What causes employee burnout? 10 Signs to Consider

One of the biggest problems plaguing businesses of all sizes today is employee burnout. Burnout isn’t new. And it’s not limited to location or industry. It’s all over the world.

However, burnout and mental health are issues that have emerged after the pandemic changed work environments and habits. The pandemic forced people to work from home for months, blurring the lines between personal life and work life.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region began seeing more employees talk openly about burnout and their mental health.

For many the pandemic has corroded the idea of work-life-balance. For others, working remotely has had a positive effect on productivity.

Whether you’re a business owner, HR executive, a middle manager, or a team leader, you should be aware of a few things:

• What causes employee burnout (the factors)
• Burnout affects employees regardless of job and tasks

In today's article,  we’ll be covering what burnout is & the causes of employee burnout.

What is employee burnout?

Here’s the Mayo Clinic’s definition of employee burnout:

“Job burnout is a special type of work-related stress—a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.”

The biggest problem with burnout is that it “isn’t a medical diagnosis.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as a “syndrome…resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

It’s important that when we talk about employee burnout, we also take into consideration that there’s:

• HR burnout
• Call center employee burnout
• Manager burnout

There is also:

• Team burnout, which means that an entire team is unable to fulfill its duties.

In other words, job burnout is a phenomenon that affects all levels of employees and can impact teams too.

Employee burnout in the Middle East

AMcKinsey survey of GCC professionals showed that two-third of employees surveyed suffered from “poor mental health and well-being.”

Meanwhile, one in three employees surveyed “reported burnout symptoms,” while others said they “struggle[d] with physical health conditions.”

McKinsey surveyed over 4,000 employees from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE.

What causes employee burnout

So, what are the main factors or causes of job burnout? What are possible signs you need to watch out for?

There are many reasons why employees burn out. And they keep increasing. Here are the top causes:

1) Toxic work environment

A toxic workplace is likely to cause burnout among team members. That’s besides the various negative impacts of a toxic work environment such as reduced productivity, lack of teamwork, among other issues.

2) Toxic manager

Sometimes you don’t need a toxic workplace to drive people away. It can be a toxic manager, who misuses their managerial powers, overworks employees, makes continuous requests, takes credit for others’ efforts, among other toxic practices.

3) Work overload

Overworked employees often end up with burnout. Overwork can come from others quitting, budget cuts, increased workloads without adding new team members, among other reasons.

4) Lack of career progression

Many companies don’t realize this but one of the causes of employee burnout is the lack of career progression. Employees who keep doing the same jobs over and over end up bored and burnout.

5) Increased work stress

The higher the stress, the more likely employees will suffer from burnout. Stress can be due to increased workloads, whether due to layoffs or people quitting, bad manager-employee relationships, among other reasons.

6) Lack of clear communication

One of the causes of employee burnout is – surprisingly – lack of communication. This communication can be between team members, team leaders and their members, or even top management and the rest of the company.

7) No clear job expectation

Another reason for burnout many don’t consider is the lack of clarity regarding job expectations.

For example, if a middle manager or supervisor discovers they lack authority, they become unable to do their job efficiently.

8) No work-life balance

The pandemic has blurred the lines between work and our personal lives. It’s all jumbled up now. And this work-life imbalance is making it much harder for employees to distinguish between the two.

Moreover, the ‘always-on’ mode that many companies promote and expect from their employees is a major cause of burnout.

9)  Chaotic or monotonous work environment

A chaotic work environment causes employees to burnout. Ironically, the opposite is also true. A monotonous work environment makes employees lethargic, bored, and unproductive.

10) Financial Stress

Higher inflation and prices stress out employees who struggle to make ends meet.

Data shows that employees with lower salaries are more likely to suffer from burnout compared to those with higher salaries.

If you're interested to know how to overcome employee burnout, check the full article on our blog