Identifying burnout in the workplace

October 7, 2024
9:08 am
Tarmo Pihl

Every year since 1992, October 10th is Mental Health Awareness Day. The opportunity to bring the world’s attention to the epidemic that is poor mental health.

This year, the chosen theme speaks to us even more as it focuses on burnout in the workplace. A subject we tackle every day as more and more people are suffering from it.

Just to give you an idea, a study in the UK, shows that one in five workers (20%) needed to take time off work in the past year due to poor mental health caused by pressure or stress in 2024.

The same study observes that the younger generations (18-24) are more at risk of needing to take time off for mental health purposes (34%) than their elders (15% for people over 55).

Job insecurity, high workloads, and bullying combined with poor sleep and cost of living crises make that the vast majority of respondents to the survey (over 90%) expressed experiencing extreme stress over the past year.

Thankfully, the survey also sheds some light on what can help alleviate that stress often leading to burnout such as a personal and professional support system, (family & colleagues), approachable line managers, flexible work setup as well as mental health support and training at work.

If you still think this is not the employer’s responsibility, have a look at the story our colleague shared on his LinkedIn about the Estonian precedent. (In Estonian, click to see the translation)/

Yes, burnout affects the individual’s well-being in a more obvious way but it has far-reaching repercussions on the company as well. It is in everyone’s interest to work together to prevent it.

loss of interest and tiredness are major burnout signs

Identify the signs

Burnout does not happen overnight. It comes as a response to prolonged exposition to stressors and triggers in the workplace. It is almost undetectable at first as symptoms can lead to other diagnoses.

If left untreated, after a while the individual will usually feel overwhelmingly exhausted, detached from their tasks, and cynical about the company and their role and value in it. This will affect their productivity, morale, and engagement with the job and the team.

Mental Health UK proposes the following acronym to stay alert and be able to identify the 7 main symptoms of burnout in oneself and others around us:

B – becoming isolated
U – unexplained exhaustion
R – reduced performance
N – neglecting self-care
O – overwhelmed
U – uninterested
T – tension & stress

Identifying the symptoms is one thing but understanding what causes them is the best way to prevent burnout.

Recognize the risk factors/causes

Here are the 7 main risk factors:

High workload: work overload contributes to burnout by depleting the capacity of people to meet the demands of the job. When this kind of overload is a chronic job condition, there is little opportunity to rest, recover, and restore balance.
Lack of control: there’s a bigger risk of burnout when the employees perceive a lack of autonomy while making decisions that affect their work.
Insufficient reward: insufficient recognition and reward (whether financial, institutional, or social) increase people’s vulnerability to burnout because it devalues both the work and workers and it is closely associated with feelings of inefficacy.
Strained relationships at work: the interpersonal environment at work is very important. When there’s a lack of support and trust, then there is a greater risk of burnout.
Lack of fairness: fairness is the extent to which decisions at work are perceived as being fair and equitable. When people are not being treated with the appropriate respect, cynicism, anger, and hostility are likely to arise.
Lack of clarity: not knowing why we do things makes it very difficult to keep engaged and productive. When people lack clarity in their work they tend to feel powerless and meaningless.
Unreasonable time pressure: while periods of rush can be acceptable in certain conditions, unreasonable time pressure creates unsustainable goals and creates a sense of failure in employees.

In this piece, we tried to gather as much information about preventing and looking out for burnout signs.

Of course, we are all different and handle situations differently, which means you or someone you know might be suffering from burnout without experiencing all or parts of these symptoms. In doubt, we advise you to always talk to someone you trust, a colleague, or a health professional for guidance.

Burnout is caused mainly by employers

How to deal with work burnout?

How can employers help prevent burnout?

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