Burnout prevention

1. Understand what burnout is, and what causes it

Back in 2019, the World Health Organization included burnout for the first time in its 'International Classification of Diseases', citing it as an 'occupational phenomenon'. While certainly ground-breaking, for employers and managers it is not actually that helpful as a definition. This is because burnout is not a single medical or mental health condition, and as explained below, it can manifest itself in a range of physical and mental symptoms.

Perhaps the best way to think of burnout is as a resilience 'bucket'. Most of us carry everyday stresses deadlines, meetings, finances or family commitments but usually manage them.

Burnout happens when that bucket overflows and people feel less able to cope.

Burnout is, at its heart, a state of physical, mental or emotional exhaustion, and can build up gradually over time. It is often related to workplace stressors - the impact of deadlines, long hours, intense demands, uncertainty (such as change or redundancy) or inter-personal conflicts.

Stress and burnout overlap, but burnout is typically the result of prolonged, unmanaged stress over time.

2. Understand what to look for

Burnout can show itself through a range of physical, emotional and behavioural changes. Bear in mind, however, these can also be signs of other health issues. What they have in common is they show someone may be struggling, whether because of work or factors beyond work (and see point three).

The Mental Health Foundation identifies a large number of possible 'red flags' for burnout. These include headaches, muscle pain, stomach issues or other stress-related symptoms.

Emotional signs can include someone helpless, overwhelmed, detached from work or increasingly cynical. Burnout can manifest itself behaviourally too, for example through increased procrastination, difficulty concentrating, reduced productivity or increased absence.

3. Understand burnout may not be about work but may still affect it

Burnout, is commonly associated with the workplace. It is important to recognise the impact of stressors outside the workplace as well as within it.

These could be money or financial worries, family pressures, caring commitments, or a bereavement, for example. They may not therefore be directly about work, but they nevertheless can bleed into the workplace environment.

These pressures can reduce someone's resilience at work, making deadlines, concentration and performance harder to manage.

As a manager you may of course be limited in the support you can offer here. Nevertheless, the organisational and direct support you can give may still help. This is because, just as stress and anxiety can bleed across home and work, so too can stress alleviation. Tools or support to help mitigate stress and burnout in the workplace may, equally, help someone better manage home, family or other external stressors.

4. Understand how your organisation can change

Organisations can play a major role in preventing burnout, and many already have tools in place. Such as employee assistance programmes, health benefits platforms or wellbeing apps.

More widely, it is about recognising the links between 'good' work and good health, mental and physical. So, as burnout is often linked to demands, hours and deadlines, how is your organisation tackling those? Is there a need to be reviewing how people are managed, the expectations on them, their workloads and the extent to which the organisation is promoting or fostering good work-life balance (or not)?

However, benefits alone are not enough if workplace culture remains unhealthy. Managers should also be trained and confident to encourage open conversations about workload and wellbeing.

More operational day-to-day changes can include introducing things like no-meeting days, four-day weeks or putting in place 'right to disconnect' policies. That said, these all have to be followed through and implemented consistently and fairly.

5. Understand what you can change individually

Managers should balance delivering KPIs with encouraging healthier working habits.

As above, normalising conversations above workload and wellbeing is a good starting point. Being aware if people are working overly long hours or not taking proper leave should also be on your radar. Modelling 'best practice' yourself (so leaving on time and not being available on weekends or holiday for example) can help to give people 'permission' to look after their work-life balance better. Equally, offering support, training and guidance on skills such as better delegation or time and deadline management may be helpful.

You can ensure your team feel they are being listened to, that they have opportunities for career development and growth as well as proper support (including perhaps mentoring), that they know where and who to go to if they do need help. Bear in mind, employee or peer networks can be valuable in this context, too.

There can, for example, be a risk of burning out, of using work as a means of denial (which may then store up problems for the future), or you may find that the work they're doing during this period is not up to their usual standard.

6. Understand what your employees themselves can do

Burnout happens to employees, but employees can also be helping themselves here. Encouraging your team to take proper breaks - for example getting outside during their lunch rather than scrolling at their desk, to switch off from work after-hours or on holiday can be helpful. An organisational policy that, again, gives 'permission' for this can be valuable here.

Encouraging staff support networks, perhaps employee, professional or peer networking groups may be beneficial. Equally, promoting healthier lifestyle choices, perhaps around exercise, hobbies, diet or money management, can all pay dividends when it comes to managing stress and burnout.

This could include - to give just a few examples - free or subsidised gym access, work walking groups, community engagement or volunteering projects, online budgeting tools or finance clinics, recipe cards or retail vouchers for healthier foods.

About the author

Nic Paton is one of the country's foremost journalists on workplace health, safety and wellbeing, and is editor of Occupational Health & Wellbeing magazine. He also regularly writes on the health and employee benefits and health insurance markets.