What is burnout - and 5 ways to prevent it in your workplace
What is burnout? How can we protect our people (and ourselves) from it? What kind of workplace cultures lead to burnout? And how can we support employees who are already experiencing it?
If you, too, are asking these questions, you’re not alone.
Studies show burnout is on the rise throughout the world (and not just because of the Covid-19 pandemic). The silver lining is the more we learn about burnout, the better we can prevent it and create healthier, more resilient workplaces.
We recently hosted a panel of experts to discuss burnout and explore some evidence-based solutions. The below insights from Suzi McAlpine (renowned leadership coach and author of ‘Beyond Burnout’), Tania Domett (author of the Australian & New Zealand Workplace Wellbeing Survey), and Dr Fiona Crichton (VP Clinical at Groov) offer hope and practical strategies for preventing burnout in your workplace.
1. What is burnout?
Burnout is so widespread it’s become a buzzword, which unfortunately means there’s a lot of room for misinterpretation.
Enter Suzi McAlpine with a robust definition: “True burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, caused by incessant and prolonged stress related to your professional work.”
Burnout is often confused with stress, but Suzi emphasises they are two very different things.
“Stress in and of itself isn’t the problem. Burnout is far more insidious and malevolent. It’s when stress becomes baked into the role. It’s when stress is excessive, prolonged, and left untreated.”
To learn more about what burnout is (and isn’t), Suzi’s book ‘Beyond Burnout’ is an excellent place to start.
2. Know the signs
Burnout is most problematic when it’s fully-fledged. If you can catch the early warning signs, you might be able to prevent burnout from developing further.
According to the world’s leading experts on burnout – Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter – there are three major red flags to watch out for.
Chronic exhaustion. You’re at risk of burnout when you’re constantly exhausted and depleted. If taking a break or a holiday doesn’t help you recharge, it may be a sign you’ve lost your bounce-back factor and could be developing burnout.
Increased cynicism and depersonalisation. If things that didn’t used to get under your skin suddenly feel really frustrating, this could be a sign of burnout. You might also experience dissonance from your work and your colleague. You may ask yourself “what’s the point’?”
Professional efficacy. This is when you feel you’re digging deeper and trying harder, but nothing you’re doing seems to be making a difference.
Recognising these signs in other people can be difficult, which is why it’s so important to have regular conversations with your employees.
3. Give people more control over how they work
One of the top causes of burnout is when people feel like they have little or no control over how they work.
“Our brains need to control our environment. That’s how we’re wired to keep us safe,” explains Dr Fiona Crichton. “If you’re in an environment where you have no control, your brain goes: this doesn’t feel good.”
Giving people more control will look different in every organisation, but it almost always starts with effective communication.
“Ask your people what they need,” advises Tania Domett.
While you won’t be able to meet their every need, people will appreciate being asked. Opening the lines of communication helps people to feel safe within their job and therefore more likely to speak up if they’re struggling.
“It comes back to the whole idea of psychological safety. It’s making sure people understand they’re going to be heard and there’s no downside to them sharing,” explains Fiona.
Other prominent causes of burnout include overwork, absence of fairness, sense of isolation, mismatch of values, and insufficient reward.
4. Create manageable workloads
We’re all guilty of hoping to achieve more in a day than we’re actually capable of – but this sense of ‘time optimism’ can wreak havoc in workplaces. When employees feel overloaded, they may struggle to access the dopamine reward of completing a task. They may also begin to feel undervalued or like no matter how hard they work, it will never be enough.
Suzi advises getting really clear on your priorities as an organisation and removing some of the superfluous tasks that inevitably creep into people’s workloads.
“Remove the pebbles in people’s shoes,” she suggests.
Suzi also recommends identifying exactly where “the pockets of stress are sitting in your organisation”. What teams, departments or branches seem to be at the most risk of burnout? Identify these people so you can provide them with extra support.
5. Lead by example
As leaders, it’s important to lead by example when it comes to workplace wellbeing. Try to show your employees it’s safe for them to take care of themselves – that you understand they’re humans, not machines. In practice, this might look like taking regular breaks, making a point to eat lunch away from your desk, or sharing your own experience with burnout.
“People can’t be what they can’t see,” says Fiona.
Suzi also emphasises that “burnout is not an individual problem, it’s an organisational one”.
“We can’t have conversations about burnout unless we start to look at things like leadership and culture. Treating burnout like an individual problem is a bit like treating sick fish when it’s the water that’s contaminated,” explains Suzi.
The issue is certainly complex, but awareness is a great first step. We hope these insights help you talk more openly about burnout in your workplace and take steps to prevent it.