Preventing the four most typical causes of burnout syndrome

Burnout syndrome is a very serious condition that puts at risk not only the work performance and motivation of an employee, but also their health. A burnt-out employee loses interest in their job, they are not able to work effectively, they are tired and lack motivation. Without intervention from the outside, this situation often leads to the employee leaving their current position, either by quitting or being fired. From the HR perspective, it is necessary to try to prevent burnout syndrome among employees as much as possible. Therefore it is important to know the most common causes of this fatal condition.

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A sense of not being appreciated

According to HR Zone, burnt-out employees often say they feel underappreciated. They frequently have the feeling that nobody values the results of their work or is interested in their efforts. A person with such feelings then often loses the motivation to perform well at work and ceases to have any interest in their job. This is why you should not only sufficiently praise employees if they make a great effort at work but also make them feel their job has a deeper, long-term meaning they can be proud of when fulfilling their duties.

Inability to balance personal and work life

A common issue that does not necessarily appear at first but can eventually turn into a real problem is the inability of an employee to balance their personal and work life. If someone is trying long-term to excel both in family life and at work, this often leads to their feeling frustrated by the situation in both these areas. To prevent this problem, you must offer employees flexibility and understanding when dealing with personal matters, so that they do not feel under pressure and do not neglect the personal aspect of their lives.

Not managing the assigned tasks

Stress rooted in the fact that an employee does not manage their assigned tasks can accumulate and over time lead to the burnout phase. The problem is that many employees cannot or do not want to admit they are unable to handle the work allocated to them, and thus none of the managers has chance to intervene before the problem blows up to massive proportions. Set up the company culture so that employees are not afraid to discuss these issues and the atmosphere within the company allows them to admit they cannot manage the things they previously agreed to.

Inability to influence what is happening around oneself

An equally troublesome problem is when an employee feels they have no impact on what is going on in the company. This problem often occurs if the manager tends to micro-manage, i.e. supervise all the details of the employees' work. Allow employees some freedom and room for manoeuvre within which they can partly do things the way they want. Give them your trust and thus make them feel like they themselves can make decisions about their own fate and their work.

 

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Article source HR Zone - British website focused on HR
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