Is Self-Care Really the Answer to Employee Burnout?

Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are hearing about extremely high levels of employee burnout, which may be a contributing factor to the similarly high rates of employee turnover. Well-intentioned managers are sending out reminders about their Employee Assistance Plans, setting up stress management webinars, and offering additional mental health days. If employees practice better self-care and get some rest, then they'll be good as new… right?

Burnout is a real problem for organizational leaders, and not just because they care about their employees. Burnout is connected to job turnover, absenteeism, poor job performance, poor customer service, poor patient care, increased job accidents, financial losses, and overall low employee engagement (1, 2).

Unfortunately, many people misunderstand the term “burnout” as basically another way of saying “stressed out,” “really tired” or “overworked.” Basically, the employee just needs to take a break.

But that’s not quite accurate. According to the psychological definition, burnout is “a three-dimensional concept that consists of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy”. Burned out employees might say or think things like: "I just don't think I can do this any more." "It feels pointless." "I feel stuck." "Nothing I do matters." "I'm not excited about my work like I used to be." "I just don't want to be here any more."

Dr. Christina Maslach said: “With burnout, it’s not just about being exhausted and working too hard and being tired. It’s often that the spirit, the passion, the meaning is just getting beaten out of you, as opposed to being allowed to thrive and grow.”

Burnout is more than just an overwhelming workload. It could stem from a lack of control over your own job responsibilities, an unsupportive, noncommunicative supervisor, or the lack of a supportive social structure and community at your workplace (3, 4). Dealing with repeated unfairness or values/ ethics conflicts at your workplace can also lead to burnout (5). Navigating these issues on a frequent or even daily basis can create chronic stress over time – and weekly office yoga sessions just put a band-aid on it.

Jill Moss explained: “Although meditation and mindfulness, sleep, healthy eating, and an active lifestyle have all been linked to an increase in human flourishing, self-care may be an ill-advised tool for combating burnout. Coping with burnout is not the same as preventing it.”

If organizational leaders want to help prevent burnout from occurring, they will need to focus less on band-aids and more on long-term cultural and structural solutions:

Cultivate Psychological Safety. Creating a supportive work environment where open and honest communication is encouraged makes it possible to address problems instead of letting them fester and become chronic stressors. (I wrote about psychological safety here!)

Create community. Make time for teambuilding and nurture friendships. Consider establishing a mentoring program. Create company traditions that help bring people together and foster a sense of belonging. (6, 7)

Help them Grow. Employees are more likely to burn out when they feel stuck doing work that is no longer challenging or interesting to them. Strive to give employees professional development opportunities and help them focus on areas of their work that most interest them. (8)

Build Trust in Leadership. Employees are less likely to burnout when they trust their leaders to make ethical decisions and to lead with values. Transparency in decision making and frequent, open communication can help build this trust, as well as personal connections to show genuine care and appreciation for individual employees. (9)

To really address burnout, it’s not enough to tell everyone to take the day off. Leaders have to be willing to do the work of creating positive, welcoming cultures where every employee has an opportunity to thrive. 

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Bio: Taylor Rosecrans is a doctoral student in business administration with interest in organizational communication and employee voice behaviors. She works as a Coordinator for Academic Centers at Franklin University and as an Adjunct Faculty. Taylor currently serves on the Board of Directors for a local domestic violence shelter and is the mother to one daughter who is six-going-on-sixteen. She earned an MBA from Western Governors University, a certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Utah, and a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University.