Six obvious signs.
Many know the feeling: my work began to annoy, enthusiasm gave way to boredom, and the good mood disappears at the thought of colleagues and clients.
The person experiencing such emotions, doesn’t want to look like a wuss or a whiner, so anyone know that discomfort says. Meanwhile, the stress accumulates. Rather, the angle of the employee or the employee already waiting for job burnout the syndrome of emotional burnout. If we can avoid trouble?
Dr. Christina Maslach is working with this problem for more than 40 years. His first article dedicated to negative emotions at work, it was published in 1976. “However, the material is not in a specialized scientific journal, and some entertainment,” she recalls. It turns out that at first many scientists refused to take the topic of burnout seriously. Now the situation has changed.
Decades of research, Dr. Maslach has had time to interview a lot of “sufferers”. Studying their history, the Professor has developed a technique that allows to identify the problem before it’s too late. The researcher made it the theme of several research articles and books, including “burn-out fee for sympathy”.
Dr. Maslach believes that in order to avoid emotional exhaustion and reduced performance, it is sufficient to control the “climate” in six areas. An imbalance in any of them — a sign of future problems.
Overload
“The most famous, but not necessarily the main cause of burnup — workload,” explains Dr. Maslach. Not too many requirements for you compared to the amount of resources available to perform the work?
If lot of jobs, and tools, time or health enough, the person will experience severe exhaustion. According to the psychologist, this is one of the first stages of burnout.
At gunpoint
Cause burnout may be excessive control by the management. “It’s about how appreciated the prudence of a slave, what level of freedom he is given,” says Dr. Maslach. And he adds: the more often you make the decision, the better.
Within reason a person should be able to ask yourself: “what is the right thing to do in this situation? Do not change me algorithm to perform the task?” If the employee feels that almost does not affect the situation and can not optimize any workflow that he feels powerless and frustrated. Of course, this will result in burnout.
In pursuit of feedback
It may seem that the absence/presence of the response has nothing to do with the emotional burnout. Actually there is a connection.
“When you do something at the highest level, you expect it to notice. Praise is a social reward, it is almost as important as the prize or bonuses,” says Dr. Maslach.
Perhaps you have offered some ingenious solution. Or coped with the emergency. Colleagues have noticed — so they care.
When you don’t notice, don’t thank or praise you feel the lack of social recognition. Because of this, even the most industrious employees can lose motivation. They are also frustrated: “Why am I here?”
“Close-knit” team
“We managed to prove that in the presence of mutual support, assistance and confidence in the team were more likely to have burnout,” says Dr. Maslach.
In theory we all agree that management, employees and partners need to maintain good relations. To understand whether it works in your team, ask yourself: can you count on your partner? If I can ask for help? Can to think together about the best way out of the situation?
“If you failed to build the relationships correctly, you will find yourself in a socially toxic work environment. With long and unfounded conflicts, exchange dirty comments, racing, competing in which you will attempt to circumvent another employee, warns Dr. Maslach. — Figuratively speaking, because of accumulated grievances, someone will push someone under the bus — either you or you.”
From the mouth of a studied Professor heard about the fact that people love my work, but I can’t find a common language with colleagues. “I think I do a pretty good job with the tasks. And Yes, I am a positive person. But I hate their staff!” — complained to her respondents. An employee who wants to do their job in some other place, a potential victim of burnout. He is always alert, tense, and, of course, he wouldn’t tell anyone about your discomfort as he fears for his career.
Moral sanctions
Dr. Maslach is sure: in a healthy working environment there must be a justice. “Whatever rules or practices are not used by the company, they should honestly be applied to all employees,” she explains. The increase is not the only litmus test. Who gets the right to perform a special assignment? Who allocated my own office? Anyone going on a business trip or to retrain?
People feel when you treat them without due respect, not the way you would treat a valuable frame.
When unfair things happen — someone praised for the work done by the whole team — member a team member who has not received due recognition or respect, losing team spirit. He’ll say to yourself, “Why would I break into a cake? Here I just use” — and will lose interest to work.
Values
According to Dr. Maslach, the work should not undermine your beliefs and moral compass. “If you hold the position for which you are required to do what does not match your values, something that makes you feel uncomfortable, there’s a burnout” — throws up his hands psychologist.
“I have to sell this product, and let it not my clients, I will persuade that they purchased it because they told me to increase sales”, — says the employee. Perhaps this person considers that the imposition of unnecessary goods is nothing, it does not violate his professional ethics, and the purpose in his mind, justifies the means. In this case, he has no problems with the performance of their duties.
“If a person does not want to lie or to cheat, it will be difficult to implement the plan of management. At some point, he will not be able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning, as he was ashamed of what he does for a living,” says Maslach. In her opinion, this shows that the position the employee is not suitable. It only gets worse.
Leaders who do not care about the atmosphere in the team, not envy. “Pay no attention to what is happening in the above six areas and get a massive burnout,” warns Professor Maslach. The psychologist does not lose optimism: according to her, the creation of a working environment in which people will not suffer, but to work efficiently and be proud of their achievements — difficult, but feasible task.
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