Burnout is not an excuse for getting time off, but a harsh reality. In fact, it is included in the list of diseases by the World Health Organization. The official definition given by the WHO states that burnout is a syndrome “resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been managed.”
As a leader, managing stress within your organization is a big part of your job duties. Thus, you should know some of the most important facts about burnout in order to promote a healthy work environment.
US Employees Experience a Lot of Burnout
Being career-driven and job-oriented is the main concept instilled into American children and teenagers in all forms of schooling. And they prove to be some of the most hardworking employees in the world, putting their job first, to the detriment of their health in many circumstances.
According to the Better Life Index, prepared by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 11% of US employees work very long hours and devote only 14.4 hours per day to their personal care, below the OECD average of 15 hours. The number of average hours spent at work places the USA on the 29th place on the list of the 40 OECD member countries.
By comparison, 3.7% of Canadian employees, and only 0.1% of employees in Russia work very long hours.
One of the Key Facts About Burnout: Millennials Are Changing Jobs Due to It
Let us focus now on the generation that will provide the bulk of the workforce for the next 2 decades: millennials. According to a survey conducted by Deloitte, nearly 50% of young employees have changed their job due to burnout. And as much as 84% of respondents in this age group say that they have experienced burnout at work.
All these facts and statistics should be worrisome for any leader who wants to be at the helm of a successful organization. For this reason, you need to know the salient facts about burnout.
Recognizing the Signs of Burnout
One of the first facts about burnout you need to know is how it manifests itself. First of all, it does not occur overnight. As the WHO definition says, it is the result of chronic stress. Thus, there are four stages in an employee’s progression from the first day on the job to burnout:
- Enthusiasm;
- Stagnation;
- Frustration;
- Apathy.
As for the main signs of burnout, you will notice:
- The employee complains about physical and mental fatigue;
- They are less productive;
- Their work quality is suffering;
- They are losing weight due to poor appetite;
- They are self-medicating;
- They are becoming less communicative and sociable.
Work From Home Still Causes Burnout
Here is one of the facts about burnout that are highly relevant in the current context: working from home is not a magic solution to burnout. The reality is that burnout is not created by commute or the office environment.
Actually, many employees complain that working from home means longer hours and additional stress. They have to manage household activities and work tasks at the same time, and many of them do not have a special place they can call a home office, away from the noise and distractions of the rest of the family.
A Lack of Challenges Leads to Burnout
Employees who do not have a dynamic activity, but repetitive, monotonous tasks, are more prone to feel burned out than those presented with challenges. As a leader who knows this and other similar facts about burnout, you have the opportunity to redefine the way your team works and make sure that everyone has an interesting and rewarding job to do.
Those Who Love Their Job Can Feel Burned Out
There is a saying along the lines of — find something you love to do and you will never work a day in your life. This saying is disproved by various facts about burnout, including this one. People who are passionate about their job and career path will suffer from burnout just like those who work out of necessity.
Burnout Can Spread Among Teams
We conclude our list of facts about burnout with a warning: this state of chronic stress is contagious. Apathy and the feeling of disconnect can spread from one employee to another, bringing down the entire team’s enthusiasm and productivity.
For this, if not the other reasons, you need to reassess the kind of environment your employees find every day when they come to work. Once you find the cause of ongoing stress, devise strategies to remove it. If needed, consider giving your team time off. The lack of productivity of one week is nothing compared to the ongoing poor performance that goes on for months.
This article was originally published on pldx.org.
