What is burnout
Burnout happens when you’re emotionally, physically or mentally exhausted. Sustained or high levels of work-related stress can lead to burnout.
People with burnout often feel negative or cynical about their jobs and may not be able to perform as well they used to.
Transcript
Video transcript: Preventing burn out in the workplace
[Audio/Visual: Gentle music starts playing with blue introduction screen with white business.govt.nz logo in the centre of the screen. The word “presents” in smaller, thinner lettering is beneath the logo. These words disappear and are replaced with white text in centre of the screen “Preventing burnout in the workplace”. This disappears. Music continues to play throughout the entire video.]
[Visual: The screen changes to a shot of the presenter, seated in a lounge. In the bottom right-hand side of the screen is the business.govt.nz logo which remains there until the end of the video.]
When you and your staff are feeling good and functioning well, you’re more likely to reach your business goals. But did you know that the type of work environment and conditions within it, can impact you, your team and ultimately, your business? One of the challenges you might be facing is knowing how to support the mental health of your team, especially when it comes to stress and burnout.
[Visual: The screen changes to a shot of a person seated using a laptop in an office.]
Let’s explore ways to prevent burn-out and stress in your team.
[Visual: The screen changes to a shot of two people seated opposite each other with laptops in an office. One person looks visibly distracted and is rolling a tennis ball on the table with their hand and the other person looks visibly distressed. The screen changes to a close-up shot of the person looking distressed who is holding their face in their hands.]
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental fatigue caused by extended periods of work-related stress.
[Visual: The screen changes back to the presenter, seated in a lounge.]
People with burnout often feel negative or cynical about their jobs and may not be able to perform as well as they used to.
[Visual: The screen angles back to wider shot of the presenter. The white text “Main causes that can lead to burnout” appears on right-hand side of presenter and stays in place. Below this text, the words “Unclear tasks” appear in smaller white text. These are replaced by the words “High workloads”. These are replaced by the words “Low levels of trust”. These are replaced by the words “Feeling left out”. These are replaced by the words “Changes at work”. These are replaced by the words “Bullying and harassment”.]
The six main causes of sustained stress that can lead to burnout, are unclear tasks or constantly changing priorities, high workloads or pace of work with little or no chance for rest and recovery, low levels of trust, lack of support, and unresolved conflict. Employees feeling like they’re left out of the team, changes at work that have not been managed well, or bullying, harassment and threats of violence.
[Visual: The screen changes to four people in an office setting, one person approaches a desk to look at another person’s work, pointing at their notebook and then at their laptop screen with a pen and exchanging words.]
These types of work demands can drain a person. From a health and safety point of view, these are called psychosocial hazards.
[Visual: The screen changes to a close-up of a person who looks visibly distressed and has their hands cupped in front of their face.]
Creating healthy work conditions is key to helping your team feel their wellbeing and mental health is supported.
[Visual: The screen changes back to the presenter, seated in a lounge. The white text “Identify signs of burnout” appear on right-hand side of presenter and stays in place. Below this text, the words “Exhaustion and fatigue” appear in smaller white text. These are replaced by the words “Foggy brain and irritability”. These are replaced by the words “Little interest in work”. These are replaced by the words “Lack of personal achievement”.]
Here’s how you can identify signs of burnout in yourself and your team: Exhaustion and fatigue, even after a good night’s sleep. A foggy brain and irritability. Having little interest in work and doubting the contribution made. A lack of personal achievement at work, leading to feelings of not doing the job properly.
[Visual: The screen changes to show a sped-up scene of commuters in a busy train station. The screen changes to show a visibly unhappy worker sitting on the floor in factory setting. The screen changes to show to a group of three workers in a factory setting standing in a circle engaged in happy conversation.]
Remember, burnout is caused by sustained workplace stress, with little or no time for recovery. The Health and Safety at Work Act says that business owners must provide a healthy work environment, and that includes a mentally or psychologically safe work environments.
[Visual: The screen changes back to shot of the presenter, seated in a lounge. The white text “Consequences for your business” appear on right-hand side of presenter and stays in place. Below this text, the words “Employees resign” appear in smaller white text. These are replaced by the words “Drop in productivity”. These are replaced by the words “Legal trouble”.]
Burnout affects you and your team, and it will affect your business. The top three consequences of burnout for your business are:
· Employees resigning when they find other jobs that are not as stressful.
· A drop in productivity which can mean businesses struggle to meet production or service targets.
· Getting into legal trouble.
Under the 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act, business owners and operators must monitor, get rid of, or reduce mental health hazards as much as possible.
[Visual: The screen zooms in to show a close-up shot of the presenter.]
Now that we’ve covered what burnout is and how it impacts your business, the great news is that you can avoid burnout in yourself and your team. The first step to avoiding burnout is working to prevent it by addressing the six main causes listed at the start of this video. To help you in doing this, we teamed up with the Health Promotion Agency to develop “The Workplace Policy Builder”.
[Visual: The screen changes to show a screencast of the ‘Health and Wellbeing policy’ section of the Workplace Policy Builder tool, showing some of its functions.]
It’s a tool you can use to develop a workplace wellbeing policy tailored to the unique needs of your business.
[Visual: The screen changes to show a close-up of a laptop on a table and a person’s hand using the mousepad to scroll through information about health and wellbeing policies and mental wellbeing.]
Implementing a workplace wellbeing policy shows your team that you are committed to supporting their health and wellbeing.
[Visual: The screen changes to show a screencast of the ‘Mental wellbeing’ section of the Workplace Policy Builder tool and zooming in to the ‘More information’ section.]
The easy step-by-step guide helps you to create a workplace policy that is as short or as detailed as you want and need it to be. You’ll also get tips along the way to help you decide what to put in and leave out, with helpful advice on how to avoid common mistakes.
[Visual: The screen changes back to a shot of the presenter, seated in a lounge. The words “wpb.business.govt.nz” appear in white text in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.]
To get started, go to wpb.business.govt.nz/workplace-policy-builder. Now that you’ve got the right tools to put a solid workplace policy in place, remember to prioritise your own mental health too - for the sake of yourself, your whānau and your business. Seeing you take care of your wellbeing will encourage your employees to do the same.
[Visual: The words “business.govt.nz/wellbeing” appear in white text in the bottom left-hand side of the screen.]
To get started on your health and wellbeing policy, and for more helpful tips and tricks to manage your mental health, visit business.govt.nz/wellbeing.
[Visual: Blue outro screen appears with the business.govt.nz logo in the centre of the screen. This logo disappears and the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment logo appears on the left-hand side of the screen and the Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa, New Zealand Government logo appears on the right-hand side of the screen.]
[Video ends]
Symptoms of stress and burnout
Warning signs of stress include:
- changes to sleeping patterns
- finding it hard to make decisions
- feeling impatient or grumpy
- losing confidence
- losing interest in the people you care about, your work or your favourite pastimes
- indigestion or stomach pain.
Resulting symptoms of burnout are:
- exhaustion and fatigue, even after sleep
- brain fog
- little interest in your work and doubt about what you contribute
- lack of personal achievement
Causes of burnout
These are the six main causes of stress leading to burnout:
- Consistently high workloads or pace of work, with little or no chance to rest and recover.
- Unclear job requirements and constantly changing priorities.
- Employees feeling like they’re not part of the team.
- Low levels of trust, lack of support and unresolved conflict.
- Changes at work that haven’t been well managed.
- Unexpected disruptions, like natural disasters or a pandemic.
- Bullying, harassment or threats of violence.
As an employer, you must make sure that you provide healthy work conditions that don’t lead to burnout. Remember, burnout is caused by sustained workplace stress, with little or no time for recovery.
Lisa Ducat, Senior Engagement Advisor with the Mentally Healthy Work Team at WorkSafe NZ, says mental harm can come through physical and mental fatigue. “Mental strain is part of the workload. For example, if an employee is dealing with people all day this can be a strain.”
How burnout can impact your business
Burnout directly impacts business productivity. Research by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows that poor wellbeing negatively affects a person’s decision-making ability and productivity for an average of three months every year.
The top three consequences of burnout for your business are:
- employees resign
- a drop in productivity, meaning your business may struggle to meet targets
- potential legal troubles – under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, business owners and operators must monitor, get rid of or reduce mental health hazards as much as possible.
“People aren’t willing to put their mental wellbeing on the line for employers anymore,” Dr Toma says.
Helping yourself
Learn about the signs of stress and see if you notice them in yourself.
If you notice you’re operating under pressure, think about what helps ease your stress. For example:
- give yourself permission to not be at your best and don’t pretend everything is fine if it’s not
- be kind to yourself and to others
- ask for help and involve others in problem solving – talk to your team, other business owners or a mentor
- look after your physical health, get sleep and eat well
- take notice of small things each day that make you feel good.
Try to make time to do more of these things.
Being in the right frame of mind to think well and make good decisions is essential for business success. To help you get into that mindset, see our short courses packed with best tips from experts.
Involve your team to avoid burnout
Help your team prevent burnout by doing the following with them:
- Have agreed policies and procedures to deal with unacceptable behaviour.
- Set clear, achievable tasks and goals.
- Make sure your employees have the skills to do their jobs properly.
- Help to manage workload and work pace.
- Discuss work challenges and brainstorm ideas with your team.
- Involve employees in issues that might affect their health and safety.
- Identify signs of stress among workers.
- Involve employees in changes to your business as soon as you can.
- Regularly check in with your team.
- Prepare a plan of action and share with your team.
- Provide employees with access to counselling if needed.
Building a routine
Experts recommend a routine for starting and ending work that allows your brain to take a break from thinking about work.
Dr Toma says her routine involves finding a park or somewhere else to sit and relax. You might take time after work to relax and recharge – and encourage your employees to do the same.
Resources
Free services available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week include:
- call or text 1737 for support from a trained counsellor
- Lifeline 0800 543 354 or text 4357
- Samaritans 0800 726 666
Also, the Mental Health Foundation’s website has a range of tips and worksheets to reduce stress. Some help you spot the signs of stress, others help you identify what you need to stay well.
Learn more about