You found our list of work burnout signs and symptoms for employees.
Work burnout signs and symptoms for employees are indications of mismanaged stress at the workplace. Examples include irritability, cynicism, and loss of confidence. Knowing the signs of burnout in the workplace is essential to safeguard your staff and maintain productivity.
Burnout is a symptom of an unhealthy work-life balance and a toxic work culture. Prolonged burnout can lead to employee turnover and quiet quitting.
This article contains:
- work burnout symptoms
- early burnout signs in employees
- work burnout red flags
- warning signs of professional burnout in employees
- employee burnout signs
- physical symptoms of burnout
Here we go!
List of work burnout signs and symptoms for employees
Identifying the warning symptoms of employee burnout helps to be familiar with the causes of this phenomenon. Common causes of burnout include lack of recognition for work done, overwhelming workload, and excessive pressure at work. If any of the following scenarios exist at your company, you should look for signs of burnout and take corrective action without delay. The following are work burnout symptoms.
1. Exhaustion
Exhaustion is one of the telltale signs of burnout among employees. The inability to unwind at the end of the day or get a good night’s sleep due to an abundance of work-related stress is a major contributor to chronic exhaustion.
Sleep-deprived employees may experience various negative symptoms, from basic drowsiness to physical discomfort, memory loss, and hallucinations. Long-term health problems, such as obesity, might develop if fatigue worsens. Employees who complain about not getting enough sleep may be experiencing burnout. Therefore, it is crucial to consider this situation and take appropriate measures.
2. Decreased Efficiency
Employees constantly falling behind may be showing a telltale indicator of exhaustion. For instance, the worker may often deliver work late or miss critical deadlines. On top of that, these employees may be unable to offer their best effort.
If productivity drops or revenues slow down, it might be due to a pivotal team member’s burnout. For example, if one of your top performers or hardest workers has suddenly begun failing, delivering work late, or finding it hard to deal with the current job expectations, it may indicate that they are suffering burnout.
Despite the employee’s best efforts, they may not be able to return to their pre-burnout productivity levels. Consequently, decreased productivity, or choosing bare minimum Mondays, is another indicator of burnout on the job.
You should consider workers’ mental and physiological well-being to boost output. If you invest in your employees’ health, they will be in the greatest possible position to generate revenue for your company.
3. Increasing Errors
Employee burnout has several adverse effects on the workplace, including decreased productivity and quality of work. To err is human, and even the most diligent workers will inevitably make mistakes from time to time. However, constant errors may indicate burnout.
Having trouble focusing or remembering details is one of the signs of employee burnout. You should look into why your staff is consistently absent-minded if they are making careless blunders or missing crucial deadlines.
For example, you should invite the impacted workers to a meeting to discuss their work experience and describe the specifics of their job that are causing them stress. You can then take a helpful approach to figure out the issue. Then you may direct them to the resources they need to fight burnout.
The key to a successful wellness program is reassuring your staff there will be no punishment for discussing burnout. Your company will suffer significantly from employee burnout and subsequent blunders if workers are afraid to speak out about it for fear of retaliation.
4. Deterioration in Work Quality
Employees who have reached the point of burnout may have trouble focusing on even the most minor details. It is also possible to have memory gaps or difficulty recalling information. Consequently, these workers risk becoming careless with their actions. It is common knowledge that a single worker’s poor performance may have a ripple effect across a company.
A drop in morale might be why one of your workers started making careless errors that they had never made before. And instead of ignoring these signs of burnout and hoping it goes away, you should pay closer attention to them. When workers start to feel burned out, productivity drops.
5. Issues at Home
Employee burnout signs are not always related to being overworked. Mental fatigue is sometimes a result of dealing with personal issues. According to research by TeamStage, up to 66 percent of employees lack proper work-life balance. During one-on-one conversations, asking about loved ones might give insight into the worker’s overall stress level. If the employee has been showing up to work late or feeling fatigued, it might be because their troubles are keeping them up at night. Emotional indicators of frustration might also help shed light on the problem.
You could suggest some techniques to try with a loved one. Alternatively, you might give the worker health advice to help them manage stressful circumstances at home. Finally, you may prevent a crisis from erupting by offering emotional support in the workplace while they handle their problems.
6. Depression
Depression is a typical result of employee burnout. Symptoms may appear as a loss of confidence, a withdrawal from coworkers, and an obsession with meeting deadlines. When a colleague is depressed, they often show signs of exhaustion. A reduction in enthusiasm for the job is commonplace when an employee is depressed due to burnout. Employees dealing with depression may also experience changes in their eating habits, such as an increase or decrease in their food intake.
Depression at work may have major consequences. Therefore, be alert to warning signs and quickly and carefully handle these symptoms. The key to preventing burnout-related depression is creating a supportive workplace where workers feel comfortable speaking up about their problems. To help your staff members get the support they need, you should encourage them to communicate their emotions.
7. Irritability
Stress and insufficient rest are inevitable outcomes of a work environment where employees feel burned out. Both inadequate sleep and anxious feelings can cause irritability. Irritability might cause flaring tempers. If this worker is part of a team, they will hold their colleagues back. As a result, the organization’s production, efficiency, and effectiveness will suffer.
As a human resources professional or corporate executive, you cannot afford to dismiss this situation. Mentally unwell employees are more likely to undergo episodes of impulsive anger. Workplace tensions may be due to a simple clash of personalities, but a sudden inability to get along with other employees may indicate undue pressure or stress. According to Psychology Today, feeling helpless, insignificant, or less productive than before may also lead to irritability.
Employees who demonstrate extreme anger or even violence against coworkers should be subject to conventional workplace disciplinary processes. However, you should also assess if taking action to address employee burnout might contribute to resolving the underlying cause of the anger. Irritability may be detrimental to personal relationships and professional success if not handled. You should provide resources to help irritable workers have a better day at work, make them feel valued and vital team members, and offer them the assistance they need to turn this situation around.
Here is a list of conflict resolution activities.
8. Absenteeism
An increase in employee absenteeism is one of the work burnout red flags in employees. Staff burnout can contribute to health problems, including stress, fatigue, and depression. Over time, these problems may lead to heart disease, frequent headaches, stomach problems, dizziness, heart palpitations, and a rise in colds and flu. Nevertheless, the preceding health problems will lead to absenteeism among workers over time.
Some workers may be absent from work on purpose to avoid pressure-inducing initiatives. And some employees may not show up to work on time or may depart sooner than usual. This rate of absenteeism will have an impact on the overall productivity of the company. It is common knowledge that employees who feel overwhelmed by work-related stress are less likely to put in the effort required to complete their tasks. Cultivating a supportive workplace will significantly help manage burnout symptoms and improve work-life balance.
A healthy diet, an excellent immune system, and a great working environment can reduce absenteeism at work. However, the company’s culture is the most crucial factor, not the individual employees.
9. Cynicism
Cynicism is one of the most common early burnout signs in employees. This symptom indicates that the employee has lost passion for their work. A cynical outlook makes it difficult to have faith in one’s superiors or colleagues. Cynicism in the workplace may have a devastating effect on productivity and morale. Also, word of your company’s failings will spread rapidly if its workers are dissatisfied with their treatment.
Building trust and loyalty among staff members requires keeping all operations open and honest. You can dispel an employee’s cynicism and lack of interest in their job by allowing them to experiment with new work routines that prevent burnout.
10. Sense of Detachment
Burned-out workers may start to withdraw from the organization, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, detachment is another way to identify the warning symptoms of burnout. Employees may, for instance, discontinue participating in team building activities and corporate expos. For the same reason, workers may stop following the brand on social media.
These employees may still attend work-related meetings, but their minds may be elsewhere. A good indicator would be silence or a passive attitude throughout the meeting. Since they were not paying attention, the employee probably has not implemented any of the meeting’s suggestions. These signs indicate the worker has become disengaged with their work and the firm.
11. Isolation from Coworkers
Isolation from colleagues is one of the warning signs of professional burnout in employees. Employees who were always the life of the office may suddenly withdraw.
This situation may be due to the employee experiencing personal stress. However, if this isolation persists for weeks or months, there could be a serious problem, such as job burnout. You should also note if a once outgoing employee is constantly angry or aggressive to coworkers, or if they begin declining preferred activities with colleagues.
If you manage a remote staff, it would be challenging to detect workplace burnout with this sign. You can rely on other indicators of burnout, such as delayed responses or lack of participation.
If an employee feels disconnected from the rest of the team, it is important to remind them to prioritize their health and well-being. In addition, it is necessary to deal with chronic stress to ensure interconnectedness in the workplace.
12. Lack of Confidence
Loss of confidence is a less-obvious symptom of work burnout. Consequently, this sign can be crucial for monitoring occupational burnout. For instance, when an employee suddenly loses all confidence in their job, it might be a lowkey sign of burnout.
Workers may tell their colleagues they are sure their boss would disapprove of their latest project. Such individuals might also develop severe self-doubt over their professional abilities. That lack of faith may also manifest in the employee’s private life. For instance, the employee could feel unappreciated, useless, or unloved. Consequently, workers may stop confiding in their friends and family and withdraw from social life altogether.
Workers who are struggling with self-esteem may often resort to various coping mechanisms. However, compassion, emotional support, and praise go a long way toward maintaining a positive work environment.
List of the physical symptoms of burnout
The amygdala, the brain’s threat-detecting mechanism, may “hijack” the frontal lobes of a worker experiencing burnout, causing them to react with a “fight or flight” reaction. This situation hinders the capacity for logical reasoning, memory recall, and overall mental acuity.
In 2017, researchers looked at burnout’s health, happiness, and productivity impacts on work in a paper published in PLOS One. According to a meta-analysis of 61 prospective studies, burnout is related to various adverse health outcomes, including increased alcohol consumption, coronary heart disease, depression, sedentary behavior, obesity, and musculoskeletal discomfort. Hormonal disruption, hair loss, and menstrual cycle irregularities have links to burnout.
The following are physical signs of work burnout.
1. Trouble Sleeping
The inability to sleep or excessive daytime sleepiness is a possible indicator of burnout. According to research published in Sleep Science Journal, consistent stress may disrupt the hormonal and neurological processes that keep us asleep. Researchers in Italy surveyed frontline health workers experiencing burnout and discovered that 55 percent of respondents had problems falling asleep, and about 40 percent experienced nightmares. Without sleep, the condition becomes worse, making it a vicious cycle.
2. Headaches and Stomachaches
Burnout may produce physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches. A study by The Institute of Stress Medicine discovered that 67 percent of participants dealing with a form of work burnout had an incidence of nausea and indigestion and a 65 percent incidence of headaches. The PLOS One research published in 2017 supported this finding, connecting burnout with headaches caused by emotional tension. The American Psychological Association has also proven that stress might increase the likelihood of experiencing stomach problems, including discomfort, bloating, and nausea.
3. Muscle Pain
Physical symptoms of burnout might include aches and pains. When under stress, the body’s muscles tighten reflexively to protect itself from harm. Muscle tension is normal during stress but persists because of chronic stress. This stress often leads to aches in the back, neck, and head.
4. Sickness
Low energy can make employees more susceptible to colds and other viruses. It can be helpful to track how many sick days workers request to determine who could be overworked or burnt out. Employees who become sick from every new illness may have compromised immune function owing to exhaustion. Or, these employees may need to take breaks to mentally and physically recover from fatigue. Continual absences from work due to illness may hurt a company’s output and, in the long run, its reputation.
Conclusion
When employees reach burnout, they lose interest in their work and disengage. Such workers will also be unproductive at work, and their emotional and physical well-being will falter. Employee burnout harms an organization’s bottom line and brand reputation due to lower productivity, poor performance, increased healthcare expenditures, and high turnover rates. Human resources managers and company executives should keep an eye out for the symptoms of burnout discussed here. At that point, you must take measures to prevent any more complications.
Brush up on the signs of a bad manager and work-life balance quotes.
Grace He