It is characterized by three dimensions: (1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;

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

(3) reduced professional efficacy.

Burnout refers specically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to
describe experiences in other areas of life.” The word “burnout” is often used synonymously with
“stress” and therefore is applied generally and to a broad range of stressors. But, for our purposes,
burnout is specially a work-related issue. Symptoms include:

Exhaustion: is what happens when you are physically and emotionally drained. Eventually, chronic
exhaustion leads people to disconnect or distance themselves emotionally and cognitively from their
work, likely as a way to cope with the overload.

Cynicism: Everyone, from colleagues to clients to patients, starts to bother you. You start to distance
yourself from these people by actively ignoring the qualities that make them unique and engaging, and
the result is less empathy.

Inefficacy: it is the “why bother, who cares” mentality that appears as you struggle to identify important
resources and as it becomes more difficult to feel a sense of accomplishment and impact in your work.

Job demands are aspects of your work that require sustained effort and energy. Job resources are
aspects of your work that give you motivation and energy and stimulate personal growth, learning, and
development

Physical: Frequent headaches, getting sick more often than usual, prolonged fatigue, stomach and
digestive issues, restlessness, insomnia, heart palpitations, chest pain, cardiovascular disease, changes in
pain experiences

Psychological: Panic attacks, increasing feelings of anger, frustration and irritability, feeling hopeless,
helpless, and pessimistic, loss of enjoyment for activities you once loved, depression, anxiety

Behavioral: Drop in productivity, increased absenteeism, isolation— wanting to eat lunch alone or just
be alone, coming into work later than usual on a more consistent basis, becoming a poor team player,
mood changes, irritability, job dissatisfaction, increased alcohol/drug use
Burnout affects organizational well-being too. Burnout is closely linked to

the following:

Rates of errors

Turnover

Absenteeism

Decreased productivity

Quality, safety, and patient/client satisfaction

Organizations that become expert at implementing wellbeing initiatives have the following features:
Shared accountability for well-being among organizational leaders who prioritize it

System-level interventions that are measured

Usage of design-thinking methodologies to redesign broken systems and aspects of culture

Consideration of well-being as a strategic investment

A clearly articulated business case for well-being Operational decisions that consider well-being

Solutions:

Organizations that become expert at implementing wellbeing initiatives have the following
features:
Shared accountability for well-being among organizational leaders who prioritize it
System-level interventions that are measured
Usage of design-thinking methodologies to redesign broken systems and aspects of culture
Consideration of well-being as a strategic investment
A clearly articulated business case for well-being
Operational decisions that consider well-being

Teaming

High-quality teamwork is associated with well-being and resilience.

Working in a tight team structure and perceptions of greater team culture are associated with less
exhaustion; stronger team culture is associated with less exhaustion among staff.

A person’s perceived level of job control along with team efficacy mitigates key workplace stressors.
Team members’ job demands positively predict both emotional exhaustion and burnout.

Work overload in military teams decreases their cohesion and leads to perceptions of inferior
performance at both the individual and team levels.

The level or quality of teamwork partially explains the relationship between work demands and burnout.

A team-based training focused on building high-quality relationships and increasing social support,
prioritizing feedback and communication, and addressing the perception of job resources lead

to significantly less exhaustion (the lower levels were found even six months after the training stopped)
and cynicism, two main symptoms of burnout.

It includes:
Decision-making discretion builds autonomy and competence. Professionals
(especially junior team members) have freedom to make choices about how
to do their work without pressure or micromanagement

Sharing information consistently within your team also builds autonomy and
competence. When professionals have enough information to do their jobs
well, it increases the likelihood that they will make sound, informed
decisions. In addition, they can uncover problems quickly and coordinate
action, which is particularly valuable for preserving team resilience

Professionals need in-time feedback so that they can make progress on

challenging goals and make adjustments as needed. It promotes belonging
and competence. Feedback generally should be FAST—frequent, accurate,
specific, and timely. Constructive feedback should be delivered as a learning-
focused two-way conversation.