Final Warning Signs of Employee Burnout

A company’s most valuable asset is its employees. And as HR professionals or employers, it should be your priority to care about your employees’ well-being. If your employees suffer from burnout, it will negatively impact the success of your organisation.

But may not be easy to find out which of your employees are suffering from burnout, what with all the busy schedules and work piling up.

Nevertheless, these are the warning signs you MUST catch before it's too late:

Disconnection from work and people

This is different from being stressed out. Employees who are close to a burnout may feel like they are disconnected with their work and people around them. Though stress can push us to be proactive, burning out will cause us to feel uninterested at work.

If your employee does not look like they care about their job or their environment anymore, you have to find out why and how severe the situation is before it gets out of control.

Tired in every way

It’s normal to feel tired when you work long hours. But when an employee shows signs of emotional, mental AND physical exhaustion, this is where you need to step in. They appear unfocused, forgetful, trouble concentrating, and already tired the minute they arrived at work. They probably do not get enough sleep and experience physical pain like muscle aches and headaches.

You can find physical signs such as dark circles under their eyes, dull complexion, weight changes and blank facial expressions. Always remember to check in with your employees, it’s not hard to detect physical and mental exhaustion.

Increased absenteeism and accidents

Since we know these employees have physical and psychological symptoms, they are more likely to take sick leaves.
And since they are lacking concentration and focus, these employees are prone to accidents and mistakes in their work. This is worse if they are handling heavy machinery, dealing with important details or when others’ safety is in their hands.

Showing signs they are not built for the job

If you hire an employee that does not have the physical ability to fulfill their tasks and responsibilities, you might see the employee struggle to get the job done. This won’t be long until their energy is drained and they feel like they have failed to do their job. This is why it is important for you to identify your employees' ability and see if they can handle the job.

They like to isolate themselves

If you see an employee who’s usually sociable and lively at work suddenly avoiding others, you have to check on them. Of course, sometimes we do feel moody, but if this becomes a norm, don’t let it become worse.

If the person was introverted from the start, you might have a harder time identifying this symptom of burnout. So you have to know your introverted employees well to ensure that they are alright, and not misinterpret them as being distant.

Your employee is more sensitive than usual

Whenever you deliver constructive criticism to your employee, it is normal that some may take it a bit personally. But what if they appear more offended and emotional? If your employee is close to a burnout, they are likely to be more vulnerable so it’s possible for them to overreact.

Extreme thinking

When an employee becomes irrational by their extreme thinking, this is an indicator for something more serious to come. They will probably say things like “no one will ever like me”, “I will never make a difference” or “I’m not good at anything at work”. You cannot ignore these comments, your employee may need emotional attention and support.

Signs of employee burnout are not always obvious, but that does not mean they are not there. So remember to check up on your employees from time to time, and give them extra attention if they are showing any of the signs above.

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This article is adapted from 7 Signs of Employee Burnout you Can’t Believe you’re Missing by Christine Chartrand