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Back in the old days—you know, pre-pandemic—“burnout” was a term often tossed around to describe the condition of people who were simply tired of (or from) their jobs.
In today’s workplace, burnout is a real deal condition that’s dangerously affecting millions of people. In addition to the horrendous cost to employee engagement and productivity, burnout literally has life and death implications for the people who suffer from it. It might be said that burnout is nature’s way of telling you you’ve been going through the motions your soul has abandoned.
Many factors seem to be contributing to the problem: lack of time for focused work, work-life balance, meeting overload, workday length. Studies show that workers aren’t “quietly quitting” because they want a better mission statement, a raise, more frequent promotions, or a wider selection of free sushi in the company cafeteria. They simply want a schedule that allows for more focus, fewer meetings, reduced chaos, and an upgrade in flexibility to live the lives of well-rounded humans.
As the great philosopher Ferris Bueller opined, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
A too-easy response to burnout is to suggest self-care: just tell the sufferers to take a little time off, then get their noses back to the grindstone. But that implies that burnout is primarily about people. It’s not. It’s primarily about the workplace.
A wealth of wise counsel on the issue can be found in The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It.
Author Jennifer Moss is a workplace expert, an award-winning journalist, and a nationally syndicated radio columnist. Her well-researched book is an eye-opener for anyone who regards burnout as less than the catastrophe it’s become.
Rodger Dean Duncan: Burnout seems to creep up on some people. What are the early warning signs?
Jennifer Moss: According to researcher and MD, Dr. Marie Asberg, a typical timeline for someone who goes from experiencing symptoms of burnout to being burned out is roughly 18 to 24 months. It can take just as long to recover fully from that point when someone “hits the wall,” as she describes it.
Early warning signs look like fatigue, withdrawing and/or feeling more irritable with others, disconnecting from the mission and goals of the organization, losing a sense of effectiveness. Also, increased use of the word “I” shows that someone may be feeling isolated. Language that represents permanency like “always” and “never” can also indicate a lack of control over future outcomes.
For example, “I can’t see an end to this” or “I’m always taking on everyone else’s work” or “This is always going to be like this” or “We’re never getting out of this pandemic.”
Another early warning sign is someone adding more stimulants like caffeinated drinks to make it through the day. Or, drinking more alcohol as a way to decrease stress after work. These are some of the hidden signs we may not be relating to burnout.
Duncan: Burnout, you say, is an organizational problem, not an individual problem. Please elaborate.
Moss: In 2019, the World Health Organization identified burnout as an occupational phenomenon. It’s workplace and/or institutional stress left unmanaged. Burnout was the added to the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases.
There are six root causes of burnout:
- Overwork
- Lack of agency
- Lack of rewards and recognition
- Lack of community
- Lack of fairness
- Mismatched values and skills
As you’re probably recognizing by now, none of these root causes of burnout can be solved with self-care alone. Typical solutions in the workplace often put the responsibility on individuals to prevent burnout—meditation apps, increase physical activity, get more rest, eat better, have better boundaries. These tactics are important for improved life satisfaction and still an important component to our well-being, but they won’t help prevent chronic overwork or systemic discriminatory practices in the workplace.
Jennifer Moss
Duncan: What do you see as the most common misconceptions about burnout?
Moss: One of the most challenging misconceptions is the lack of seriousness we attach to the syndrome. One of the reasons the WHO decided to focus on burnout was in response to the outcomes of a joint study with the International Labor Organization. The research team learned that each year 750,000 people die from overwork alone. Burnout can be catastrophic.
And this is the worst-case scenario. Many people who experience burnout can suffer long-term anxiety, depression, even PTSD. Some may develop chronic illnesses and gastrointestinal disease.
There are serious consequences when we stigmatize conversations about our mental health. My research team and I looked at burnout in 2021 and found that 67% of respondents said they couldn’t talk about mental health at work. Going deeper, we learned that all of those respondents reported being “always” or “often” burned out.
Duncan: You write that one of your least favorite suggestions for reducing burnout is telling people, “Just say no.” Why?
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Moss: When we advise people to “just say no” to more work, we’re suggesting they have a choice. It is an extremely privileged place to be able to say, “Sorry boss, I’m already maxed out on my workload.” Imagine a senior white male executive repeating this phrase and then ask yourself, would a single mother who is the sole income earner for her family or a person of color who is already pushing back on deeply held societal biases expect the same response from their boss? The lack of fairness is astounding and it deeply frustrates me when I see all these books about how to set boundaries. It’s not that easy for everyone.
Duncan: Do some personality types seems more at risk for burnout? If so, which ones?
Moss: There are most certainly personalities that are more at risk for burnout. This is why I say burnout will be prevented only if we attack the issue from all sides. We need everyone at every level participating. And we as individuals also a play a role.
Personalities at most risk are perfectionists. We see this personality type in high-stress fields like medicine, particularly among physicians. Anyone who is highly defined by their role. With physicians it can also be life or death decisions, so mistakes are not an option for them. If one happens, they can see this as catastrophic. They can start to believe that they should never have been a doctor in the first place. It’s an all or nothing personality trait that helps them be highly successful. But it can place them at extreme risk of burnout.
People in career roles are at risk. Empathy and passion fatigue are hard felt by nurses, teachers, people working in non-profits. When your work directly impacts a stakeholder—particularly a vulnerable one like a child or a patient—it can be difficult to turn off. People in these roles tend to find it difficult to turn off both emotionally and physically from work.
Duncan: What are some best practices of organizations whose employees show markedly lower-than-typical incidence of burnout?
Moss: Organizations that promote empathy and vulnerability fared much better during the pandemic and throughout the so-called Great Resignation. In the Microsoft Worktrends Report, it was learned that the reasons 41% of employees wanted to quit their job were unmanageable workloads and lack of empathy from their employers.
Several companies I spoke to had taken the approach that, “We are in a paradigm shifting moment. It’s not time to be married to old ways of working.” They were able to pivot quickly by responding effectively to employee needs.
Hewlett Packard, for example, had their C-level executives sit in daily, hour-long “ask-me-anything” conversations with their entire global workforce. They repeated this for months, sometimes getting into these discussions eight times in one week.
Some leaders realized people were overworking and exhausted. They didn’t just give them Friday’s off, they ensured that workload could handle a Friday off so staff weren’t working on weekends.
Other companies rethought the idea of a city-based headquarter and instead created multiple offices in different boroughs so people could bike or walk to work instead. It may not be with their team, but it was still creating an atmosphere of collaboration. They could choose when they showed up and when they didn’t. It replaced a one- to two-hour commute for most of the staff.
In the height of the pandemic, one company realized that many of their staff—all hourly workers—were living paycheck to paycheck and dealing with partners losing their jobs. Something could come up in their lives and it could mean a choice between paying rent or eating that week. They increased their pay and also onboarded a new way for employees to access paychecks in between pay periods for those who needed emergency funds.
These are just a few examples. It all came down to listening and actioning—a tenet of empathetic leadership.
Duncan: What role does emotional intelligence play in a leader’s ability to help people avoid burnout?
Moss: I’ve researched the neuroscience of happy, healthy and high-performing people and it translates perfectly across organizational behavior. When we have high levels of collective EI, every success measure is exceeded. From sales goals to retention, productivity, engagement—and the list goes on.
Inspiration is a buffer for burnout. If we don’t have emotional intelligence, it’s difficult to inspire teams. Optimistic leaders are more likely to encourage their team to buy into their plans, and empathetic leaders ensure psychological safety—another prophylaxis to burnout.
Hope is a key EI trait. According to hope theory, it’s all about making plans and setting goals, but ensuring there are back-up plans in case Plan A doesn’t work out. A sense of efficacy and hopefulness are major contributors to our well-being and when they are lacking, it can be one of the biggest predictors for burnout.
Duncan: You cite “lack of fairness” as a common root cause of burnout. While many organizations are quick to jump on the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) bandwagon, a lot of people say such well-intentioned efforts foster a victim/oppressor mentality that actually worsens workplace stress. What’s your view?
Moss: This is a big question with a lot of complexity. But I am in agreement that good intentions can go horribly wrong when we don’t actively listen. We need to use the golden rule 2.0. Don’t do unto others as you would have done unto do. Do unto others as they would have done unto themselves. My background and history and socio-economic experiences all give me a way of filtering ideas and solutions. Some of that is helpful, but it doesn’t always translate across all groups.
We have to get better at sitting in the world in which others sit. Before implementing new policies—especially in the DEI space—become an anthropologist. Learn by listening and through exposure and asking questions and be aware of the non-verbal cues that most of us miss.
For example, I write about the “egg-freezing” perk some tech companies have started to offer. To me this is just so utterly offensive and one of those good intentions that utterly misses the mark.
Duncan: What lessons has the Covid pandemic taught us about adjustments we can make to lower the risk of burnout?
Moss: The pandemic brought us a sense of mortality. We were collectively existing on Maslow’s first rung for days and months. Staying safe. Surviving the day. Keeping our families safe. It was all about basic needs being met. Which has dramatically changed us in profound ways.
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As a result, we’ve decided to reshape our lives around life and not entirely around work. Some have responded by resigning or quiet quitting (too much controversy). But I see these actions as more of a revolution. Employers pushed too hard for too long. Now employees are pushing back. It’s a direct result of a workforce that has reached its capacity. They are burned out.
So, I see all of these swings as a natural evolution where the pendulum will eventually right itself. I’m naively hopeful that perhaps we can get to a place where both sides win.
Duncan: According to one study you cite, Americans leave 700 million vacation days on the table each year. What implications do you take from that startling figure?
Moss: We need to take our vacations days! It’s important to get space from work. But, more importantly, we need to be allowed to take vacation days without repercussions or vacation debt. One study found that one week of vacation requires 14 days total to prep and recover after we get back. Taking time off should be made simpler or no one will actually get the time off they need. Particularly because studies show that people who take their vacations days are more productive, engaged and are more likely to be loyal.
Duncan: When people suspect they are at risk of burnout, what honest questions should they ask themselves, and then what simple adjustments can they make to lower their risk?
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Moss: We need to first decode how far down the pathway to burnout we really are. Use this simple measure to self-assess. How frequently per week do I feel exhausted? How often is it difficult to get up in the morning and start my day? Have I stopped engaging in activities outside work that make me happy? Do I feel cynical about work and do I believe that attitude will change? Do I feel effective in my job or that I am adding value?
If the answers to these questions skew negative and these feelings are experienced two or three times per week, you are at high risk of burnout.
If you feel comfortable talking to your boss, start there. But if not, check your employee assistance rep and see what kind of support you can find there. Often there are some mental health benefits you can access. If you still don’t feel comfortable relying on workplace supports, try accessing a mental health professional. We need to remember that burnout can have serious consequences. It’s important to elevate the need for outside help.
