Better Being Series: Understanding Burnout in the Workplace

On Aon

Burnout is on the rise everywhere. Understanding and managing burnout not only benefits employees but also improves the bottom line. Today’s Better Being episode focuses on the increasing dangers of burnout, warning signs that burnout is building and strategies for preventing – rather than merely coping with – the work stressors that lead to burnout.

Experts in this episode:
Rachel Fellowes, Chief Wellbeing Officer, Aon
Christina Maslach, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley

• [3:58] Classification of burnout as a stress response
• [11:00] The danger of viewing burnout as a disease
• [12:28] Three dimensions of the Maslach Burnout Inventory
• [14:58] Symptoms of classic burnout patterns
• [17:21] Six areas of mismatch that result in burnout
• [23:03] Effective strategies for burnout improvement
• [24:18] Distinguishing between coping and prevention

Additional Resources:

Aon’s website

Better Being Series: Are You Taking Care of Your Digital Wellbeing?

Better Being Series Dives into Women’s Health

Rachel Fellowes LinkedIn

Aon’s Workplace Wellbeing

Aon’s 2022-2023 Global Wellbeing Survey

Christina Maslach Resources:

UC Berkeley Psychology Website

UC Berkeley Research

Social Psychology Network

Maslach Burnout Inventory™ (MBI)

The Burnout Challenge

LinkedIn

Tweetables:

• “[Burnout] is not a pathology itself, but it's the lack of recovery afterward that really becomes the problem.” — Christina Maslach
• “With burnout, employees are switching from doing their very best to doing the bare minimum.” — Christina Maslach
• “We need to recognize burnout as a phenomenon that can happen in the workplace because of the health consequences it can have.” — Christina Maslach
• “We should not honor increasingly difficult jobs by just coping with it, we should get rid of some of these stressors or make them less frequent.” — Christina Maslach