10 Mistakes That Lead to Burnout at Work – Avoid Burnout
The mistakes that lead to burnout at work are pretty easy to make if you are not watching out for them. The level of competition in the workplace keeps increasing, which drives even more pressure on employees and managers. That pressure leads us – as employees and managers – to ignore warning signs of burnout.
Burnout happens because of specific behaviours of employees. Even more burnout is caused by the behaviours of managers which create working cultures that significantly increase the risk of burnout at work for their teams.
10 Mistakes That Lead to Burnout at Work
1. 5 mistakes that employees make that lead to burnout
2. 5 mistakes managers make that lead to burnout in their teams
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High stress levels and burnout lead to mental and physical health problems in individuals, which prevent them working nearly as productively or prevent them working full stop. Employee burnout is one of the leading causes of absenteeism and in plenty of businesses excessive absenteeism negatively labels you.
Employees that are not present or are effectively walking wounded represent a big cost to the company – firstly in salaries paid without work being done, secondly in the inability to take advantage of business opportunities through lack of staff and thirdly because of the extra pressure put on those that remain at their desks which further increases burnout. This increasing pressure cycle leads to toxic and high pressure working cultures.
In terms of definition, burnout is the mental and physical exhaustion a person feels when demands being put on them are consistently more than they can deliver. Burnout is usually caused by prolonged periods of high stress levels.
Some of the signs of burnout at work include:
- Mental and physical exhaustion
- Lack of motivation and energy
- Moodiness, impatience and being short tempered
- Inability to get a good night’s sleep
- Difficulty thinking clearly
- Feeling unappreciated and disillusionment
Staff members getting to the point of burnout at work is in nobody’s interests. Everyone loses.
5 Mistakes That Employees Make That Lead To Burnout
- Being poor at saying no
- Not managing expectations carefully or skilfully enough
- Failing to invest enough time in relationships
- Focusing too much on what is outside of individual control
- Suffering a values mismatch
Quickly explaining a little be more about each with tips to avoid making these mistakes.
1 – Poor at saying No
Being able to say no to more work and additional requests is firstly a mental approach and secondly a skill to develop. Many of us feel that if we say no at work, we are letting team members or bosses down. Or we are scared of the consequences of being seen as difficult or a poor team player. Saying no for the right business reasons is actually good teamwork. Saying no when you can’t deliver or would find it very difficult to deliver gives the other person the opportunity to find a better way of getting what they want done. Always communicate the business reasons why you are saying no and be as helpful to the other person as you can.
2 – Not managing expectations carefully
Not managing expectations carefully or skilfully enough is an extension of being able to saying no. Managing expectations is learning how to ask questions, negotiate, challenge, and say no so that you get to an agreement of what you can actually deliver. You don’t let others down, which increases the appreciation you receive, increases your sense of belonging to the team, and makes you personally a lot more effective.
3 – Failing to invest enough time in relationships
When you have good relationships at work, you can get a lot more done a lot quicker. A good relationship implies mutual trust and support. Relationships mean you get help quicker. You get agreement quicker. You are first in line to get resources etc. All of this means you get a lot more done. Without good relationships, you spend a lot more time negotiating and persuading, more time frustrated waiting for the help you need etc. All these impacts increase multiple types of pressure on you and makes work life harder.
4 – Focusing too much on what is outside of individual control
The more time you focus on what you can control and influence, the happier, more relaxed and more successful you will feel. The more time you spend worrying about what you can’t control, the opposite happens, which leaves you with more stress and anxiety. Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t.
5 – Suffering a values mismatch
Lastly, your values should be very important to you. A person’s values rarely change quickly and are a core part of what makes that person who they are. When your values are very different from the collective values of the group or company you are working in, you are less likely to do a good job, to feel you fit in etc. This mismatch will result in increased stress and anxiety, lack of belonging and unhappiness. All key factors that lead to burnout at work.
Try your best to avoid each of these mistakes. When you do, you will be happier, more effective and feel a lot less stress, even if the environment is no different. How you respond to stress is a big factor in becoming burnt out at work or avoiding burnout problems.
5 mistakes managers make that lead to burnout in their teams
- Managers ask for and expect too much
- A lack of goals, expectation and direction creates stress and reduces output
- Managers don’t provide enough recognition or rewards
- Not providing enough support for team members
- A lack of fairness across the team
Each of these are critical mistakes from managers that ratch up pressure on team members and contribute to causing burnout. Taking each mistake in turn with tips on how to avoid:
1 – Managers ask for and expect too much
Firstly, managing team members workloads is a difficult job as a manager. The managers are under a lot of pressure to deliver results. An easy option is to ask for more and expect more from their team. This works to a point, at which is become counterproductive i.e. you ask for more and you get less and less. Pay attention to your staff, their moods, energy and feedback to avoid putting on them excessive pressure to do more. Get better at saying no to requests and additional work for the team.
2 – A lack of goals, expectation and direction
Secondly, confusion over goals, expectations and direction cause team members to try to cover more bases and in effect do more work. This combines with slower progress towards team goals because everyone is working in – slightly to very different directions. Team members don’t feel as safe, supported or appreciated as they do when they have clear goals. All of these factors increase burnout risk. Work to communicate clear goals, expectations and direction every single day.
3 – Managers don’t provide enough recognition or rewards
Thirdly, recognition and rewards are both key communication tools to tell employees they are valued and appreciated, and their work is valuable to the company. As humans, we all want to be liked and appreciated and being overlooked or being taken advantage of – causes us anxiety, anger and a host of negative reactions. When managers make the time to communicate their appreciation and recognition, team members will be happier and much less likely to burn out. Look out for opportunities and regularly give praise as a manager. Pay your staff fairly and give them a fair exchange for the work you ask.
4 – Not providing enough support
Another critical mistake is not devoting enough time and effort to support your team members. Providing others support when you maybe don’t have enough yourself is tough. One of the best ways to reduce pressure on you as manager is getting improving performance from your team. Help them by getting the right resources in place, the right help and advice and the right capacity at the right time and everything in your team will happen quicker, which means better performance. Helping your team is an investment to helping yourself – an incredibly worthwhile investment in my experience.
5 – A lack of fairness across the team
Finally, working in an unfair environment is demotivational and stressful. Bias, favouritism, different rules for team members and manager, mistreatment and unfair pay and policies are all examples of actions or decisions that create unfair working environments. Working in an unfair environment is much more emotionally and mentally taxing. Burnout risk as a result is a lot higher.
As a manager, most of these mistakes are within your control to avoid. It does take a bit of extra work, the motivation and discipline to ensure these mistakes are avoided. Putting in the time and effort results in a much happier team, with a lot more motivation and they are much less likely to be off work as a result of burnout. Avoiding these mistakes results in significantly higher team performance which is good for the team, you and the business.
in summary
Our behaviours and mental approach at work – whether an employee or a manager – contribute significantly to our stress levels and the risk of burnout at work. Firstly, be conscious of the 5 mistakes that individual make and do your best to avoid making them. For example saying no professionally is going to be a lot less damaging to your career than having to take a week off work from burnout.
We have also been through 5 mistakes managers make which increases the pressures on their team members which in turn lead to burnout at work. Avoiding these mistakes are largely in your control and you will be under significantly less pressure yourself with all your team happy and at work rather than suffering under too much stress.
If you have any questions on “10 Mistakes That Lead to Burnout at Work” please email me at support@enhance.training and I will get back to you.
I have suffered burnout at work from being under too much pressure for too long. It is not a nice feeling or position to be in.
Look out for the signs of burnout in yourself and your team and take the best action you can to reduce or remove the causes of burnout. Ask for help earlier rather than later. Speak to friends and family for advice. Speak to your boss (assuming they are not the cause of the burnout). Get a coach or mentor to help you.
Do everything practical to get as much help as early as possible when you spot signs of burnout.
