Prevent Burnout: How to Get Started
- BEGIN WITH ONE PERSON: You can't turn the workplace around all by yourself. But you can jump-start the process by taking on a leadership role. That means doing research, getting others involved and working with them to take action. This will take a lot of energy and determination on your part, as well as a willingness to risk some potential criticism. So be prepared to go that extra mile—the rewards of being a good leader are worth it.
- MAKE IT A GROUP PROJECT: You need like-minded followers and colleagues to make an impact. Your group will have to agree on which problems to address first, and then set priorities for how to solve them. You need to support one another in those actions and maintain the momentum for change. Strength definitely comes in numbers.
- GET ORGANIZATIONAL BUY-IN: You and your group may come up with some great ideas, but you can't succeed in a vacuum. The crucial next step is to gather support for your cause. This was borne in a 1996 study, which highlighted the limitations of individual solutions. The study, published in the journal AIDS Care, found that the critical rewards related to burnout were gratitude from clients along with recognition and support from management. These are social rewards that must come from other individuals and groups: Individuals cannot provide such rewards for themselves.
- GET THE BALL ROLLING: Start by tackling one problem at a time. Choose the problem with very high burnout potential that might be solved with concrete solutions. You'll be pleasantly surprised: Because the six areas are interrelated, taking action on one of them tends to improve some of the others. Resolving issues around fairness, for instance, may clarify values and promote a better sense of community. An investigation last year of burnout among intensive care hospital workers found that active coping was critical to managing burnout. When working within similar environments, Angelique de Rijk, Ph.D., and colleagues found that workers who were actively addressing the problems in the organizational environment reported less burnout than their colleagues who were taking a more passive approach to organizational problems.
- EMPHASIZE PROCESS: The problem-solving process is more important than securing a "happy ending." Work is always evolving—you may have come up with a good solution to one problem, but there will be another snag down the road. What you need is a system for adapting on an ongoing basis. Make a habit of checking regularly on your burnout potential in the six areas. Once you start this process, it gathers its own momentum toward change.
(*) Some names have been changed for confidentiality.
