Knowing why burnout occurs isn’t enough—this is a roadmap to end it
Knowing why burnout occurs isn’t enough. To better understand how to improve the employee experience, drive meaningful conversations, and find effective solutions, it helps to visualize thoughts and feelings.
As a coach, I am close to the action on the front lines. My qualitative research has shown that when people are burned out, they go through a journey that typically has seven steps. Here’s what happens to both employees and employers when there’s no understanding that would facilitate success.
Shock
The first step is the initial reaction to the cause of burnout. Let’s say overwork and overwhelm is the leading reason, and you’re feeling physically ill, making an atypical mistake, or feeling resentment or anger.
During this journey stage, self-talk is common, and one may say things like, “Why do I feel this way?” or “I’m delivering, so what’s the problem?” This is where people close to you also tend to voice the symptoms they see, which can be shocking to hear.
For employers, front-line managers are often on the receiving end of this stage. Yet research from Deloitte shows that only 42% of managers feel “completely” empowered and capable of helping their company achieve its well-being commitments.
Minimize
Mindset plays a big part in this false high. As an individual, you may be in this stage of your journey if you say to yourself, “Everyone is working so hard. It’s normal,” or “Burnout is inevitable.” This is where we see temporary fixes and actions. It’s where companies get stuck offering well-being perks instead of burnout prevention tactics. It’s hard to make and process decisions at this point, even when faced with effective solutions, because you’ve minimized the problem.
Blame
Every story has two sides. Burnout is best prevented when both parties take ownership. For an individual, blame may manifest through self-talk, sounding something like, “Where has my energy and innovation gone?” or “Why am I not motivated?” or “I should be able to do this.”
Yet, there is almost always something ineffective and toxic on the organizational side. In fact, McKinsey has found that employees experiencing high levels of toxic behavior at work are nearly eight times more likely than those who don’t to experience burnout symptoms.
But here’s the other side: For companies, even if you do have some well-being best practices in place, if work is an emotional duvet covering up the painful, cold realities of life for your employees, so much of what you offer around wellness programs and work-life integration may fall flat because their identities are too rooted in their career.
Blame can be multi-dimensional, and it is a powerless place making it easier to cycle back to minimizing.
Acceptance
Past efforts could have been based on minimizing or unbalanced because of blame. But now there’s a desire for change with a lack of direction and feeling stuck. Could it be because work is a noble societal addiction that it often takes a catastrophic event or situation to break individuals and companies out of autopilot for acceptance to step in? Sure, acceptance can also be driven by something positive, but that’s not common.
Solutions
If you’re in the minimize or blame stage, trying to apply solutions will only have a band-aid effect instead of being sustainable. Solutions are best when they come from employees as that increases autonomy, and they also need to balance the demands of a job with adequate resources. It’s also not an effective solution if it doesn’t address the root causes of burnout.
Prevention
Now there’s increased energy and the capacity to prevent burnout. It’s where resilience continues to grow, and the learned experiences can be embedded and appreciated throughout the employee experience. You are applying upstream tactics like clear ways to track and measure tasks and projects, and technology is used to reduce inefficiencies. It’s an exciting place to be as it competitively places you in the position to embrace the future of work.
Integration
This is the ideal final stage in the journey. There are mindsets and, consequently, behavioral changes coupled with healthy habits that propel well-being. It’s where career fulfillment happens, and stress is no longer chronic. When a need arises, managers and leaders know they can advocate for their team’s needs, and solutions are embraced.
Organizations serious about tackling burnout recognize that it’s time to advance the conversation. Build on what we’ve discussed to prevent and manage burnout at your company or organization. Let’s move quicker in the right direction; increasing understanding and empathy.
This article was first published in Fast Company.