Employee burnout is not a new phenomenon and plenty is written about it. However, ‘burnout’ is a relatively new term, first mentioned in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger.

Burnout is defined in several academic journals as ‘a prolonged response to chronic, emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job’ and is demonstrated by three different dimensions of ‘exhaustion, cynicism and a sense of inefficacy (helplessness/uselessness)’. Examples include being over critical at work, a lack of satisfaction of excellent work, demonstrating poor sleep patterns and a feeling of disillusion.

According to Maslach, burnout impairs personal and social performance and is seen by a decline in the quality of work and physical and mental health. Worryingly, it can lead to significant consequences in health conditions such as alcohol or substance misuse, heart disease, high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes. In short, it needs to be recognised and addressed in the workplace.

Employers should note and observe that the syndrome affects not just the individual, but everyone in the workplace. It is not just found in senior management, but throughout the organisation too. Significantly, research has also concluded that the degree of burnout is related to the style of leadership in the organisation. It concluded that employee job satisfaction is high in participative organisations, whilst in autocratic organisations absence and staff turnover is high. Gary Vallen, in an article entitled Organisational Climate and Burnout, concluded that:

‘Organizations that exhibit little cooperative teamwork, employee mistrust, and tightly held control demonstrated significantly more burnout.’

So how can burnout be addressed in your organisation? First, remember that we spend the majority of our waking hours working. Given the time spent at work, job satisfaction can be enhanced when positive, supportive relationships with colleagues are encouraged. Specific actions to reduce the chances of burnout include giving employees control of their schedules, conducting a review of available resources, providing clear expectations, looking for incidents of bullying or micromanagement, reducing monotonous tasks and seriously considering work-life balance/hours worked. However, by far the biggest way to prevent burnout is to encourage talking about issues and seeking support. HR can play a significant role in listening and developing clear strategies. Nevertheless, as this article recognises, the support and performance of senior management is critical.

Coppice HR cannot address all of the issues detailed above and chronic burnout may need medical or psychological support. We do strongly acknowledge the importance of mental health issues in the workplace and we can provide options to improve workplace culture and support to employees through training and recommendations. Contact us on paul@coppicehr.com, 07814 008478 or www.coppicehr.com, but please do not let employees develop chronic burnout because it was not recognised at the onset. Employers have more than a duty of care and responsibility for their colleagues to address mental health issues.

Inspired by:  Christina Maslach – Job Burnout: New Directions in Research and Intervention (2003),  Maslach and Leiter -Burnout (2016) and Vallen – Organisational Climate and Burnout (1993)