Burnout
Burnout is a serious threat to employees’ health. It manifests itself in helplessness, a loss of accomplishment, negative feelings from work spilling into personal life, exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced productivity. Burnout turns things you once loved into something dull and insignificant.
A pathological, power-oriented culture is often a primary cause of employee burnout. A defining trait of such an environment is a culture of blame, where individuals cannot rely on support from their community. To address this, organizations must first foster a culture that emphasizes learning from mistakes. This begins with recognizing that human error is rarely the root cause of failure; more often, it is flawed processes that are to blame.
Lack of control is one of the biggest drivers of burnout. Employees should have the authority to make decisions that affect the outcomes they are responsible for, ensuring alignment between accountability and influence.
Inefficient leadership is a major barrier to team performance and a contributor to burnout. Leaders should focus on reducing work in progress and actively removing roadblocks. By regularly asking employees what’s preventing them from achieving their goals, leaders can identify and address obstacles before they escalate.
Providing employees with the resources to improve their work lies at the foundation of lean management. This includes dedicating time and resources to experimentation and learning, embracing failure as a source of growth, investing in skills development, and providing timely, on-demand training.
Deployment pain has been identified as a significant cause of burnout among developers.
Other causes of burnout include insufficient rewards—whether financial, social, or institutional, injustice, and work overload.