Employee Burnout Statistics 2023: Understanding the Causes & Impact of Burnout in the Workplace

What is Employee Burnout?

Employee burnout refers to a condition of both physical and emotional exhaustion, leading to reduced productivity, lack of motivation and focus, decreased accomplishments, increasing employee stress in organization and sometimes even a loss of self-identity. There has been increasing attention on the impact of burnout on individuals and organizations in recent years. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), employee burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that is not effectively managed. The three main symptoms include

Feelings of exhaustion
Detachment from work
Reduced productivity.

This emotional exhaustion significantly affects employee well-being and is a growing public health concern.

What is the reason for employee burnout?

The Gallup survey highlights five primary causes of employee burnout at work, which include:-

Unfair treatment
Unmanageable workload
Lack of role clarity
Lack of communication and support from the manager
Unreasonable time pressure

However, this list is not exhaustive, and there could be other reasons for employee burnout. In essence, when employees are under high pressure and unsupported, it leads to burnout.

Why you should care about burnout?

There are several reasons why burnout should be a concern for everyone:

Burnout can happen to anyone under the right circumstances.
Burnout leads to significant organizational costs such as increased sick leave, higher employee turnover rates, lost revenue, and costs related to hiring and training replacements. Losing burnt-out employees who were previously engaged and productive can be particularly damaging, as can losing managers responsible for teams.
Burnout may be a sign of a larger cultural problem within the company, resulting in decreased productivity and job satisfaction.

In recent years, burnout has become more prevalent due to the increasing intensity of certain factors, including the impact of the pandemic. According to a 2021 survey by Indeed, employee burnout has increased by 9% compared to pre-COVID levels. Additionally, only 24% of employees surveyed in 2022 feel that their company provides adequate support to workers, a significant decrease from the 49% of workers who were satisfied with employer support in 2020.

How to recognize and manage employee burnout?

Identifying employee burnout may not be easy, but it is important to look for signs such as exhaustion, disengagement, and reduced productivity. If previously productive and motivated employees are consistently exhibiting these symptoms, they may be experiencing burnout or are at risk of it.

Discuss with your Team Member
Sort Through the workload
Reflect on your behavior
Ensure a variety of work

For Example, Sam's manager noticed a change in his behavior at work, such as reluctance to contact existing clients, tardiness and becoming quiet in meetings. These could be signs of employee burnout, but symptoms may vary for each individual, and there may be other reasons for these changes. Therefore, an open conversation is necessary to address this issue. The first thing to do is to reduce employee stress at work.

Employee Burnout Prevention: The real challenge

Preventing employee burnout is crucial, and a proactive approach is better than trying to fix the issue after the fact. As a member of the company's leadership or HR team, there are several things you can do, including:-

Organizing workshops
Promoting a healthy work schedule
Addressing cultural problems
Crafting a mental health policy

As a manager, you can also prevent burnout on your team by being clear about roles and responsibilities, meeting with your team regularly, following an open-door policy, respecting your team's life outside of work, advocating for resources, and stopping your employees from overworking. In short, ensuring Stress Management for Employees can significantly reduce the chances of burnout. Are you concerned about employee burnout in your organization? The Resiliency Program helps organizations prevent employee burnout by providing tools and resources to build resilience, manage stress, and maintain mental health. Investing in the program can reduce burnout, increase productivity and engagement, improve job satisfaction, and help you maximize the benefits of employee health and wellness programs.