Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Job Burnout?Signs of Employee BurnoutCausesWhat to Do About Employee Burnout
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is Job Burnout?
Signs of Employee Burnout
Causes
What to Do About Employee Burnout
Close
Employment burnout, also known as “job burnout” or just “burnout,” is a state where you lose all motivation or incentive, leading to feelings of depression or stress. This can be a very uncomfortable state that can affect employee productivity, retention, and well-being.
At a GlanceEmployee burnout hurts motivation and productivity and can cause more workers to leave their jobs. Missed work, reduced productivity, problems sleeping, depression, and loss of interest are a few signs of burnout to watch for. Employee burnout can happen to anyone, but certain workplace factors can heighten the risk, including unclear requirements, high stress, lack of time off, poor communication, and lack of recognition.
At a Glance
Employee burnout hurts motivation and productivity and can cause more workers to leave their jobs. Missed work, reduced productivity, problems sleeping, depression, and loss of interest are a few signs of burnout to watch for. Employee burnout can happen to anyone, but certain workplace factors can heighten the risk, including unclear requirements, high stress, lack of time off, poor communication, and lack of recognition.
What to Do When You Really Don’t Want to Work Today
Burnout is more than just a feeling of stress at the job in that it tends to follow you from day to day, presenting itself as afeeling of dread on Sunday night(if you know you have to work again on Monday), a feeling of being unable to muster any enthusiasm or motivation for your work and a lack of pleasure in what you do. It can feel scary because you may not know how to get yourself out of this place once you’re feeling burned out.
Burnout can come from a sense of overwhelming stress, but it tends to come most from specific types of stress and factors in a job.
There are several factors that can contribute to burnout, including job-related features, lifestyle factors, and personality characteristics. Some companies and industries have much higher rates of burnout than others.
Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Burnout
Burnout can manifest in a number of ways. Some common signs that employers may notice include:
Employees may experience symptoms such as headaches, sleep problems, depressed mood, fatigue, loss of interest or pleasure, and physical health complaints.
Factors Contributing to Employee Burnout
The following features tend to cause morestress, taking more of a toll on workers:
Unclear Requirements
When it’s not clear to workershowto succeed, it’s harder for them to be confident, enjoy their work, and feel they’re doing a good job. Workers are at higher risk of burnout if:
Impossible Requirements
Sometimes it’s just not possible to do a job as it’s explained. If a job’s responsibilities exceed the amount of time given to complete them properly, for example, it’s really not possible to do the job well. Workers will put in a lot of effort and never quite feel successful, which also leaves them at risk for burnout.
High-Stress Times With No “Down” Times
Many jobs and industries have “crunch times” where workers must work longer hours and handle a more intense workload for a period. Sometimes, this can help people feel invigorated if the extra effort is recognized, appropriately compensated, and limited.
It starts becoming problematic when “crunch time” occurs year-round, and there’s no time for workers to recover.
Big Consequences for Failure
People make mistakes; it’s part of being human. However, when there are dire consequences to the occasional mistake, like the risk of a lawsuit, for example, the overall work experience becomes much more stressful, and the risk of burnout goes up. Those in law or healthcare often have higher rates of burnout because of the potential consequences.
Lack of Personal Control
People tend to feel excited about what they’re doing when they are able to creatively decide what needs to be done and come up with ways of handling problems that arise.
Generally speaking, workers who feel restricted and unable to exercise personal control over their environment and daily decisions tend to be at greater risk for burnout.
Lack of Recognition
It’s difficult to work hard and never be recognized for one’s accomplishments. Awards, public praise, bonuses and other tokens of appreciation and recognition of accomplishment go a long way in keeping morale high. Where accolades are scarce, burnout is a risk.
Poor Communication
Poor communication in a company can cause or exacerbate some of these problems, like unclear job expectations or little recognition. When an employee has a problem and can’t properly discuss it with someone who is in a position to help, this can lead to feelings of low personal control.
Insufficient Compensation
Employee burnout is more likely if financial compensation does not match the demands of the job.
Poor Leadership
Company leadership can go a long way towardpreventingor contributing to burnout. For example, depending on the leadership, employees can feel recognized for their achievements, supported when they have difficulties, valued, safe, etc. Poor leadership can leave people feeling:
Poor company leadership is one factor that can influence many others—many of which can put an employee at risk for burnout.
How to Prevent Burnout
If you are experiencing employee burnout, it’s a sign that something needs to change immediately. Short-term remedies can help improve your mental state in the hear and now, but longer-term strategies are needed to help manage and prevent burnout from happening again.
Take a Break
If you areexperiencing job burnout, try to take a break in order to recover. A vacation can provide some temporary relief from feelings of stress and give you some time to recover from burnout.
Utilize Stress Management Techniques
You can also try simpler stress relievers to help relieve stress you feel in the moment like:
Talk to Your Employer
You can try to change aspects of your job to create a greater sense of knowing what to expect and perhaps having more choice in how you perform your job.
If job burnout is persistent, it may be worth considering seeking professional help with the stress, and perhaps even another career path, ascontinued stress can impact your health.
What 4 Real Employers Are Doing to Support Mental Health at Their Companies
3 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Marzo RR, ElSherif M, Abdullah MSAMB, et al.Demographic and work-related factors associated with burnout, resilience, and quality of life among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross sectional study from Malaysia.Front Public Health. 2022;10:1021495. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.1021495
Zhang M, Murphy B, Cabanilla A, Yidi C.Physical relaxation for occupational stress in healthcare workers: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.J Occup Health. 2021;63(1):e12243. doi:10.1002/1348-9585.12243
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