Your best workers will burnout

The concept of burnout has been around for decades, longer probably. One of the biggest difficulties with the concept of burnout for sum is that they believe it is a fad or random, an issue of psychobabble. 

 In 1981, Robert Veninga and James Spradley defined five stages that lead from a stressful job to a burnt-out case. Many have researched these stages and over time they have evolved.

1.   The Honeymoon—intense enthusiasm and job satisfaction that, for all but a few dynamos, eventually give way to a time when valuable energy reserves begin to drain off.

2.   Fuel Shortage—fatigue, sleep disturbances, possibly some escapist drinking or shopping binges and other early-warning signals.

3.   Chronic Symptoms—exhaustion, physical illness, acute anger, and depression.

4.   Crisis—illness that may become incapacitating, deep pessimism, self-doubt, obsession with one's own problems.

5.   Hitting the Wall—career and even life threatened

Burnout runs through every profession like a flu. I’ve seen it in teachers, in nurses, in support workers, in cleaners, no-one is immune. Social workers burnout, dentist’s burnout, police officer’s burnout. Executives, students, and parent’s burnout. Even the best workers – especially your best workers will burnout.

Burnout has negative effects on job performance, customer care and well-being. Studies identified personality traits that may contribute to being susceptible to burnout; competitiveness, excessively driven, high-performing, low hardiness, perfectionism, neuroticism, and low self-esteem.

Despite interventions, sometimes burnout may simply be inevitable. Burnout is common, inclusive of chronic exhaustion and negative attitudes towards work and self, affecting a significant number of people at any stage of their career.

While burnout manifests in individuals, it is fundamentally a response to organisational culture and work life balance. Understanding the symptoms is not simple, however, organisation-directed interventions have demonstrated greater effectiveness than self-based interventions in reducing burnout.  In other words, look out and after your people. Recognition of, and willingness to address, these stressors will allow individuals to prevent or alleviate burnout.

#theburnoutofalmosteveryone #lancemorrow #treatingburnoutbyaddressingitscauses #michaelgoodman #micheleberlinerblau