current project and the role they are playing. Tell staff it’s OK to also use their focus time on personal issues. If they solve an issue at home, they will be better able to get back to their professional challenges. ### Feeling Isolated If you get a sense that staff are feeling isolated and lonely, build in time during meetings to have conversations about nonwork things that are on their minds. This may include family challenges, kids’ achievements, dreams, travel plans, and much more. If you do this, I promise you will see results when it comes to employee engagement and happiness. Above all, treat your employees as human beings. If you help them connect to their work and their coworkers, you should be able to retain them at least a little bit longer. [Barbara Mitchell](https://associationsnow.com/author/barbara-mitchell/) Barbara Mitchell is a human resources and management consultant and author of The Big Book of HR, The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook, The Conflict Resolution Phrase Book, and her latest The Decisive Manager. Do you have a question you'd like her to answer? Send it to achq@asaecenter.org. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/barbara-mitchell/) Tags: [#employee well-being](https://associationsnow.com/tag/employee-well-being/) [#Executive Skills](https://associationsnow.com/tag/executive-skills/) [#Interpersonal Skills](https://associationsnow.com/tag/interpersonal-skills/) [#Organizational Culture](https://associationsnow.com/tag/organizational-culture/) [#Staff Retention](https://associationsnow.com/tag/staff-retention/) [#Workplace](https://associationsnow.com/tag/workplace/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [ArticleProtect the Newcomers: What Elephants Can Teach Us About Leadership in NonprofitsJune 30, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/06/30/protect-the-newcomers-what-elephants-can-teach-us-about-leadership-in-nonprofits/) - [ArticleEthical Leadership in Tough SituationsMay 19, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/05/19/ethical-leadership-in-tough-situations/) - [ArticleFake It Until You Make ItJune 12, 2024](https://associationsnow.com/2024/06/12/fake-it-until-you-make-it/) - [Video🚀 The Agile Association Professional: How to Pivot Your Career Path When the Strategic Plan ShiftsJuly 28, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/28/the-agile-association-professional-how-to-pivot-your-career-path-when-the-strategic-plan-shifts/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2022%2F04%2F18%2Fhelp-your-staff-team-banish-burnout%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !