When I tell people that I’ve run ultramarathons of up to 100 miles, their reaction is often “Why would anyone do that to themselves?” My answer, in part, is that I love settling into a rhythm. The key to long runs is pacing yourself, knowing your limits and having a clear finish line.
I often see high-performing employees sprint the career version of an ultramarathon. They push themselves as if they are about to cross a finish line that’s nowhere in sight. Many times, they don’t realize the toll work is taking on their body and mind until something forces them to stop.
A survey by Deloitte found that over three quarters of employees have experienced burnout at their current job. A 2023 report from the American Psychological Association found that 58% of younger employees 18 to 34 say most days, their stress is “completely overwhelming.”
How can you identify and address burnout among your team members? Here are a few strategies:
Take the Time to Diagnose Burnout
For one senior leader at a consulting company I met, being let go was the nudge she needed. She had been on auto-pilot, and time to reflect helped her recognize she was burnt out from doing work she wasn’t excited about. Rather than find a new position, she changed careers altogether.
Don’t let your employees get to the point where a dramatic change feels like the only option. Instead, diagnose and address burnout during team meetings, weekly one-on-ones, and informal chats. You can also create dedicated time for reflection: At my organization, we have “On the Balcony” days where employees pursue whatever it is they need to do their best work — from a heads-down day with no meetings to taking the day off to rest.
Long-term solutions require working with your employees to identify why they are burnt out. The managers we work with often discover that what is helpful for a particular team member is different than what they would have offered. You might think an employee is being assigned too much work, when really they’re picking up the slack for other teammates.
How do you figure out what each team member needs to avoid or recover from burnout? It starts with asking the right questions.
Ask Questions to Gather Information & Show Support
I often see managers struggle to bring up burnout because they don’t feel they can offer relief. There’s only so much they can do to change workloads and deadlines. But when managers take the time to dig in with their employees, they discover simple ways to make a real impact.
A manager’s job isn’t to have immediate answers. Instead, it’s to ask the right questions, such as:
- How are you doing? What’s on your mind these days?
- What is motivating you lately? What is keeping you from feeling motivated?
- How does burnout show up for you at work?
- If things were operating in a way that made you feel less burnt out, how would that look?
- Is there a small adjustment we could experiment with that could boost your well-being?
- How can I help?
“How can I help?” are the four most important words in your vocabulary as a manager. They signal that you care and want to partner with employees to find solutions.
This show of support not only surfaces important information, but can be a concrete step toward addressing burnout itself. Burnout is as much about feeling underappreciated as being overworked. Leadership expert Nick Petrie points to an unsupportive boss as one of the top three organizational factors responsible for burnout.
Dig Deeper to Uncover the Factors Contributing to Burnout
Some employees have an immediate answer about why they are burnt out. Others don’t. Managers need to dig deeper to uncover the underlying factors.
One recent study by an international team of researchers found that employees who work across different teams in an organization experience burnout at higher rates. Another reason many employees burn out is because they struggle to delegate. Maybe an employee worries their team members will quit if asked to do more, which will make their own burnout even worse.
The root cause isn’t just a behavior, such as an employee struggling to delegate. It’s also the underlying assumptions — from imposter syndrome creating the fear that you’ll be seen as lazy to thinking you need to say “yes” to everything to be valued.
Unearthing these hidden assumptions becomes an opening for developmental conversations on how to reduce burnout. Because as Petrie points out, rest is a Band-Aid, not the solution. What employees ultimately need is long-term adjustments that empower them to manage factors that lead to stress and prevent burnout from arising.
Gallup estimates that low engagement driven largely by burnout costs companies nearly $2 trillion per year in lost productivity. Managers too are burning out.
One of the best ways for leaders to reduce their stress is to reduce employee stress. That begins by making time to discuss burnout, asking the right questions, digging deeper to uncover the root causes, and then leaning in to developmental conversations to generate long-term change.