How to Avoid Association Staff Burnout and Build a Better Culture

Keeping your association’s staff excited to come into work each and every day can be quite the task to tackle. How can you make sure your company culture is inviting enough to fend off staff burnout? The truth is, an increase in burnout in your association’s staff can lead to the absolute worst - employee turnover. And if you think we’re over exaggerating, you’ll be surprised to know that many companies are experiencing staff turnover at an alarming rate.

In 2021, 47.4 million American workers voluntarily quit, a record for the country. You never want your staff to forget all of the great things about your association or why they started working with your team in the first place. It’s important to build up a culture that allows for communication, engagement, and all around a pleasant time. So, how can you build the company culture of your association’s dreams? Are there ways to keep burnout at bay and decrease your staff turnover rates? Of course!

‍We've got a few tips, tricks, and tools your association can implement to keep everyone at your association engaged and excited to show up for work week after week.

Promote health & wellbeing

Prioritizing your staff’s health, both physical and mental, is an absolute must if you’re looking to keep everyone happy and overall healthy. Showing your association’s staff that you’re just as invested in their health and wellbeing as they should be will not only promote a healthier culture in your organization, it will also prove to staff that you’re behind them every step of the way. If staff members do not see an effort from your association to keep their minds and bodies healthy, they may feel underappreciated and overworked.

What can be done to create this type of environment for members? There are many easy steps that you can take to kickstart a health-driven company culture for everyone involved. The first step can be partnering with local workout facilities and wellness companies to provide your staff with membership discounts and coupons. You can even offer up group classes for staff to join in on together in order to keep their bodies in the best shape while also spending time with coworkers.

This allows for company bonding outside of the office. You can also bring in health specialists, yoga instructors, and even nutritionists and hold office wide sessions for employees. Not only are you taking them away from their computer screens and giving their brains a much needed break, you’re giving them ways to take healthy steps in their own personal lives. Making health a priority within your association’s office can keep everyone’s spirits and wellbeing high.

Keep your goals and missions somewhere visible

Is there a place in your association’s office where your staff can be constantly reminded of what they’re working towards? If not, there should be. Keeping your association’s goals at the forefront of your staff’s mind is a great way to keep everyone moving towards the finish line. If your staff isn’t always thinking of the bigger picture, they can get distracted or even discouraged, feeling that their work isn’t doing anything productive for the organization or its members.

‍Therefore, creating a place for you to proudly showcase the goals you’re working towards and the overall mission of your association can keep staff focused and ready to take on any task that comes their way.‍

Your association can create a “vision” board to keep your current goals, overall priorities, and accomplishments up for everyone in the office to see when they walk by. You can even encourage your employees to add onto this board any time they have a new project or reach a new milestone - and congratulate them for adding something to the vision board. Also, be sure to mention your goals and your gratitude during each and every meeting and conference you hold. Taking time at the beginning to acknowledge your teams hard work and motivate them towards the next goal will help keep them focused throughout the quarter- and a confidence boost never hurts.

Keep up with promises

Want to keep your staff happy? Be sure to always keep up your communication and hold out on promises. Cancelling meetings and/or switching up your schedule can throw staff off and even add more work to their plate than you may think. While it may seem like a quick change, you may be inconveniencing your team and limiting the communication you have with them - which can cause an increase in stress. Missing a meeting once happens - but allowing it to become a habit is what typically gets to be a problem for association executives and for staff members getting the short end of the stick. To keep this from happening, create a meeting schedule that your staff has access to and set reminders for everyone involved. This will help keep everyone motivated to attend these meetings, making a habit out of communicating and showing up as an active team member.

‍In the case of an emergency switch or the need to shift a meeting, be sure to alert everyone invited to said meeting. You never want a staff member to feel in the dark because they were not informed of a schedule change by those in charge. You should also immediately set a reschedule date in order to stick to your promise of meeting with staff and addressing their needs. Similarly, you should always keep any promises you’ve made to your staff outside of meetings. Whatever the request may be, holding up your end of the bargain will show staff that you care about keeping them happy and that you want to make sure they have everything they need to succeed and thrive at your organization. Held up communication will promote a company culture that is both healthy and honest. When it comes to building a better culture, the ultimate goal is to create an environment where your staff feel comfortable, happy, and that they can keep up a constant work pace without getting overwhelmed.

‍The better your culture is, the less of a chance your staff feels the burn of a burnout. Keeping your staff turnover rates low is easy with less stress on their shoulders and an office they get excited to be apart of each work day. Consider using these tips to create a better workplace and a less frustrating work flow for your association’s staff. Burnout doesn’t have to be an inevitable fear - and working with your staff to build a better culture is the first step.