According to a study conducted by British scientists, burnout affects 1,500 people for every 100,000 employees. In the U.S., professional burnout is the main cause of high employee turnover in companies (45-50% of cases).
Fatigue, irritability, insomnia - every person has faced one of these symptoms at least once.
Why are employees susceptible to burnout? What are the criteria and signs of burnout?
Complicated and intense intellectual work - it is necessary to think over every letter and figure, it is impossible to miss anything.
Urgency and importance of tasks. Almost all tasks have a deadline, and not everything can be completed within the deadline.
Extreme and chaotic work schedules. Many employees don't have a stable schedule; they need to work out their hours. Over time, people become less self-disciplined, come to work later, leave later, sleep less - which eventually leads to burnout.
Those who work remotely have limited social connections and support; they don't have the "small talk" that dilutes the emotional stress of work.
For those in the office, a toxic environment in the form of coworkers aggressively guffawing or responding to something leads to burnout. And the environment becomes especially toxic at times when the employee does not know exactly what he/she is responsible for. All of this is management error! And the person is exposed to even more burnout - there are a lot of tasks, but there is no praise, no reward and no raise in salary, but the work gets done!
Regular overwork.
Lack of control over professional growth. Unfortunately, in big companies the growth of an employee is not related directly to skills and contribution to the company, but more to corporate needs, to the internal corporate "game" - it is more profitable to put this person in this position, and this employee should stay in her/his position, she/he works well there, why should he/she be promoted?
Monotonous work on one and the same project, and as a result the work ceases to inspire, which also leads to burnout.
Symptoms of professional burnout:
Loss of motivation and indifference to projects, co-workers, and things that previously inspired and evoked positive feelings;
Feelings of exhaustion and severe fatigue (body aches, shoulders slumped, back tension, etc.);
Dissatisfaction with yourself, own results, disappointment in yourself;
Boredom, longing and apathy;
Feelings of unfulfilled duty and guilt. Irritability, aggressiveness, and anger;
Feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, and gridlock;
Mood swings, resentfulness and vulnerability. Increased anxiety, increased restlessness;
Decreased productivity;
Deteriorating relationships with family, loved ones, friends, and co-workers;
Memory problems, severe forgetfulness;
Feelings of detachment, isolation and global loneliness.
Psychophysical symptoms of professional burnout include:
a feeling of constant, unremitting fatigue not only in the evenings, but also in the morning, right after sleeping (a symptom of chronic fatigue);
a feeling of physical exhaustion;
decrease in sensitivity and reactivity to changes in the environment (absence of a reaction of curiosity to a factor of novelty or a reaction of fear to a dangerous situation)
general asthenization (weakness, decreased activity and energy, deterioration of blood chemistry and hormonal indicators)
complete or partial insomnia (fast falling asleep and no sleep in the early morning, starting at 4 a.m., or, conversely, inability to fall asleep in the evening until 2-3 a.m. and "heavy" awakening in the morning, when necessary to get up for work)
Constant lethargy, sleepiness, and a desire to sleep throughout the day;
shortness of breath or respiratory disturbances during physical or emotional exertion;
noticeable decrease in external and internal sensory sensitivity: deterioration of vision, hearing, smell and touch, «loss» of bodily sensations.
How is an employee burnout dangerous for a company?
Burnout is contagious
Negative emotions spread quickly throughout a team. If you now have one employee in the early stages of professional burnout, in a week you may find these symptoms in his colleagues.
Business processes fall apart
A work team is an interconnected mechanism. If an employee does his work poorly, he transmits to his colleagues an incomplete product, with which they have to work further. As a result, the quality of provided services decreases. Or the team has to finish the task for its colleague.
The company loses profits
Scientific studies show that an unproductive employee costs the company twice as much! After all, he/she works at half capacity and does not show the expected result. In total, for a salary of 5000 EUR per month, he reduces the company's profit by about 10,000 EUR per month!
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Corporate Clinical Psychologist
Psychological Workshop By Todor Milykh (Master of Clinical Psychology (MCP))
I will be glad to discuss the details of cooperation. Please send me information about the vacancy on one of messengers. Thank you for contacting me and have a nice and pleasant day!
I will be glad to discuss the details of cooperation. Please send me information about the vacancy on one of messengers. Thank you for contacting me and have a nice and pleasant day!
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