Research suggests there are five phases of burnout which staff experience.

Honeymoon stage. I Love my Job and nothing can phase me!

Stress onset. I Love my Job but a few things that happen get me down.

Chronic stress. Work is tough, there is so much pressure and everything feels a slog, if nothing changes, I am going to break!

Burnout. I am broken, I cannot function properly everything is overwhelming, and I keep making mistakes which add to my stress.

Habitual or chronic burnout. Exhaustion and Burnout is just the norm, my home life and my work life are all affected.

If we want to avoid it the first thing, we need to do is look at the cause.

The main causes are:

  • Unfair treatment at work.
  • Demanding work schedules and workload.
  • Toxic work environment.
  • Bad management.
  • Unfair compensation.

The problem is that burnout will masquerade as poor performance some of these symptoms include.

  • Physical exhaustion
  • Emotional exhaustion and feelings of being overwhelmed.
  • Issues with concentration, focus, and productivity
  • Lack of engagement with work
  • Reduced feelings of competence and/or accomplishment
  • Resentment, cynicism, and/or apathy towards work

As a result, often business owners we will react and manage the situation in the wrong way and unsurprisingly the classic response as business owners to this type of behaviour would probably be disciplinaries and reprimands or even eventual termination of employment. The problem is by doing this we are being more than a little inhuman and insensitive and we are potentially losing a very good member of staff who only needs a little help and support.

The good news is Burnout is quite easy to avoid in the first place and mange if it does occur.

Use these six simple steps and you will have happy, committed, and enthusiastic Staff:

Encourage a healthy work-life balance. Burnout is often a result of overwork.

Take tasks off your team’s plate. If your employees feel like they have too much work to complete during the workday, they are going to take work home with them and get stressed.

Offer competitive compensation and benefits. Good people work for good companies, good companies pay a fair wage, a good employee is worth the money, the sooner you learn this the sooner your business will grow.

Schedule regular check-ins. A proper appraisal and supervision plan is essential.

Launch a wellness initiative. Give your staff access to support.

Intervene before burnout happens. Keep your eyes out for the signs of burnout—

Remember A happy team is a productive and profitable one, a burnout one is a one way trip to a burnt out business owner!

 

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