<h1>Dealing with Burnout in the Workplace</h1>

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Trending news about Sarah Geronimo’s burnout made me think to myself: “If a superstar like Sarah who practically has everything can still feel so empty and burned out, how much more ordinary call center reps?” Often I am amazed how agents can go through 8 hours of stress and pressure every shift and still find the energy after shift to go to the gym or drink a few bottles of beer while singing on the videoke to their heart’s content. And then I realized agents do these after shift activities to blow off steam. This is their way of dealing with burnout in the workplace.

What is Workplace Burnout

Mayo Clinic defines workplace burnout as a state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress in the workplace. Burnout is so much more than mere stress. Burnout is actually an accumulation of stress, boredom and a general sense of being trapped in a situation without purpose or direction. Workplace burnout usually results in feelings of sadness, fatigue, depression, lack of focus, a loss of self-confidence in their capability to perform their work and an overall decline in their performance. Left unchecked, workplace burnout can eventually lead to chronic absenteeism and high attrition rates.

Common Causes of Burnout in the Workplace

Bad Managers

A bad manager who engages in aggressive behavior against an employee can create negative emotions and constant stress in the employee that can lead to loss of motivation and enthusiasm towards work. Likewise, a manager who does not have the guts to fight for his team and chooses simply to protect himself inspires no motivation for his team.

Unrealistic Work Commitments

Imposing unrealistic work goals on employees coupled with lack of resources and management support to fulfill those goals can create constant pressure and stress that in the long run will lead to mental and physical exhaustion as employees drive themselves up the wall trying to deliver their unrealistic targets.

Apathy

When employees sense that management is generally all about making profit and totally insensitive and apathetic to their needs, this creates a reciprocal “I don’t care” attitude among employees.

Redundant Tasks

Doing the same redundant task every shift and the impression that the work is no longer intellectually stimulating leads to a feeling of being hopelessly trapped in a boring task and the desire to find other more challenging jobs or at least try anything new. This is why it is important to allow team members who excel to take on more responsibilities such as assigning them as Subject Matter Experts or even groom them to be future sups. Career pathing motivates other team members to excel and provides a challenge that should make their jobs much more interesting.

Employee Characteristics

The ability to effectively manage stress at home and in the workplace determines how bad burnout will affect an employee’s performance. Employees who have anger issues, not sociable or are prone to aggressive behavior will not be able to handle constant stress very well. Patience, maturity, optimism, friendliness and the ability to accept criticism are characteristics that can help employees manage stress and burnout better.

Symptoms of Burnout in the Workplace

Recognizing the early signs of burnout is the best way to catch burnout before it gets any worse. Here are the most common symptoms of a burnout:

Exhaustion

A clear sign of burnout is when you feel tired all the time, even after just waking up from several hours of sleep. You would feel emotionally, physically and mentally drained and having no energy to work.

Lack of Motivation

When you practically have to drag yourself to work every day and have lost all enthusiasm about everything.

Pessimism

Suddenly you are disillusioned with everything and nothing you do matters much anymore. You become cynical and full of negativity.

Inability to Focus

Your inability to concentrate on your work leads to lower performance which leads to even more frustration at work.

Poor Interpersonal Interaction

You either become withdrawn avoiding interaction with co-workers, friends and even family members or you tend to argue a lot and get ticked off easily.

Deteriorating Health and Personal Hygiene

You don’t pay as much attention anymore to your own physical grooming and personal hygiene and indulge more into unhealthy habits such as eating too much, excessive smoking, alcoholism and even drug abuse.

Depression and Unhappiness

You feel unhappy with work and family life and generally dissatisfied with yourself.

Dealing with Burnout in the Workplace

After recognizing the symptoms of burnout, the next best step is to deal with it. Different people have different ways of dealing with burnout in the workplace. Some try to look for a solution from the bottom of a beer bottle. Some find peace trekking and nature tripping. Others direct their aggressive energy lifting weights or punching bags. Some go food tripping or shopping. Some find relief simply having fun with friends. Others turn to the Bible. Still others go to extremes finding solace in drugs and other vices. Some direct their pent up aggression and frustration towards family members. The Good Book says judge not and you will not be judged so I will not even venture saying which solution is good and which is not so good. My suggestion is we need to recognize that workplace burnout is an occupational sickness that may require professional intervention in extreme cases. Check your HMO if they cover such services. Consult with your HR department if they have programs that address workplace burnout and its underlying causes. I would rather look for an effective long-term way of dealing with burnout in the workplace rather than a temporary quick fix which may only worsen an already bad situation. More importantly, I also suggest we look into ourselves and find any worthwhile  activity or vocation that can give us a new sense of purpose and avoid the sense of emptiness.

Burnout in the workplace adversely affects both employees and management alike. Deteriorating metrics caused by burnout will eventually reflect negatively on the site’s overall performance which in turn can result into penalties or worse. As such, it makes good business sense to recognize the symptoms and start dealing with burnout in the workplace as early as possible before it gets out of hand.

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