Raise your hand if you’ve experienced burnout at some point. I spent the last four years of my career as the FBI spokesperson in Northern California. The news cycle doesn’t recognize weekends, vacations or time at the beach, so I was on call 24/7 for four years. By the end, I was irritable, impatient and without a support network because, guess what? I had no time for interpersonal relationships.
Covid-19 is blamed for much of the burnout we hear about today. By April 2020, 2.6 billion people had gone into lockdown, and 81% of the global workforce were fully or partially closed. A large number of people began to work from home.
We’ve moved beyond the pandemic. But it revealed the truth behind the curtain — things were not as they seemed in the land of Oz and hadn’t been for quite some time. Burnout reared its ugly head long before COVID-19. Organizational burnout originated in the 1970s; the pandemic was merely an accelerant.
Burnout may be a bit like true love — hard to define, but when it smacks you in the face, you know you’ve been hit. The World Health Organization defines burnout as a phenomenon driven by chronic unmanaged stress.
Too often, self-care is touted as the cure for burnout. While well-being is a good start, addressing employee burnout requires more than yoga, meditation apps and gym memberships. Think of burned-out people as canaries in the coal mine. When the canary keels over, we acknowledge that the environment is hazardous — we don’t bury our heads and pretend all is well.
These are some of the more prominent signs of burnout:
- Energy depletion or exhaustion
- Mental distance from one’s job
- Negativity
- Reduced professional efficacy
- Cynicism
Leaders should never assume they know the reason for their employees’ burnout. Pay attention when exhaustion and cynicism raise their ugly heads because they effectively predict burnout. Exhaustion indicates that people have difficulty keeping up with their personal and professional lives, while cynicism implies a lack of trust in the organization or leadership. Both need to be nipped in the bud ASAP.
According to researchers, burnout has six leading causes:
- Workload
- Control
- Reward
- Community
- Fairness
- Values
Let’s take a closer look at the six leading causes of burnout and practical tips on ways leaders can help their burned-out employees:
1. Unsustainable workload
I spoke earlier about the constant inflow of information and responsibilities as the spokesperson for the FBI in Northern California. Yes, it led to burnout, but guess what? I also loved being at the center of every big case in the San Francisco division.
In short, I was an adrenaline junkie. I loved the hectic schedule because I was always in the middle of the action. Like me, many people thrive because of the constant pressure and mental stimulation.
I should have moved on before I did because I was so consumed with my job and the relentless pace that it required that I failed to take care of myself.
Workload measures the extent to which the demands of work spill into one’s personal life. It reflects the social, physical and intellectual burden of work demands.
What you can do now:
- Use AI to reduce documentation burdens.
- Consider environmental interventions: structure work schedules with timely days off and offer communication tools to help regular team debriefings.
- Develop well-being programs to help team members learn to say “no” without feeling uncaring, selfish or mean.
2. Perceived lack of control
We perceive a lack of control when we don’t have the opportunity to make choices and decisions, solve problems and contribute to important work decisions.
We’re talking about people’s ability to use their judgment regarding how they spend their time at work. Many professions require heavy workloads and limited resources. Employees are expected to manage their work and ensure their team members get what they need to succeed, which can leave them feeling as though they have less control over their circumstances.
Workplace research by Christina Maslach shows lack of control is a key driver to burnout.
What you can do now:
- Support flexible work hours because it helps give employees a sense of empowerment over their schedule.
- Establish team norms and expectations regarding work schedules so that people can perform as they please without worrying about how their flexibility will affect others.
- Offer coaching programs to increase the employee’s internal sense of control.
3. Insufficient rewards
Nothing is more demoralizing than working twice as hard as a colleague and pulling in the same salary. FBI agents are paid on a tier system, so there are few bonuses for outstanding performance at the end of the year.
But rewards are not always about salary. They can also involve acknowledging your workload and the results it produces. So, while I didn’t get an end-of-the-year bonus, I did receive praise from my supervisors, quality step increases and other perks like parking and office space.
Psychology studies have confirmed that reinforcement and rewards can shape our behavior. When people don’t get the recognition they deserve, it devalues both the work and the employee.
A McKinsey survey found that 35% of respondents left jobs because of uncaring leaders or a lack of career development. While salary was a factor in the survey, it ranked toward the bottom.
Never underestimate the power of employee recognition when it’s well executed. Employees who are cared for and appreciated and feel a sense of belonging are likelier to be highly engaged. They are also more likely to feel connected to the organization, its leaders and their colleagues.
What you can do now:
- Make recognition of employees a priority.
- Recognize them promptly.
- Be deliberate and sincere with praise.
- Link recognition to rewards — parking spaces, time-off, profit-sharing, etc.
- Implement fair pay systems where employees’ pay is always proportionate to contributions.
4. Lack of supportive community
We have friends and family to whom we can confide, but burnout can occur when we don’t have ongoing relationships with others at our jobs. Job-related relationships provide social support, a means of working out disagreements and more job engagement.
Studies show that religion or spirituality is another way people can bolster their well-being. In this study, 34% of the participants indicated that worship and group events contributed to their emotional health. They said religion connects them with a higher authority and gives them hope.
What you can do now:
Encourage employees to meet regularly to hear a colleague present a project overview. The group listens to the story without interrupting. When the presenter has finished, the leader invites the group to respond to what they have heard. The group leader will discourage interrogation of the presenter because the exercise aims to get group members to work on the case together.
5. Lack of fairness
When people do work that is not acknowledged, the risk of cynicism and frustration rises. One fairness-related issue concerns programs that award people who don’t deserve them. When the system is rigged to give rewards, salary increases and perks to undeserving recipients, distrust of the organization and cynicism among employees will soar.
Fairness in the workplace requires employees to be treated with respect and dignity. It also includes the relationships between colleagues. When people are treated fairly, employees feel safe and engaged in their work because the organization compensates them fairly and equally.
What you can do now:
- Initiate internal studies to measure how employees view the fairness of their workplace.
- Allow employees to provide comments and suggestions.
- Give employees feedback on how their comments will be used to make policy changes.
6. Mismatched values
Values are what matters to individuals in their work. In an ideal world, personal values would be consistent with the organization’s values.
Salaries pay for life’s necessities, but once those needs are met, we’ll never be satisfied or content until we connect aspects of our work with what matters to us. When the values of a job or work environment clash with those of an employee, the employee trades between the work they want to do and the work they have to do, leading to more significant burnout.
When work demands challenge one’s personal and deeply held values and beliefs, moral injury results. Employees are tired of hearing their supervisors say, “Do whatever it takes to get the job done. “Manipulating and lying to people, whether customers, clients or colleagues, doesn’t feel good.
What you can do now:
- Encourage open and honest conversations at every level and department to identify what is missing or detracting from people’s ability to find meaning in their work.
- Ask team members about the projects that get them excited and engaged. How can that engagement be expanded?
- Ask team members about projects that could have a visible impact on those around them.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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