Is Your Workforce Burned Out? How You Can Prevent It

In 2015, the French National Assembly began debating whether to add “burnout”—characterized by workers who feel exhausted, discouraged, and disinterested in work—to its list of occupational diseases as a compensable occupational condition. On February 15, 2017, the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs issued its (ahem) exhaustive report on the subject.

The Committee ultimately declined to include the condition in its list of compensable work-related diseases, noting that no European nation currently recognizes “burnout” as an occupational disease (many European nations do not recognize any psychological condition as occupational diseases), nor is it included in the International Classification of Diseases defined by the World Health Organization. But, even if a clinical diagnosis doesn’t exist yet, burnout could be costing you—burned-out workers are likely to be less productive, and may contribute to poor morale and high turnover in the workplace.

What is Burnout?

In its report, the Committee noted that one of the problems with classifying “burnout” as an occupational disease is that it has no “convincing, incontestable and truly operative” definition. The primary identifying characteristic that distinguishes burnout from other manifestations of stress is that it manifests primarily in relation to the individual’s job, rather than in all areas of his or her life.

Specific symptoms associated with burnout include:

• Psychological symptoms: Depression, anxiety, and apathy are all characteristic of burnout—as are mood swings encompassing all of these.
• Physical symptoms: Sufferers report fatigue, back pain, headache, nausea, dizziness, excessive weight loss and sleep disturbances. Weakened immune systems are also common; burned-out workers are more susceptible to communicable diseases, and they may be more likely to develop chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
• Cognitive symptoms: Burned-out workers find it difficult to do their jobs, and their job performance will probably suffer. They tend to feel ineffective at work, and they lack a sense of accomplishment.
• Behavioral symptoms: Burned-out workers may develop unhealthy behaviors and dependence on alcohol or drugs. Together with disturbed sleep, these behaviors can contribute to the physical symptoms and medical conditions associated with burnout.

In addition, the report noted that burnout can occur in workers in any industry—but incidence, inasmuch as it could be determined, did seem to be higher in people who worked with the public. The Mayo Clinic further notes that individuals who work in “caring professions”—health care, teaching, and counseling—are at increased risk.

Preventing Burnout

Workers are more likely to develop burnout when they are overcommitted to work or when they feel that their jobs are monotonous, unrewarding, and wholly out of their control. You can help prevent burnout by:

• Encouraging work/life balance. Workers who compulsively put in long hours and who are more emotionally invested in their jobs than any other area of their lives, are at increased risk of burnout. If something changes in their job or their physical condition, they may lack coping skills. Encouraging workers to develop a balance between work and life, by taking their vacation days, learning to better manage their workload, and other strategies, will help prevent burnout.
• Enhancing stress management skills. Burnout is a manifestation of excessive stress, so stress-management strategies and techniques can help to prevent or heal it. Encourage workers to eat a healthier diet, get enough sleep, get some exercise, and take regular work breaks.
• Paying attention to the organization of work. “Organization of work” encompasses both management and production practices and the way that jobs are designed and performed. Some management practices, like mandatory overtime or inflexible scheduling, contribute to employee stress. Likewise, some job design factors create a greater risk of burnout—workers on an assembly line will probably experience lower levels of job satisfaction than work teams who see a project through from start to finish.

A burned-out worker isn’t good for your company. Taking a few steps to help workers manage stress and achieve a sense of satisfaction in their work can be good for them and you.