AltoPartners brings you the first in a three-part series on burnout. First up: there’s no simple solution, but there are ways to deal with burnout.

“I’ve hit the burnout wall before and I know the signs: deep irritation with things that I previously would have found amusing, or not even noticed; an inability to feel that I care about any of the work that I do and a feeling of exhaustion and not being able to settle to anything, even the hobbies and pastimes that usually sustain me.” – Liz, a systems analyst in Leeds.

Liz is not alone. Mental Health UK’s 2024 Burnout Report found that 9 in 10 adults in the country had experienced high or extreme stress in the past year, and 1 in 5 needed to take time off work due to poor mental health caused by pressure or stress.

Stress is part of the burnout syndrome, which the World Health Organisation defines like this:

“Burnout is a syndrome… resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by three dimensions:

● feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;

● increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and

● reduced professional efficacy.”

Burnout on the increase

Jamie Garner, Head of Transformational Leadership with The Inzito Partnership / AltoPartners UK, says he is alarmed by various pieces of research indicating an emerging and increasing trend towards burnout in professional circles.

“I work with a lot of leaders in my capacity as a search consultant and as a development consultant, and I hear these stories individually. The sheer scale of this challenge is something that I felt we could try to do something about,” he said at a recent webinar hosted by Inzito.

At the webinar, researcher and speaker Nick Petrie shared insights from the Perform / Grow / Thrive Project, which he conceived three years ago because he was concerned by unsustainable and unhealthy ways of working.

Over three years, Petrie, joined by other researchers, created an international, multi-disciplinary team with specialists in assessment, research and development.

The team interviewed a range of people about burnout: professional athletes, surgeons, Navy SEALs, coaches and many business people. That wide variety of interviewees brought home a key theme: the causes of each person’s burnout varied. And therefore, so did the solutions.

What causes burnout?

Another insight from the research was that the causes of burnout can be found at both personal and organisational levels.

● Individual causes of burnout: Petrie says that the most common finding from the interviews was that a particular work ethic in which people could not switch off was associated with burnout. “They couldn’t say no, they didn’t have boundaries, and they would sacrifice themselves before they would sacrifice the work ethic they’d built up. That ethic served them well in their 20s, but it burned them out in their 40s.” Another factor is a mismatch between an individual’s needs and values and those of the organisation.

● Organisational causes of burnout: an unsupportive or bad boss, an unrealistic workload or toxic bullying. A lack of resources, feeling unvalued and a lack of autonomy or control were also identified as contributing to burnout.

There are levels of burnout

Petrie says the researchers noticed that there were different stages of burnout, which they likened to degrees of skin burn.

“First-degree burn means someone is heavily stressed – but if they stop and rest, the feeling of exhaustion goes away. When you get to second-degree burns, the feeling is chronic. The exhaustion is there even after you take a break.”

Interviewees said that they began to think they had always felt exhausted. “They started to become cynical or detached. They were caring less about their work. And when that happened, we saw that people pushed themselves even harder to make up for their lack of productivity, and that’s when they hit third-degree burn. And then their bodies shut them down.”

“What we noticed was when people burned out, it was always because there was a combination happening at the same time. They had a strong work ethic which they couldn’t turn off. Then they had an unsupportive boss with an unrealistic workload. Any combination of three or four of these factors at the same time caused people to burn out. It was never just one thing.”

The warning signs of burnout

“The advice from the people we’ve talked to who burned out was to know your own early warning signs. If you are seeing two or three of them, it’s important to think about what behaviours will bring you back into equilibrium,” Petrie says.

Just as there is no single cause of burnout, there might not be one simple warning sign. If exhaustion is part of the territory for people with a strong work ethic, then when does a feeling of exhaustion function as a warning? Petrie says the key thing to look out for is the point at which exhaustion becomes chronic. “If it is there all the time, even when you rest, that’s a signal that something bigger is going on.”

Losing motivation is also a signal. “When you no longer care about the things that you have previously cared about a great deal, and that surprises you, that’s a warning sign,” he says. Irritation and cynicism are also warning signs, as are physical symptoms that you haven’t had previously.

Interviewees often said that they became aware they were burned out when other people told them that something was amiss. Petrie agrees. “I’ve noticed that if my wife starts to mention things about me working too hard, that’s an early warning sign. She doesn’t say that often, so if she says that I’m going too far, I pay attention to that.”

Different levels of burn require different solutions

While it’s critical for individuals to be aware of their burnout triggers, it’s also important that the leaders in an organisation understand the three levels of burnout, says Petrie.

“There are different solutions for different degrees of burn. Well-meaning managers and companies often make big mistakes here. When someone’s going through a third-degree burn, management offers first-degree solutions. Why don’t you take a day off? Have you tried this yoga app? How’s your sleep? And none of those things will help when you’ve got a third-degree burn. This felt like gaslighting to many people we interviewed.”

Some things individuals and leadership can do immediately

For first-degree burn, rest and recovery are recommended, and these are often things that individuals can do themselves:

● take more breaks

● avoid work in the evenings

● find an activity which recharges them, like yoga, exercise or gardening

● take a vacation to replenish, then return to work

For second-degree burn, more far-reaching change with some organisational support might be needed:

● establish firmer boundaries

● learn to separate identity from work

● say ‘no’ more often

● prioritise and protect time for activities and hobbies outside of work

● check values alignment with current role and career

● use a coach to help support changes and new habits

For third-degree burn, start by recognising a pattern:

Petrie says third-degree burnout follows a predictable pattern.

“In the interviews, it was the same story over and over again. They had a relentless work ethic; the work just never ended, so they never stopped working. They’d start to get into burnout, they’d start to work even harder, and then they would finally burn out.

“And when they did, they all did exactly the same thing. They stopped. They took a break- a week off, a month off. One person took nine months off and went cycling around Europe. Then they all felt really good and then what did they all do? They went back to work. And they hadn’t changed, the workplace hadn’t changed, nothing had changed except the fact that they’d had a rest. Then they repeated the cycle.”

To prevent this cycle, Petrie points to a cluster of interventions that worked for many interviewees. The deep life changes they made might have taken place over several years and included:

● stopping work for an extended period

● working with a counsellor or therapist to examine self-talk, beliefs and values

● considering a change in job, company or career

Petrie is adamant that rest is necessary but not sufficient. “There must be true change, or the burnout pattern will repeat. This path is arduous, but it often leads to post-traumatic growth and a happier, more aligned career and life,” he says. Interviewees who came out of burnout properly and never burned out again moved forward rather than returning to old patterns:

“They tried different things; they got help, they got support, they got mentors or coaches, they did deep reflection on the experience of what had happened and why. Then, they made plans for the future about how they were going to be different and they grew from the experience. They said the experience was awful. But when they look back, they see a different, happier person.”

COMING UP:

Ask Alto: How leadership can tackle burnout (part two)

Ask Alto: The eight habits of people who don’t get burnout (part three)