Understanding the *Real* Causes and Effects of Burnout

Level with us… how often do high levels of stress at work make you feel like you’re not contributing to your team or organization in meaningful ways? Maybe you’re going through the motions, feeling like you’re perpetually stuck on a hamster wheel when it comes to your work. We may be able to easily define burnout on paper, but when we’re in the thick of its symptoms, it can be much more difficult to remedy.

For the next month, follow along our four-part series on burnout, where we’ll develop a deeper understanding of how it manifests in our professional lives; share how to support teams through its difficulties; and ultimately equip managers with the skills needed to prevent it.

Suggested reading: 3 Signs You’re Burned Out at Work

While we may view burnout as more of a buzzword than a term to describe the serious effects of work-related stress, today’s goal is to dig a bit deeper and identify its root causes.

Who feels burnout at work?

If you’re prone to bouts of burnout at work, odds are you aren’t alone. Everyone is at risk, no matter workloads or levels of engagement. According to a 2020 Gallup report on workforce burnout, 76% of employees reported experiencing burnout on the job at least sometimes, with 28% saying they felt burned out "very often" or "always" at work.

Research tells us that the number of employees currently experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout is still rising, even from disproportionately high levels reported during the height of the pandemic.

While we know that burnout takes a serious toll on our individual mental and physical health, we must also acknowledge the lasting effects it can have on our personal and professional relationships. Not only does the state of burnout impact our ability to show up as our best selves, it can put us in so much of a survival mode that it breaks down any sense of trust and compassion among our teams, making the workplace feel like an unstable and unsupportive place.

What can we do about the causes and effects of burnout?

All of this begs the following questions: why is burnout at an all-time high, and what can we do about it? Today we’re passing along insight from Udemy Business’s A Leader’s Guide to Battling Workforce Burnout on the different types of burnout, as well as their causes and effects, to ultimately help you and your team identify, fight, and minimize burnout in your own organization. 

Udemy shares that those who experience burnout often fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Overwhelmed overachievement
  When we think of burnout, this is usually the first type that comes to mind, with its unmanageable workloads, unrealistic time pressures, and long hours.
  
  Highly engaged employees may be more vulnerable to feeling overloaded when they haven’t set boundaries around their bandwidth, sacrificing their own wellbeing for the sake of achievement. In the face of signs of burnout, employees may try to power through, only further contributing to exhaustion and potentially cultivating a cynical view around their work.

• Neglectful management

  Employees who experience burnout as a result of heavy and challenging workloads without substantial communication or support from their managers fall into the category of neglect.

  While they may be capable of doing the job, they simply lack the resources, guidance, and/or structure to accomplish their work, reducing productivity and efficiency and negatively impacting professional relationships.

• A lack of engagement with work
  This lesser known type of burnout is just as burdensome on employees, as it stems from a lack of challenge or engagement with one’s work. Whether this is caused from too light of a workload or work that isn’t sufficiently stimulating, this kind of burnout can make employees feel frustrated at a perceived lack of growth opportunities, increasing disinterest in one’s work and the potential for turnover. 

Managing the causes and effects of burnout in the workplace

If any one of these types of burnout is showing up in your own organization, remember that you as a leader are the first line of defense against it. Not only does this mean setting the precedent for healthy work-life balance in the office, but also by fighting this phenomenon head-on. By developing a deeper understanding of our strengths and how to tap into them, managers and employees alike can minimize the extent to which they experience burnout on a regular basis.

If you’ve been subscribed to our newsletter for some time, you know how much we emphasize leaning on strengths in order to navigate workplace challenges– and burnout is no exception. Through our premier leadership program Activate, countless managers are engaging in purposeful conversations and sharing management resources to leverage their individual strengths in the fight against burnout, first by taking stock of their own relationships to their work.

Eager to mitigate symptoms of burnout in your own professional life for the collective success of your team and organization? Schedule a strategy call with us to learn more about how Activate is engaging leaders in strengths-based development to overcome burnout for good.

To healthier, happier work.

Carrie & Team Leadology