What is burnout? What causes it? How does burnout impact on how your company performs? How do you create a working environment that protects staff from burnout?
The pandemic and economic crisis: a breeding ground for burnout in companies
The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on employees' mental health: 44% of employees are thought to be struggling with serious psychological distress, with two million people suffering from severe burnout, according to an Opinion Way survey conducted in May 2021. That's twice as many as before the crisis.
Leaders and managers are often ill-equipped to tackle the issue. How do you go about reining in the number of employees handing in their notice or taking sick leave?
The cost of burnout to companies
€14,580/year/employee was how much staff disengagement actually cost in 2019 according to the consultancy firm APICIL. Back then, issues related to health in the workplace in France amounted to 62 billion Euros. According to the WHO, 35 to 45% of absenteeism is down to mental health troubles, with occupational stress emerging as the primary cause of employees being unfit for work. How do those figures stack up today?
The human factor is now central to how companies perform, which is why we believe that building a protective, nurturing working environment that fosters staff fulfillment is key to securing lasting performance across the board.
Burnout at work: a syndrome triggered by chronic occupational stress
According to VIDAL burnout or occupational exhaustion is a "feeling of intense fatigue, loss of control, and inability to achieve tangible results at work".
This is a "psychological, emotional and physiological state caused by a build-up of various stress factors," explains Christina Maslach, a pioneer in the field of burnout research.
Burnout is therefore caused by stress at work that accumulates and becomes chronic. The process takes root over several months and often over several years, and results in an individual's resources becoming completely depleted.
This exhaustion is first and foremost physiological, as chronic stress throws hormones off balance, triggering a series of biological, psychological and emotional upheavals.
Spotting the tell-tale signs of exhaustion in employees
Often, when an employee "burns out", it comes as a surprise. Nobody ever saw it coming. One of the reasons for this is that denial is symptomatic of burnout. Exhausted employees can't see that they've fallen into burnout's vicious cycle. They do the best they can to make up for the cracks that begin to show. Very often, their colleagues don't suspect a thing.
Yet the symptoms of chronic stress are visible well before an employee gets signed off. Spotting them ahead of time means you can take action without delay. This is why prevention primarily aims to raise employee awareness of burnout and train managers in identifying the signs of exhaustion.
The physiological symptoms of burnout
The physiological symptoms of burnout vary wildly. The hormonal disruption at play here impacts all biological mechanisms. Taken one by one they don't amount to burnout, but an accumulation of unusual symptoms serves as a warning sign.
Chronically tired
Migraines
Aching joints, back pain
Heart complaints
Visual disturbance
Hormonal problems, hair loss
The behavioural symptoms of burnout
Isolation
Irritability
Loss of empathy or sense of humour
Stress, fatigue, anxiety
Trouble concentrating, issues with memory
Withdrawing from social life (coffee breaks, evenings out with friends)
Increased intake of stimulants: coffee, vitamins, alcohol, drugs
Signs of work-related burnout
It can be tricky to spot these signs as an employer. An increase in absenteeism or presenteeism can be a red flag: number of short sick days taken, longer sick leave, an unusual increase in reduced working time requested or home-working days taken. Colleagues and managers might notice signs of fatigue, repeated mistakes, a drop in efficiency or signs of irritability and isolation.
Taking action against the root causes of work-related burnout
One of the reasons why companies fail to get to grips with burnout is the widespread belief that it's an individual's problem, and that the solutions are therefore linked to the individual, too. But as the ANACT says, "as with all occupational stress, the root causes need to be examined as a whole within the organisation, environment and working relationships".
Christina Maslach identified six factors that result in working environments where burnout is likely: work overload, lack of control, lack of recognition, lack of support, loss of confidence, and conflicting values.
By examining these causes, companies can shape protective working environments for their employees. And by training and supporting managers, concrete action can be taken on sources of stress that trigger exhaustion and decreased performance among employees.
Flow as a sustainable, lasting investment in the workplace
A common misconception is that too much investment at work causes burnout. We believe misaligned over-investment is more to blame here: the feeling of giving a lot while getting nothing in return is exhausting. As a result, a breakdown in values is very often the catalyst that transforms exhaustion into burnout.
Harnessing Flow as a way for companies to boost performance and prevent burnout
Flow is a frame of mind that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi defines as the right emotional and psychological state in which an individual can fully concentrate on a task. Flow can be used as an indicator of well-being and performance in the workplace. A lack of flow points to a risk of occupational exhaustion.
Conclusion
How is your company faring with respect to the risk of burnout? Have you spotted any red flags? What would you like to kick-start to create a protective working environment? What do you think of Flow as a way of lastingly preventing burnout?
