It’s Monday morning, and Jane isn’t feeling it. She dragged herself through last week, and this week doesn’t look to be more promising. She’s a high performer, and she’s often in the epicenter of where big things happen. As such, her boss tasks her with jobs that mediocre performers can’t seem to complete.
Jane has yet to take a vacation, and she works later than most to get things done. She’s miserable and burning out, and her organization is about to lose her.
Burnout prevalence
Jane isn’t alone. Large and small businesses recognize a problem, and numerous studies show that burnout is a crisis. A study by Deloitte found that 77% of workers have experienced burnout at their current job, and the top driver of burnout is a lack of support and recognition from leadership. Helping professions like healthcare, teaching, and social work have higher burnout rates, with recent studies in healthcare showing that 46% of healthcare workers reported feeling burnout.
According to Christina Maslach, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, true burnout affects approximately 10-15% of workers. “Over half of employees are likely negative in one or two dimensions — not burned out, but perhaps on the pathway there.”
Burnout is costing your organization
Burnout isn’t just an individual problem. It’s silently draining your organization’s potential. The costs of burnout to your most important resource includes:
- Decreased productivity
- Increased absenteeism
- Higher turnover rates
Estimates suggest that workplace stress and burnout cost U.S. companies upwards of $300 billion annually in lost productivity.
But the impact goes beyond mere numbers. Burnout erodes team morale, stifles innovation, and can tarnish your company’s reputation, making it harder to attract top talent.
What causes burnout
Various factors can cause burnout, including:
- Excessive workload
- Lack of control over work
- Insufficient rewards or recognition
- Poor work-life balance
- Unclear job expectations
- Unfair treatment or lack of equity
- Poor workplace communication
- Lack of social support
- Values mismatch between employee and organization
- Inadequate resources to complete tasks
- High-pressure work environment
- Monotonous or unchallenging work
- Lack of career development opportunities
- Micromanagement
- Job insecurity
- Toxic workplace culture
- Inefficient processes or bureaucracy
- Constant changes or restructuring
- Lack of autonomy
- Inadequate breaks or time off
How microstressors affect burnout
In addition to large-scale factors, microstressors can be even more insidious. Microstressors are the minor, daily irritants that we often overlook or dismiss. We can often feel like they’re something everyone has to deal with, so we dismiss their impact. These can include:
- Constant notifications from our devices
- Minor conflicts with colleagues or family members
- Ongoing low-level worry about finances or health
- The pressure of a perpetually full inbox
- Chronic sleep deprivation
While each of these may seem insignificant on its own, their cumulative effect can create burnout. Unlike major life events that trigger our coping mechanisms, microstressors often fly under the radar, slowly eroding our resilience and energy reserves.
Imagine a bucket slowly filling with water droplets. Each droplet represents a microstressor. Over time, the bucket overflows – this is burnout. Major life events are like suddenly dumping a large amount of water into the bucket, which we notice immediately. Microstressors accumulate gradually, often escaping our attention until an employee is burned out to a crisp.
How to detect employee burnout
Managers can detect employee burnout by looking for several vital signs and changes in behavior. It might be as easy as an employee directly mentioning feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or unable to cope.
However, employees who are burning out are often less likely to mention that they’re having issues coping. Astute managers must look to employee behavior for signs.
Here are some ways a manager can identify potential burnout:
Decreased productivity
- Missed deadlines
- Lower quality of work
- Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
Changes in attitude
- Increased cynicism or negativity
- Lack of enthusiasm for projects they once enjoyed
- Withdrawal from team activities or communication
Physical signs
- Frequent illnesses or health complaints
- Visible fatigue or exhaustion
- Changes in appearance or personal care
Behavioral changes
- Increased absenteeism or tardiness
- Irritability or short temper with colleagues
- Procrastination or avoidance of responsibilities
Emotional indicators
- Expressions of feeling overwhelmed or hopeless
- Increased sensitivity to feedback
- Lack of motivation or sense of accomplishment
Work-life balance issues
- Working longer hours without increased productivity
- Difficulty disconnecting from work during off-hours
- Neglecting personal life or hobbies
Communication patterns
- Reduced engagement in meetings or discussions
- Decreased responsiveness to emails or messages
- Reluctance to take on new projects or responsibilities
Performance inconsistency
- Fluctuations in work quality or output
- Difficulty maintaining previous standards
Increased conflicts
- More frequent disagreements with colleagues
- Difficulty collaborating or working in teams
Overcoming root causes of burnout
As leaders, it’s often impossible to fully address all of the causes of burnout for our people, but we can coach them to better manage stressors, develop more effective boundaries, and create healthier environments that allow our people to find fulfillment in their careers.
At the core, we must help people find out what truly motivates them, who they are, and help them navigate stressors that lead to burnout.
We rarely get burned out doing something we love that ticks all of the boxes of our Motivational Dimensions. When we’re in the zone, we find our greatness. But that greatness must be cultivated and coached, encouraged, and embraced.
As leaders, it’s critical to know our people so we can more effectively guide them towards our organizational vision while diminishing the factors that lead to burnout.
Living in authenticity
The key to avoiding burnout is living in authenticity. When people know who they are at their core, they more easily find the alignment zone to their true core intrinsic motivation. This means:
- Identifying your core motivations and ensuring your daily activities reflect them
- Recognizing and honoring your natural rhythms and energy patterns
- Setting boundaries that protect mental and emotional well-being
- Regularly engaging in activities that genuinely rejuvenate and empower
When we live authentically, we are better equipped to handle microstressors because our actions are intrinsically motivated rather than driven by external pressures.
Understanding our motivations
Motivation is critical to maintaining resilience against stress and preventing burnout. However, not all motivation is created equal. To sustain long-term well-being and productivity, we must understand what truly motivates us.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within – the personal satisfaction or enjoyment of an activity. Extrinsic motivation relies on external rewards or pressures.
While both types of motivation can be effective, intrinsic motivation is more sustainable and more likely to fulfill us when we’re within our Motivational Dimensions. When we’re intrinsically motivated, we’re more likely to find meaning and fulfillment in tasks, making us more resilient to microstressors.
Conduct a microstressor audit
Keep a journal for a week, noting all the minor annoyances and pressures encountered. We cannot remove microstressors from our environment if we’re not aware of them. And unfortunately, microstressors require more self awareness in order to identify them.
Align activities with motivations
Regularly assess whether daily tasks and long-term goals align with what truly motivates you. If you or one of your employees’ roles is centered outside of their Motivational Dimensions, find ways to align their duties to their motivations.
For example, you have a Relator on your team. They’re great, always on top of what’s happening for team members, and solving interpersonal issues quickly. They are less fulfilled doing project management activities, but this is an expected part of their role. Moving those activities to another person who is more motivated by those activities such as an Orchestrator will give the Relator more bandwidth to ensure the people part of projects are moving smoothly.
Build in recovery time
Schedule regular breaks and activities that genuinely recharge your people. Everyone gets recharged differently, so ensure that people have the freedom and flexibility to recharge in ways that help them most.
Encourage mindfulness
Mindfulness doesn’t have to mean meditation, though quieting distracting thoughts can certainly help. Mindfulness can also mean being present with a task, even at work.
Mindfulness can also help raise awareness of microstressors and other factors leading to burnout. When we’re aware of factors that stress us more quickly, we tend to solve those problems before detrimental effects.
Frequent check-ins
We all get busy. Check in with your people to ensure they’re focused, happy, fulfilled, and motivated. Ask questions to help them identify stressors that may be draining their energy and leading to burnout.
Stay motivated and avoid burnout
By addressing the root causes of burnout—particularly the often-overlooked micro stressors—and aligning both home and work life with our authentic selves, we can create a more sustainable, fulfilling, and resilient life. Remember, it’s not just about avoiding burnout; it’s about thriving in a way that’s true to who we are.
If you’re looking to realign your organization to prevent burnout, Motivation Code can help. Reach out to our team to learn more.
