Out of routine or fear of a benign sense of duty, many people report for work every morning. For some, there’s little joy in doing so because they’re burnt out; they’re not impassioned by their work and seriously dread their jobs.

Professional burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment. It is a response to the chronic and emotional strain of dealing with circumstances that seem to be outside of one’s control and circumstances that seem insurmountable and unresolvable. Although it is thought that burnout manifests itself psychologically, research indicates that there is a physiological response to burnout as well. Both the physical and physiological symptoms serve to undermine the work of the employee.

As a manager, you have an obligation to spot burnout and assist your employees in dealing with it. Objective signs of professional burnout are frequent absenteeism, tardiness, passive-aggressive behavior, insubordination, inattentiveness, support errors, application development errors, lower productivity, and conflict among staff members.

What’s the Problem?

Only when you know the real cause of the problem can you work to resolve it. IT workers may tell you their burnout arises from problems such as excessive workloads, insufficient IT structure, unstable software, unreliable hardware, lack of productivity skills or tools, and pending mergers or IPOs. Other sources of employee burnout could be oppressive management, favoritism, unequal distribution of work, bias, oppressive company policies, lack of flex or comp time, deadlines, and family, money, or legal problems.

Doing Your Part to Alleviate Burnout

To address work-related burnout, it is best to confront weary workers directly. Explain that you want to help them assess their situation and work with them to resolve any issues they may have. Start out on a positive note by recognizing their accomplishments. Provide specific, objective feedback on the issues that come to light. Then create a written plan with each employee, including setting some priorities. Verbally reiterate the steps to be taken and seek agreement from each employee.

If issues contributing to burnout are outside of your scope of expertise such as insurance benefits issues, paid/unpaid time off, and so on, get other people from your company involved, including human resources personnel if necessary. If your human

resources staff doesn’t have the expertise, ask them to assist the employee to find the right resources. If your company has an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), professional counselors can be brought in to help. Typically assistance is sought in fields of behavior, personal finance, time management, substance abuse, and law. Group health insurance programs sometimes cover expenses for many employee problems.

If you know what the problem is and outside assistance is not critical in the resolution, you must consider making some changes. A change in policy or environment may be warranted, including offering flex time, reallocating or outsourcing workloads, or hiring additional employees. If the relationship between management and employees is a problem, consider implementing weekly social lunches or a rewards program. In some situations, goal reassessment may be appropriate, including easing of project deadlines. If an employee is not well-organized or is not using her time efficiently, you may want to offer personal productivity training. Other options include a mentoring program or counseling. If the issue is not directly work-related, it’s possible that family or parental leave may be the answer.

Proactivity Pays

As a manager, you are responsible for your employees. Losing a seasoned team member to burnout is expensive, especially in these prosperous times. Given the expense involved in recruiting the right person for the job, presenting a competitive compensation package, providing additional training, and acclimating employees to the “culture,” employers cannot afford to lose key employees because of employee burnout.