How to Recognise Burnout in an Employee

As a manager, you have a duty of care to your employees and need to look after their physical and mental wellbeing. Mental health is just as important as physical health – you wouldn't ignore or fail to accommodate someone with a broken leg, so why ignore a mental health condition? Burnout is one of the most common in the workplace, so you need to be able to spot the signs.

Burnout is brought on by prolonged stress and, sadly, many people will be affected by it at some point in their careers. Spotting the signs early on so you can offer support is critical, and could save the employee involved an awful lot of anxiety and upset.

One of the main symptoms you should look out for is a drop in motivation. Through no fault of their own, an individual may find their interest and enthusiasm for their work is tailing off. It's not laziness, it's emotional distress playing out. Rather than trying to push them, you need to stop and ask yourself if this ties in with other symptoms.

They may start to look fatigued and give off a general air of exhaustion. They may also have sudden outbursts of emotion, whether it's anger, frustration or being on the point of tears. Even with anger, you need to show patience because it's not something they've chosen to express.

Take them to one side and let them know you're there to listen. Tell them you can see they're under pressure and offer them the chance to take a step back. That could mean giving them some time out of the workplace to recover or lowering their workload. Either way, you need to show compassion and understanding.

Nobody 'chooses' to develop burnout at work, and it can happen to any of us. Knowing you're on their side will mean a lot to that individual, so don't delay in acting and showing them they have your full support.