How to Avoid Burnout

Sections of This Topic Include

Burnout — Can You Recognize the Signs?
Noticed Burnout – Now What?
Additional Perspectives on Avoiding Burnout

Also consider
Personal Development
Personal Productivity
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Burnout

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which
have posts related to Burnout. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts.
Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click
on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

Library’s
Coaching Blog
Library’s Human Resources
Blog
Library’s Spirituality
Blog

Burnout is spiritual, physical, emotional and/or mental exhaustion, usually
resulting from one or more long-term, unsatisfying efforts. Burnout seems to
be on the rise in organizations, resulting in poor health, poor performance
and conflicts in the workplace (internal conflicts and conflicts with others).

Burnout — Can You Recognize the Signs?

Carrie walks in to your office this morning with an unfamiliar look on her
face that reminds of the look your seven-year-old gives when they break a rule.
The conversation goes something like this:
“Good morning Carrie! What’s going on?”

“Um, I need to talk to you.”

“Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

Carrie slides a sheet of paper in front of you. You immediately notice the
word resignation. It’s there screaming at you. You take a breath.

“You are resigning. I’m surprised. Why did you decide to leave?”

How common is this scenario in your office? How often do you and your manager’s
find themselves shocked by the notice? Are there signs you may have missed?

When you manage a team of high performing, high potential employees, missing
the signs of an unsatisfied employee has a much greater cost to your organization
than just recruiting. These are signs most managers can’t afford to
miss. Below is a list of things to notice:
Change in performance or productivity. It’s very common to dismiss
a few performance misses with your top performers because most of the time
because you want to give them the benefit of the doubt. That may be okay,
but don’t ignore it. Monitor and address as necessary.
Increased absences and tardiness. When the workplace becomes a source of
stress for an employee, they will find reasons to avoid the environment. Look
for any change in attendance. Does the employee seek ways to leave the office?
Do they leave immediately at quitting time opposed to staying late as usual?
Changes in demeanor. Have you noticed a change in mood from positive and
upbeat to quiet, sullen or depressed? Does the employee seem irritated and
negative? Also, look for any change that is not typical of that person including
changes in focus. There may be an explanation from an outside source; engage
in dialogue with them to determine this.
Changes in break times. Is the employee taking more time than usual? Be
careful of the clock watchers especially if this is a new behavior.
Change of relationships with co-workers. Employees often form tight connections
with co-workers. In times of stress those connections can be supportive or
destructive. What to watch for in this case would be a change in behavior.

Noticed Burnout — Now What?

Engage your employees.

Spend time each day engaging your employees. Whenever possible, spend a few
minutes with them in person. Monitor for changes as described above.

Provide clear communication on expectations and success.

Provide all employees with consistent fair feedback on performance. Thank you
employees for coming to work and meeting expectations. Praise them when they
exceed expectations and communicate with them when they miss expectations.

Give employees as much control of their work as allowed.

Most people assert negative control when they feel as though they have none.
They do this by choosing to not stay late and coming in early. They make choices
to “show you” that they don’t have to do anymore than they
have to do.

Communicate the importance of their role in the organization.

Employees want to feel that they work is valued. Share how their work contributes
to client and company success.

Provide opportunity for growth and learning.

This doesn’t mean requiring them to go to company provided training sessions
that were planned by someone else (although it may be depending on the individual
and the learning topic and environment). Let the employee guide this process.
Discuss development with them.

Avoid the following questions:

“In what areas do you want to develop this year?”
“What kind of training would you be interested in taking this year?”

Try Theses Instead

“What parts of your job do you most enjoy?”
“If you could create your dream job, what would it be?”

Use the dialogue to help identify stretch assignments or goals you can establish
for the employee.

Ensure the work environment is cooperative and respectful.

Employees want to be treated fairly and with respect. As the supervisor you
need to model this behavior and hold everyone accountable to it.

Look for ways to remove obstacles to proficiency.

Look to see what obstacles are blocking employee’s success and find ways
to remove them. Look for unnecessary duplicate processes that can be removed.

Engage employees in finding solutions.

Operate an open door to bring concerns and questions. How you respond as a
supervisor sends a key message to an employee. If an employee comes to you with
a valid concern or suggestion, hear them out. Ask some of the following questions:

“What suggestions do you have to improve in this area?”
“How will this work in our department?”
“What benefits does it have?”
“What are the obstacles?”
“What support would you need to help implement this suggestion?

Set realistic work expectations.

Don’t expect everyone to work at the same pace and with the same strengths.
Set expectations that are reasonable and as previously mentioned remove obstacles
to success. Be flexible with how work is accomplished whenever possible to meet
individual differences.

Provide Fun.

Offer ways for employees to relax for a few minutes during the work day. Host
a potluck or special lunch for employees to socialize and network with one another
in a relaxed setting. If you can’t find an idea, there are multiple books
available with tons of ideas. Or just ask your employees what ideas they have.

Additional Perspectives on Avoiding Burnout

Burnout — Can You Recognize the Signs?
How
to Prevent Burnt Out Employees
The
Egoectomy Procedure
Notice
Burnout? Now What?

Also consider
Assertiveness
Attitude
Authenticity
Awareness
Bullying (Addressing)
Cynicism
Emotional Intelligence
Financial Fitness
Job Satisfaction
Motivating and Inspiring
Yourself
Physical Fitness
Self-Confidence
Stress Management
Work-Life Balance
Workaholism

For the Category of Personal Wellness:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.