– by Ainsley Lawrence

– Ainsley Lawrence is a freelance writer with an interest in the way business, technology, and education intersect with the personal. She loves traveling to beautiful places and is frequently lost in a good book.

A career in finance can be demanding. And that can easily become overwhelming, ultimately affecting productivity and morale. But thankfully, there’s a lot you can do to avoid, or, at least navigate burnout should it hit you or your organization.

Let’s explore the root causes of burnout and its impact on finance professionals. Then, we’ll leave tips for hiring firms and finance workers to eliminate burnout on their respective ends.

The Issue of Burnout Among Finance Professionals

There are a lot of perks to working in finance. The high earning potential and job security are two of the most significant. That said, there’s the looming issue of overworked and burnt-out employees.

Finance professionals experience burnout for various reasons. Heavy workloads and high-pressure roles are two of them.

A single professional could be in charge of multiple portfolios at once. In addition, there’s no room for error when working with other people’s money and investments, taking the pressure finance workers feel to another level.

Heavy workloads mean long hours. And that means a lack of work-life balance. Working through lunches and nights and never having downtime to enjoy personal passions and loved ones quickly becomes stressful, fueling burnout.

The highly repetitive tasks financial professionals perform can also lead to burnout. There are only so many financial plans, budget templates, and data entry one can do before these tasks become something that sucks the energy and enthusiasm out of them.

In addition, employees may not have the autonomy they want in their roles. Firms control what clients their staff works with. There are strict policies and procedures professionals must adhere to when working with money and financial products, which restricts how flexible and creative you can be in these positions.

When financial professionals are burnt out, the companies they work for are at a disadvantage too. They can’t serve as many clients as they would if all employees were at their peak. The clients they do have may not get the high-quality service they deserve. Both influence company productivity and profitability.

Burnout can negatively impact finance professionals and the firms they work for. So, both need to do their parts in preventing and reducing burnout.

How Hiring Firms Can Mitigate Employee Burnout

Hiring firms control many aspects that influence whether employees become burnt out. Start with the following to create a workplace environment that produces healthy, engaged employees rather than exhausted, withdrawn ones.

Prioritize well-being in the workplace

Hiring firms can alleviate burnout with a workplace environment that’s rooted in well-being. An inherently positive atmosphere and attitude in the firm are crucial. Open communication and transparency must be core values. Every employee should have a voice and be treated with respect.

Firms should also prioritize growing a strong leadership team that values employee well-being. Managers must understand how to take good care of their workers so that they can take good care of clients.

Using a staffing firm, like American Recruiters, helps ensure firms are matched with the best leadership candidates based on company needs and those of the financial professionals who work for them.

Prioritizing well-being keeps employees feeling good and functioning well in the workplace, helping eliminate the potential for burnout.

Streamline key processes

The chances of employees making mistakes that have huge consequences increase tremendously when burnout is a factor. Human error in the workplace can result in wasted resources, lost productivity, and employee accidents.

Errors when handling people’s finances can be uniquely detrimental. For example, clients can experience financial losses because of bad investment advice. Or, the firm might get sued or fined because of compliance issues.

Streamlined processes and systems in high-stress work environments like financial firms are fundamental in reducing human error and employee burnout. Hiring firms can implement automation tools to improve accuracy. This also reduces the amount of work employees have to do, lessening pressure and stress.

What Finance Professionals Can Do to Avoid Burnout

Here’s what individual workers can do to avoid burnout and remain immersed in their roles.

Learn to say no

Saying “yes” when you should say “no” is one of the worst habits to keep and must be broken. It results in employees taking on more work than they can handle, which increases the chance of experiencing high levels of stress and burnout.

Financial professionals must learn to say “no.” Be firm about how much and what kind of work you can take on. Avoid long hours and seven-day work weeks. Stick to a schedule that allows you to create a healthy work-life balance.

Listen to your body

A person knows themself better than anyone else. They know when their minds and bodies are exhibiting signs of stress and exhaustion. They know when something isn’t right.

All financial professionals need to listen to their bodies and recognize when their health and wellness are suffering. Know the signs of burnout so that you can intervene sooner rather than later. Take breaks, vacations, and days off when you need them.

Look for and listen to those bodily and mental cues that signal burnout.

Conclusion

The chances of experiencing burnout in a career in finance are higher than in other professions because of the demanding and high-pressure nature of the industry. However, with the guidance above, hiring firms and finance professionals can do their parts in preventing and reducing burnout in the workplace.