Burnout rose to the height of conversation this year when COVID-19 struck, and unexpectedly, people from all walks of life began working from home, losing their job, or shutting down their business. Working from home with kids around and the risk of becoming sick only added to the workplace stress. Suddenly, everyone began talking about burnout, but few knew what to do about it.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as “A syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” 1

Burnout “is characterized by three dimensions: 

• feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; 

• increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; 

• and reduced professional efficacy.” 2

While burnout begins at work, it affects every area of one’s life.

Physically - Mentally - Emotionally - Spiritually - Socially - Financially - Professionally

Read about the Symptoms of Burnout here.

3 Factors That Led To Burnout In 2020

1. Work From Home (WFH) and job loss made people feel out of control.

“Job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury.” 3

“Stress occurs in a wide range of work circumstances but is often made worse when employees feel they have little support from supervisors and colleagues, as well as little control over work processes.” 4

Stress escalated enormously when people started working remotely. Although they continued working, they needed to learn new technologies such as Zoom for video conferencing. Employees engaged with unfamiliar platforms like Slack and others to keep in touch with their team and develop new communication skills.

Managers suffered when pressure from upper management demanded continued deliverables, and those they managed required greater supervision and encouragement. They became sandwiched between high demands and felt the brunt of it.

The stress of being jobless, layoffs, unemployment, and income reduction can make anyone feel out of control.

2. Work-life balance became harder to maintain.

According to the American Institute of Stress: 5

• “The severity of job stress depends on the magnitude of the demands that are being made and the individual’s sense of control or decision-making latitude he or she has in dealing with them.”

• “Scientific studies based on this model confirm that workers who perceive they are subjected to high demands but have little control are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.”

• “The severity of job stress depends on the magnitude of the demands that are being made and the individual’s sense of control or decision-making latitude he or she has in dealing with them.”

When workers stayed home to work, the expectation of being available escalated. Phone calls, text messages, and emails arrived round the clock. Many employees felt the pressure to respond right away or be considered less than a team player. Or worse, they feared ascending to the front of the layoff line. Crossing boundaries became the norm.

The role of screen technology has been top of mind for many years. Friends of mine regularly commented that when the pandemic started, they were expected to answer texts immediately and be available for video conferencing outside of regular working hours like never before. There was a sense that “Big Brother” knew everyone was at home, and therefore, should be available. The lack of boundaries this invasion created bore the fruit of exhaustion, a lack of autonomy, and work-from-home burnout gained a threshold.

On the topic of boundaries, most people typically keep some semblance of boundaries between their personal and professional lives. Using similar online platforms for meetings at work and conversations with loved ones created an inevitable dissonance unknown before the pandemic. Likewise, using the same physical space for completing work tasks and relaxing emphasized the need for clear boundaries to allow our minds to rest.

According to an article on BBC, “Most of our social roles happen in different places, but now the context has collapsed.” 6

Savvy companies have instituted policies around screen-time and accessibility after working hours.

3. Lack of autonomy became a considerable risk factor.

According to a report on Harvard Business Review, “Feeling like you lack autonomy, access to resources, and a say in decisions that impact your professional life can take a toll on your well-being.” 7

Autonomy means feeling a sense of self-governance and having power over one’s state of affairs. The COVID-19 crisis decreased independence for most people in one or more of the following ways:

• People experienced a lack of personal autonomy due to necessary regulations regarding social and physical distancing, the wearing of personal protective equipment, and access to personal relationships.

• A lack of professional independence resulted from decreased freedom over the way employees worked, the projects they encountered, and the platforms used to do that work.

• Likewise, when front-line workers got called into action at any time of the day or night, little independence. 

• And as already reviewed above:

  • Workplaces advised employees to work from home. 

  • Work entered the personal domain of many people.

Together, these three factors, as well as many to be discussed in future articles, created an environment ripe for burnout.

5 Strategies To Prevent And Recover From Burnout

1. Personal Development

Commit to implementing personal habits to restore balance and support wellness. 

• Physical Fitness - Building your physical strength is powerful and health-boosting. It’s life-affirming, good for your health, and feeling more physically well makes you feel more empowered.

• Continuous learning - Invest in knowledge acquisition by hiring a coach, joining a mastermind, or making use of your local library. Educate yourself with non-fiction books. Develop your self-confidence, skills, healthy habits, and business acumen, to name a few of the incredible topics just ready for your exploration.

• Mindfulness - The human mind continually desires to fix things in order to stay safe, and does so by flooding your brain with memories and future projections. Neither is helpful in most cases. Being present at the current moment while not thinking ahead or getting stuck in the past can decrease stress dramatically. Your brain has a difficult time determining the difference between memory, imagination, and current reality. When you think of a stressful or sad experience or become worried about what may happen, your body can go into fight or flight mode, assuming you are unsafe. Instead, being present grounds you in what is happening and can bring a deep sense of calm.

2. Professional Development

Invest in professional development for your entire team.

• Virtual Workshops - Hire a burnout prevention specialist to design and deliver a workshop based on your organization’s unique needs. Webinars and masterminds offer creative ways to engage in team-building even while COVID-19 restrictions remain. In-person seminars provide a great alternative once restrictions lift.

• Virtual Retreats - Create a retreat for employees to explore the factors producing pressure, including the three factors listed above in this article. Establish breakout rooms for small-group discussions, foster crucial conversations, and allow personal reflection time away from screens.

• Communicate - Regular and consistent communication with managers and employees fosters trust, and trust is the backbone of any healthy relationship. Create ongoing dialogues among leaders, as well as within working relationships.

3. Executive Coaching

Engage in high-level coaching with a burnout prevention strategist.

• Individual Coaching - Gain powerful insights into what causes you stress, stress management techniques, and communicating with your coworkers. Pursue your highest potential by identifying strengths and weaknesses and creating structured goals to become the best version of yourself while living a satisfying life.

• Team Coaching - Align strategic goals with personal values for transformational breakthroughs. Maximize group wisdom to overcome obstacles by infusing collective knowledge and intuition into target benchmarks.

4. Management Training

Dedicate resources toward growth and strategic alignment.

• Leadership Development - One of the greatest threats to organizational health is lack of leadership and ownership. Devise strategic goals for yourself. Development must encompass every leader in an organization with measurable accountability.

• Supervisor Training - A second major stumbling block that leads toward workplace burnout is a lack of equipping for managers and supervisors. Training managers to effectively have crucial conversations with employees is vital to a healthy work environment. Knowing the right questions to ask and establishing trust within relationships produces the kind of situation where every employee can flourish.

5. Workplace Culture

Empower transformation from the top down.

• Align Culture With Strategy - Every leader knows that culture starts at the top. Personal and professional mission statements often remain in the realm of philosophy, while the daily grind informs actual targets. Invest in a burnout prevention strategist to evaluate current culture and formulate actionable plans for a culture transformation.

By employing the recommendations listed above, both individuals & organizations thrive.

Moving from a burnout culture toward a culture of well-being generates lasting results, including:

• Increased performance and productivity.

• Increased joy and satisfaction at work.

• Increased morale and a sense of purpose.

• Increased commitment and employee engagement.

• Increased vision, innovation, and passion.

By implementing the five strategies, burnout can become a thing of the past, where both individuals and organizations thrive.

About the Author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout. Get your free Burnout Assessment today.

References

1. Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon": International Classification of Diseases. (2019, May 28). Retrieved June 22, 2020, from https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/

2. Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon": International Classification of Diseases. (2019, May 28). Retrieved June 22, 2020, from https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/

3. CDC - NIOSH Publications and Products - STRESS...At Work (99-101). (2014, June 06). Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/99-101/

4. Stress at the workplace. (2010, December 08). Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/stressatwp/en/

5. Workplace Stress. (2020, June 22). Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.stress.org/workplace-stress/ 

6. Jiang, M. (2020, April 22). The reason Zoom calls drain your energy. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200421-why-zoom-video-chats-are-so-exhausting 

7. Saunders, E. (2019, September 04). 6 Causes of Burnout, and How to Avoid Them. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://hbr.org/2019/07/6-causes-of-burnout-and-how-to-avoid-them