Hitting the wall? All that you can do after the last video call is to crush, shift to Netflix with your go to drinks and snacks. Hey, you are not alone. Poor work-life balance resulting in chronic stress and burnout have further increased along the pandemic. The question is really, how far you and your employees are in this continuum NOT whether you have burnout in your household or organisation. Take a moment to assess your situation!
Burnout Definition
World Health Organisation (WHO) describes burnout as a factor influencing health status or contact with health services. It is not classified as a medical condition. WHO defines burnout as follows:
“Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It 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.
Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.”
Why Do We Burn Out?
The six main reasons for burnout according to Christina Maslach of the University of California, Berkeley, Susan E. Jackson of Rutgers, and Michael Leiter of Deakin University are as follows:
- Unsustainable workload
- Perceived lack of control
- Insufficient rewards for effort
- Lack of a supportive community
- Lack of fairness
- Mismatched values and skills
Situation Is Getting Worse
Jennifer Moss shared 2020 survey results in the Harvard Business Review. The survey was done during the latter part of the year to see the impact of the pandemic to professionals, employee well-being. More than 1,500 professionals located in 46 countries responded. Most of the respondents worked at senior level.
According to the feedback received:
- 89% of respondents said their work life was getting worse.
- 85% said their well-being had declined.
- 56% said their job demands had increased.
- 62% of the people who were struggling to manage their workloads had experienced burnout “often” or “extremely often” in the previous three months.
- 57% of employees felt that the pandemic had a “large effect on” or “completely dominated” their work.
- 55% of all respondents didn’t feel that they had been able to balance their home and work life — with 53% specifically citing home schooling.
- 25% felt unable to maintain a strong connection with family, 39% with colleagues, and 50% with friends.
- Only 21% rated their well-being as “good,” and a mere 2% rated it as “excellent.”
The following are some of the key lessons learned
- workloads are not adjusted
- employees are not afforded control nor flexibility
- there are too many meetings and unhealthy amount of screen-time
- the challenges and struggles that people have are not recognised
Five Stages of Burnout
Veninga and Spradley’s (1981) model of job burnout include the following five stages.
Stage one of the burnout model is called “honeymoon”. This is all about job satisfaction, being highly committed to your work. As and when the workload increases or periods of intensive stress occur you are able to manage the situation, proactively take time to rejuvenate. Your coping mechanisms are positive.
Second stage is “balancing act”. In this stage you recognise that you are not handling your occupational stress well. Or it fluctuates. There are days that are bad and days that are better. The common symptoms of this stage include work dissatisfaction, inefficiency, fatigue, disturbed sleep and escapism including long hours in Netflix, having more drinks than usual, comfort eating… You coping mechanisms are not the best ones.
Third stage of burnout is “chronic symptoms” whereby the symptoms of the second stage worsen. You are now dealing with chronic exhaustion and somatic conditions, various physical illnesses. You are often angry and / or depressed. Your coping mechanisms are negative.
Fourth stage is “crisis” whereby the physical symptoms intensify and/or increase, you are obsessed about work frustrations, pessimism and self-doubt kick in and you develop a permanent escapist mentality. You are getting deeper with negativity.
The fifth and final stage of the burnout according to this model is “enmeshment” – labelled as “burnout case” with physical and emotional condition. You have hit the bottom.
Do you recognise yourself in one of these stages?
How about your co-workers or employees?
What are you going to do?
What To Do?
We have learned above what are the main reasons and the different stages of burnout. We have also looked into the survey results that show that burnout has accelerated globally since the pandemic.
And, then what. Answer the below questions as a starting point to better manage your occupational stress.
Respond as an individual
- At what stage of the burnout are you?
- How realistic is your workload? Can you renegotiate it?
- What is in your control? Do you need to set some boundaries?
- Can you celebrate something today? What were your accomplishments and wins, even the tiny ones?
- Who can you talk to and ask for help?
- Can you better support a colleague or your supervisor?
- How well is your work aligned with your values and skills?
Respond as a leader
- Can you recognise the burnout symptoms in your employees? At what stages?
- How is the workload in your organisation?
- Can you provide more flexibility to your employees?
- How often do you provide positive feedback?
- Do you treat employees equally?
- What are your values as a leader?
- How well do you appreciate and make use of the skills of individuals in the organisation?
- Do you walk the talk? How is your own work-life balance?
Burnout Bottomline
Burnout is very sneaky and if not addressed early-on, a slippery slope. We do not want anyone to reach the rock bottom, the enmeshment, the label of burnout case.
The current working cultures and mindsets are not sustainable as the survey feedback in Harvard Business Review shows. The pandemic has introduced new challenges that require novel approach, more empathy and robust navigation skills.
So, COVID-19 could as well be a catalytic opportunity for your individual and organisational transformation journey to better occupational wellness. Read more about transformation journey in my previous blog.
How can I help you? Let me know.
Pauliina Mapatha has twenty years of experience in both the government and non-profit sectors and is a certified life coach. She established her own consultancy company in 2006 and has found her passion for supporting individuals and organisations with change, transformation and wellness.
To contact coach Pauliina click here.
