Burnout: What is it, and how do we combat it?

The term “burnout” has been used frequently in recent years, most noticeably in 2020 when companies and the teams within them were forced to embody a remote-working model due to Covid-19. 

Although 2020 came with its own set of anxieties, we saw both internally at Orbis and externally with our clients and candidates that mental health, stress, and burnout were being spoken about more openly, which is a huge positive.

Back in April, we spoke about this on an episode of Unplugged, which is a podcast where we talk about mental health, mindset, and the topics within them such as OCD, addiction, and self-awareness. Burnout, prior to 2019, was originally put under the umbrella of exhaustion or stress, and was categorised as a state of “vital exhaustion”.

Now, burnout is considered a syndrome, with an official definition and with a set of symptoms, allowing people to get an official diagnosis. Although burnout isn’t considered a medical condition, the development of how we see and understand burnout has enabled businesses to take it more seriously. 

Burnout is an isolated incident which occurs at work, or is triggered because of work, so the recognition and discourse it has received in recent months should be acknowledged as a positive. 

It’s no secret that the environment in which you work has a huge impact on your mental state, whether this is positive or negative. Toxic work cultures and managers equal poor attrition and high stress levels, which is where burnout can start to trickle into the lifeblood of an organisation.

On our Unplugged podcast episode, we spoke with Will Allen-Mersh from Spill. Spill enables employees to book video therapy sessions via Slack, and actively encourages those who use Spill to discuss their mental health to be able to manage stress and burnout better. 

Will highlighted that burnout is a chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been successfully managed, and that employers need to understand that someone can work 20 hours a week and experience burnout, or someone can work 100 hours a week and experience burnout - it doesn’t discriminate. 

Unfortunately, there’s no set formula or number of hours worked that triggers burnout, and there are also certain individuals who will never experience burnout, whether this is due to their lifestyle, mental health, or general personality.

We discussed some great ways in which companies can start to tackle burnout - particularly if they are still embracing a remote working model.

Here are some ideas you can implement below:

Make annual leave a KPI

Low-hanging fruit is encouraging employees to take time off, regularly. Whether this is setting it as a company KPI, or regularly talking about the benefits of taking holiday, this should be the first step. 

Not only does this give employees the confidence that they won’t be made to feel guilty for taking time for themselves, but it also will undoubtedly change the manager and employee relationship to have more empathy, and understanding, thus creating a healthier working environment for all. 

Teach employees how to set boundaries

This is easy to say, but difficult to do. However, teaching employees the importance of boundary-setting will reduce workplace stress and foster stronger and more open communication. 

Whether it’s teaching employees how to say “no” without feeling guilty, or discussing how managers can effectively have open conversations with their team on their workload, there are endless ways in which boundary-setting can become an integral part of the operational side of a company. 

Allow employees to set their own goals and working practices

This can also come under boundary setting, however giving employees the opportunity to find a working style that works both for them and the goals of the organisation is crucial. 

Burnout can also be caused by a lack of interest or motivation in a job role. If you empower employees to have autonomy and enjoy what they do, then burnout is less likely to happen.

Finally, it’s important to acknowledge that burnout can still happen even if you do everything “perfectly”. However, if you can take precautions and put healthy practices and initiatives in place, you should, as a by-product, reduce the amount of burnout employees are experiencing.