Dealing with burnout in the workplace
Itried to access current statistics relating to wellness in the workplace, specifically burnout, and found, among others, some work done especially around the time of Covid- 19, with emphasis on healthcare workers and how they were experiencing burnout.
Maybe there needs to be more research done ( or maybe I don’t know where to find the outcomes) on burn- out in corporate Botswana. Over the next few weeks I want to look at burnout in the c- suite, not to suggest that other team members do not experience it, but because according to Zechariah 13: 7, when you strike the shepherd, the sheep will scatter.
Yes, the same is found in the New Testament, but this is not a scriptural exegesis as I am only borrowing the saying to motivate my choice to focus the subject on those in leadership roles.
The typical results of initial consultations with executive coaching clients around the world suggest that they are approaching or have experienced full- blown burnout, or they are feeling a degree of workplace stress.
Hence the symptoms we see from the H. R perspective of chronic presenteeism/ absenteeism, declining performance, various examples of maladjustment, addictive behaviours, poor work- life balance, misconduct, and so on.
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress.
It makes you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, discouraged and unable to meet role demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest, energy and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
In other words, stress is where you feel and actively respond to pressure to deliver to expectation, while burnout is where you’re so wrung out by the relentless stress that you actually couldn’t care less anymore. Burnout is where you feel empty, disengaged and just frankly disinterested, cynical, resentful, and hopeless, like you have nothing more to give.
Job burnout ( burnout in the work context) spills over from work and affects every area of life so it really should be given urgent attention if identified because even if you were to leave that job, the impact of your burnout could have already affected quality of life and relationships at home, with others you relate to displaying symptoms as well ranging from illnesses to substance dependency to behavioural problems, leading you to feel like your life is in a state of crisis.
As stated earlier, job burnout can result from the relentlessly long hours we work, chronically high levels of pressure, unclear job expectations, dysfunctional and unhealthy workplace dynamics, lack of influence over decisions that affect your job, too much responsibility, not enough social support, being in a role that feels out of alignment with your values.
Burnout is a gradual process that starts with signs and symptoms that are subtle at first, but if left unattended, can lead to a complete meltdown. In the next instalment we will look more at some of the specific responses that can help us manage burnout.