Understanding burnout: how to recognise and manage it

Burnout can happen to anyone.

Leadership expert Fleur Heazlewood, author of Leading Wellbeing and managing director of the Blueberry Institute, can attest to that.

Like many professionals, Heazlewood has occasionally slipped into patterns of behaviour in her career that left her feeling exhausted and struggling to get back on track.

“One of the reasons I have become an expert in how to be healthy while being high performing is that I feel like I have earned a personal PhD in burnout,” Heazlewood says. “I want to do a great job, and I push myself hard, which can result in long hours and, if left unchecked, can be detrimental to my health.”

While Heazlewood now recognises the warning signs for developing chronic stress and knows how to avoid them, she says helping an employee or colleague experiencing burnout requires a combination of empathy, support, and practical solutions.

“The best strategy is to prevent it from occurring in the first place, because when you get to a state of burnout there is literally nothing left in the tank. It is not solved by just taking a few weeks off work.

“The road to recovery can be long and people need both professional health support and changes to the way they work as part of their plan.”

Burnout explained

The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome caused by chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

It can manifest as physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, fatigue, frequent illnesses, changes in appetite and sleep disruptions.

Not everyone experiences burnout the same way, and some burnout sufferers may experience atypical symptoms, such as the inability to disconnect from work.

It is normal for people to experience stress on a situational basis in day-to-day life. At healthy levels, stress can help people to grow, overcome challenges and get results.

Stress becomes a problem when a person “lives” in their stress response, going from peak to peak, without their nervous system returning regularly to a healthy baseline, Heazlewood explains.

“One thing I speak with leaders and managers about is how to recognise the signs that someone is not coping and to identify the differences between stress, burnout and a potential mental health issue, because they are on a continuum.”

The earlier people see the signs in both themselves and others, the quicker they can “course correct” to avoid burnout.

Managers need to educate themselves on how to create a psychologically safe space, be clear on priorities, set reasonable workloads and have regular conversations about wellbeing in relation to performance with their team, Heazlewood argues.

“People experiencing burnout are more than utterly exhausted. There is also a sense of detachment, where they struggle to engage and contribute ideas. Their productivity suffers.

It feels harder to get work done and may result in people missing deadlines, working more slowly or making mistakes.

“Burnout is not an acceptable price for success, and actually, it leads to a deterioration in business performance and a loss of good talent. Managers need to create a healthy team where people can manage pressure before it gets out of hand,” she says. 

From burnout to balance

When a client approached Dr Sven Hansen, founder of the Resilience Institute, for help with a high-earning partner who had resigned because of burnout, the first thing Hansen identified was that the partner was clinically depressed.

“He had already resigned by the time he got to my office. I said to him that, ‘When you are that low, you must never make a decision about your marriage, your job or your health, because you cannot make good decisions. You first need to work out where you are at and what you need to do to get better’,” he says.

The most important factors to look at are sleep, exercise and social time with your friends and loved ones, Hansen says.

 

"One thing I speak with leaders and managers about is how to recognise the signs that someone is not coping and to identify the differences between stress, burnout and a potential mental health issue, because they are on a continuum."

 

“If you are touching base with those really important daily routines, you are going to have a much bigger buffer before you start going down.”

Helping people understand that is the first step, and it is important to understand recovering from burnout will not be the same for everyone, he adds.

“We all use different techniques to bounce and grow,” he says. “Some people need to stay connected to the workplace, but others need a total break.

“For this person, I was able to help him by getting his sleep back on track, getting him back on his mountain bike and getting plenty of exercise. He went back to work and stayed with that firm for another 20 years as one of the highest-earning partners.”

Five tips to help a colleague manage burnout

1. Make wellbeing a part of your work conversations. Ask colleagues how they are and let them know they can share their feelings and experiences without judgement. Normalise that stress and burnout are common issues that many people face.
2. Discuss priorities and workload. Collaborate and evaluate together whether things are realistic and manageable. Adjust priorities, timelines, resources and support as required.
3. Promote self-care. Check in to see if they can engage in regular exercise, sufficient sleep and healthy eating.
4. Encourage them to see a health professional. Support the advice at work.
5. Have regular check ins. Support them in their efforts to prioritise work, make time for self-care and avoid getting overwhelmed.