The feeling and symptoms of exhaustion are typically very similar, whether the causes are in your personal life or at work. However, it is essential to identify when the root causes of burnout are rooted in the workplace in order to identify the risk factors and treatment of burnout.
In this article, we will look together at what specific factors are risk factors for burnout at work. As you read on, you can try to identify what you should pay particular attention to in your own work or what you feel the need to change.
Burnout is a disorder for both the employee and the workplace
burnout is typically felt in both the mind and the body. People often consult a doctor because of a somatic symptom (e.g. insomnia, stomach upset, headache, back pain). Exhaustion is felt in the mind and body as fatigue that cannot be overcome by a good night’s sleep or normal recovery. It also affects mood, with a positive mood turning cynical and becoming irritated at the slightest thing. You may have started to question your own performance and skills, your memory may have started to falter and your concentration may feel non-existent. Prolonged stress eats away at your resources, which will inevitably run out at some point if you don’t do something about it.
Why is it important to distinguish burnout from other life situations that cause fatigue, such as overwork or personal challenges that cause fatigue?
To know how to choose the right methods to deal with the situation. The root causes of burnout can generally be traced back to the job and its compatibility with the person who causes it. Root causes should primarily be addressed at the workplace, in cooperation between employer and employees.
“Burnout is never just a fault of the individual or due to individual factors. And therefore simply ‘fixing’ the individual will not solve the situation.”
Burnout is never just an individual’s fault or due to individual factors. And therefore merely “fixing” the individual will not solve the situation. Burnout is a workplace-wide disorder, which is why workplace-level measures are required to address it at the same time as the individual’s fatigue condition is being addressed.
What causes burnout?
Research shows that work and working conditions are the main contributors to burnout. Read the list below and identify the risk factors for burnout in your own work.
Among the work factors negatively associated with burnout are:
- Workload, which is often caused by and leads to the experience of not having control over one’s work, not feeling rewarded or not being able to experience a sense of achievement.
- If there is a lack of social cohesion at work or unresolved conflicts within one’s work community, it is detrimental to one’s ability to cope.
- Experiences of injustice
- Conflicts between personal and workplace values are a long-term risk factor for burnout.
- If work is not going smoothly or there are constant distractions on a daily basis and no solutions can be found, work capacity is at risk.
- In the light of the most recent research, even long-term, predominantly teleworking work also poses a risk of burnout.
Why does one person suffer from burnout and the other does not?
Personal resources and personality have also been found to be linked to burnout. Jari Hakanen has studied the relationship between two personality dimensions, a sense of duty and a sense of coherence (feeling in control of one’s life), and burnout and life satisfaction. The results confirm the notion that individual personality factors are related to burnout and life satisfaction, but their importance for well-being at work is less than that of psychosocial working conditions.
Patterns of thought and action refer to a recurrent and backbone way of thinking or acting in everyday life. They are the result of learning: what we have learned through upbringing and experience is useful to us in life and at work. Psychotherapist Liisa Uusitalo-Arola, Licentiate of Psychology, writes in her book “In the Uuvuksissa” that our relationship and attitude to work is one part of the whole of working life. Everyone is bound to recognise a trait or a way of working that can be a strength in favourable circumstances and a burden in unfavourable ones, even leading to burnout. Private life can either act as a protective and resilient force, or the challenges of other life can also eat away at work.
Further, action against burnout should be taken mainly at work and in the workplace. There are a huge number of opportunities at work to adapt the way we work, organise things differently, increase skills, reduce working hours, etc.
Take this with you
What is burnout?
- Burnout is never just the fault of the individual, it is a workplace-wide disorder. This means that as well as treating the individual, it is also important to take measures at workplace level, which can be as simple as everyday ways of adapting work to better support well-being.
- Your own personal resources and personality also play a role, albeit to a lesser extent than psychosocial working conditions. It is worth paying attention to issues such as a sense of duty and a sense of control over your own life. Excessive conscientiousness and a lack of control can increase the risk of burnout.
Remember to seek help and support as early as possible, for example from your supervisor and your own occupational health, even if you are feeling exhausted. Short therapy can also typically treat fatigue and work on the underlying factors.
Sources:
- Lappi, T. 2022. Eroon työuupumuksesta: Jaksamisen johtaminen työpaikoilla.
- Uusitalo-Arola, L. 2019. Uuvuksissa: Kirja sinulle, joka tahdot voimasi takaisin.
Meet the author of this article
I’m Tanja Lappi, an occupational health psychologist and non-fiction author specializing in burnout and its prevention.
