In our fast-paced world, burnout has become common. As a state of chronic stress, burnout involves physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and a sense of ineffectiveness. While stress may inspire short bursts of motivation, burnout steadily drains joy, energy and productivity.
As the World Health Organization clarifies, burnout arises from chronic workplace stress that is challenging to manage. As an occupational phenomenon, this depleted feeling leaves employees with low enthusiasm and a sense of hopelessness about their future. Yet a limitation of this label is that burnout does not have a medical diagnosis. As a result, clarity is often lacking for how to address burnout.
The estimated prevalence of burnout varies and is highest in careers that involve stressful interpersonal communication. (For example, 43% of workers in healthcare experience weekly burnout symptoms.) Burnout is also elevated in those who are single or younger. This aligns with findings that employee wellbeing closely reflects social support and stress management skills. And because several studies show that stress management involves trainable skills, employers are often eager to secure resources for their organization. Upskilling stress management skills can help employees find a balanced approach to managing their work responsibilities, and it’s a major reason Treo offers multiple resilience-building tools in our whole-person platform.
One approach that is gaining traction is using surveys to understand burnout risk. Self-report measures can be a good first step in connecting employees with the resources that help them change course. The leading survey is called the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT). As an in-depth survey, the BAT points to several important factors, including the core of burnout: Exhaustion.
Exhaustion is a serious organizational burden. This lack of energy saps motivation and threatens productivity. As employees notice their inability to keep up with demands, they feel increasingly overwhelmed. Their overall well-being and quality of life suffers. It is crucial to address burnout symptoms early and encourage employees to seek support to prevent further negative effects. With survey questions like those below, employees can self-assess the severity of how they are feeling.
How do the survey questions on exhaustion resonate with you today?
As our workplace cultures are adjusted, consider embracing policies that directly benefit the energy level of your employees. For instance, some workplaces have switched to flexible work arrangements, allowing telecommuting and time for personal responsibilities during typical work hours. But not every workplace can accommodate flexible schedules.
Another approach is to double-down on encouragement about breaktime expectations. Some employees are reluctant to take mandated breaks as they may have concerns about appearing disengaged. The truth is that breaks support employee morale and can even benefit the bottom line. For example, breaks give necessary time for moving the body, improving blood flow, awareness, and focus. Plus, stepping away from an issue benefits problem solving as employees have time for shifting perspective, allowing for creative solutions.
Related to breaks, some employees need reminders to use their paid time off. This can be helpful because it reinforces that rest and recuperation are necessary. It may seem like a small reminder, but a workforce that understands the importance of downtime is one that has a more positive workplace culture, and this is associated with reduced stress and better mental health.
It is helpful if managers can learn to recognize signs of burnout. Knowing the signs gives managers the ability to bring up resources an employee may not yet be utilizing. And noticing energy levels among a team allows managers to re-adjust workloads when needed. As emphasized by burnout experts: “As demands increase, organizations need to focus on taking things off the plate when they add something new.”
The most consequential habit to address for daily fatigue is sleep hygiene. Treo is designed to help your organization address sleep on a personal basis, leading with customization to improve work-life harmony.
On an individual basis, stress management involves skills that can be learned. It’s easy to assume a person who seems stressed out may just have a personality that tends to express their frustration more easily. But everyone has room for improvement when it comes to using effective strategies to feel better. Expose employees to different techniques to put the choice in their hands and support their autonomy.
Finally, when we feel fatigued, physical movement is often low on our priority list. You should know that while long workouts do lead to fatigue, shorter movement breaks do not, and they can help us all feel more alert throughout the day. Over time, regular exercise reduces feelings of daily fatigue and depressive symptoms. For this reason, short movement breaks lasting just a few minutes are effective ways to address fatigue and they even enhance cognitive function and mental performance.
Ultimately, preventing and recovering from burnout requires acknowledging employee worth beyond productivity. The exhaustion of burnout serves as a vital signal. And with Treo, members gain access to many evidence-based practices that help them improve sleep quality and reduce daily stress perception. In addition to comprehensive sleep support to immediately reduce daily fatigue, the platform offers several ways to practice stress management through mindfulness, breathwork, body scan relaxation sessions and even personalized coaching. These coaches work with members to identify their unique stressors and triggers and develop customized strategies for managing them.
The importance of physical movement for mental and physical wellbeing helps to explain our large and diverse fitness video library. Many are short-form, because with busy lives, sometimes ten minutes is the right duration for a pick-me-up. These breaks offer a variety of follow-along videos that support a few minutes of stretching at one’s desk or yoga and strength-building movements. Overall, Treo Wellness offers a comprehensive and holistic approach to burnout prevention and resilience, helping members build the skills and habits they need to thrive in today’s fast-paced, high-stress world.
Eager to learn more? Email us at info@treowellness.com to find out all the ways employees engage with Treo on their path to discovering their healthier lifestyle.
As Treo’s Global Wellness Researcher, Karlie uses recent research findings to support healthier daily habits. Karlie earned her doctorate in Neuroscience and Behavior and bachelors in Health and Exercise Science.
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