Burned out at work? Here's why, and what to do

By STEVE TWEDT
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In these times of low profits and high unemployment, what people used to call "burnout" has become the new normal.

Stressed out? Check. Anxious? You bet. Feeling overworked? Only during waking hours.

Dr. Srini Pillay, an executive business coach for 10 years and expert on stress and anxiety reduction, believes that burnout is damaging not only to workers but also to the companies who pay them.

Burnout in the work force, he said, leads to lower productivity and higher absenteeism, tardiness and turnover, all of which Pillay says costs U.S. companies anywhere from $75 billion to $160 billion annually.

Wrong assumptions

"Most people assume that feeling burned out means they're weak or have a poor attitude," said Pillay, a psychiatrist and CEO of NeuroBusiness Group in Massachusetts.

Burnout is not simply a matter of an overwhelming workload, though that's often a component. Rather, Pillay says, it comes from "a mismatch between what people are and what they have to do," a situation often caused by a communication breakdown in the workplace.

Steven South, general manager at Lee Hecht Harrison, agrees. "If you've got the wrong person in the wrong seat, that can lead to burnout. But if you're aligned perfectly with a job you love, working a 12-hour day isn't going to burn you out."

Technology's influence

Smith believes that technology, as much as the economy, is responsible for those feeling the singe of burnout. In today's business world, he noted, information from a sales report can be collected, disseminated throughout a sales force, discussed by teleconference and acted upon ­- all within 45 minutes. It's a pace that can put tremendous stress on everyone.

The art of good management is "knowing how to manage the throttle," he said.  "It is definitely more of an art than a science."

Pillay is a proponent of "social intelligence," a concept brought to the fore by psychologist Edward Thorndike in the 1920s that puts a premium on effective interpersonal interaction. Pillay's company coaches managers on those skills.

"The message we're trying to get out to the public is that having social intelligence is not just a matter of being a nice guy.

It's really a matter of running a company efficiently and effectively as well," he said.

What leaders need to do

It's best to act when the first signs appear, in what Pillay calls "the plastic smile" stage, which, left unaddressed, can lead to people losing their temper more quickly, then progress to an "Alice in Wonderland" stage "where people seem a little bit disconnected. They don't have an interest in hard work." Eventually they can descend into a feeling of hopelessness, he said.

One recommendation he has for workers who find their jobs intolerable is to remind themselves that the situation is temporary. Then they should start preparing for the eventual opportunity to move on.

"When we are under more strain is actually the time that we should be thinking about how we can make changes and not just hold our breath."

What companies can do

Smith suggests that companies cultivate "a culture of candor, where employees can talk about their questions, concerns and stressors without fear."

And workers, he added, should "find ways to get better at what you do best and improve on your areas of weakness."