What is Burnout?
Talmetrix relies on The World Health Organization’s definition of burnout: “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
Burnout has become an epidemic that continues to rise. So much so that in 2022, Google searches for the phrases “burnout” and “burnout symptoms” hit an all-time high (Harvard Business Review, 2022).
How can I tell if employees may be experiencing burnout?
According to the World Health Organization, signs of burnout at work include employees feeling:
- depleted or exhausted
- mentally distant from their job or negative feelings or cynicism about their job
- reduced professional efficacy
Work burnout diminishes employees’ desires to learn and grow and has profound impacts on employee retention and engagement. When employees are experiencing these burnout symptoms at work, they’re also 5 times more likely to miss work (Gallup, 2023) with impacts on performance and productivity.
What causes Burnout?
Employee burnout is complex, but rooted in the pace and challenges of today’s work environment. Navigating the world of work post-COVID across hybrid work environments has left employees exhausted. At work, many employees feel overwhelmed by competing demands and conflicting expectations from the pace of change needed for organizations to remain competitive in today’s climate. And technology — especially mobile technology — has blurred the lines between home life and work life, with significant impacts on work-life balance.
Based data collected from our 2022 wellbeingX™ research study, Talmetrix has created a Burnout Index rooted in items that are correlated to burnout at work. The following factors correlate most highly with employee burnout:
- Inadequate Work Life Balance
In our research, we found that employees with a healthy work life balance were more likely to stay with an organization. When work and life are unbalanced, employees often feel like they are failing at work and at home leading to increased stress and decreased energy. The stress of this misalignment is compounded for working parents. - Decreased Energy & Resilience
With work-life boundaries blurred, it’s not surprising that employees are experiencing lower levels of energy and resilience. Employees who stated that they are worn out at the end of the work day are more likely to experience burnout (Talmetrix, 2022). - Unmanageable workload and inadequate staffing levels
Employees who strongly agree that they always have too much to do are 2.2 times more likely to say they experience burnout very often or always at work (Gallup, 2022). High levels of vacancies alongside redistributed workloads for extended periods of time are leaving employees feeling burnt out. Even high-performing employees can quickly shift from optimistic to hopeless when they’re struggling with unmanageable performance goals and expectations due to a lack of workload management. - Reduced autonomy
Having autonomy and a say in decisions that impact daily work is critical in employee wellbeing. Employees who felt they had autonomy at work were two times less likely to experience burnout (Talmetrix, 2022). - Lack of manager support
Manager support is core to preventing burnout. Manager support provides a psychological buffer, so employees know that their manager has their back — even when challenges arise or something goes wrong. Our research found that employees with supportive managers who take time to listen to employee needs and are knowledgeable in positive mental health practices are less likely to experience burnout. - Lack of resources and support
When employees are experiencing burnout, connection to inclusive wellbeing resources is key. The challenge is that traditional employee assistance programs often fall flat in meeting the holistic wellbeing needs of employees. Research shows that employee utilization of employer wellbeing benefits is less than an 27% on average, while more than 78% of organizations on average are offering these benefits (Gartner, 2021). This gap is furthering employee burnout cycles, as employees experience burnout, lack resources and support to navigate burnout, and continue in the burnout cycle.
What can I do to reduce burnout in my organization?
A solid measurement strategy is critical in identifying the indicators of burnout. My creating a measurement strategy that puts employee feedback in the center, organizations are empowered to make decisions that align to employee wellbeing needs. wellbeingX™ Solutions enable your organization to listen to what matters to employees, understand burnout and mental health climates at work, and create strategic action plans rooted in employee feedback. Keeping two-way methods of communication open and creating safe spaces for employees to share feedback can move your organization forward in action. What’s most important in any measurement strategy is action and follow-up. Sharing what employees said, how that information will be used to create change, and the positive impacts of that change is key.
Thank you for reading our article! If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how Talmetrix solutions can benefit your organization, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Our team would be happy to discuss your needs and how we can help.
