Globe and Mail Article: Causes of Employee Burnout

Employee burnout and mental health issues in the workplace are gaining much attention these days. When the Globe and Mail contacted Clear HR Consulting about the causes of employee burnout, here’s what Cissy Pau had to say:

“Everyone has stress in their job,” says Cissy Pau, principal consultant at Clear HR Consulting Inc. in Vancouver. “Sometimes that stress is positive and sometimes it’s negative. That’s just a given. But when stress gets to an extreme where you end up with no motivation, being incapable of functioning or your decision-making becomes poor, that’s when we’re talking about burnout.”

There are a number of major stressors that can contribute to employee burnout. Here’s what Cissy Pau had to say about incompatibility with co-workers:

“If you’re spending eight hours a day with people you don’t get along with, that is, over time, going to cause demotivation and you’ll dread coming to work,” Ms. Pau says. “..the smaller the company, the less tolerant it can be with people who are not getting along. If there are only 10 people who work in the company, there are not a lot of places internally to move.”

Another major stressor can be differences between the values of the employer and of the employee:

“If your values are at odds with what the company does,” Ms. Pau says, “you can only put up with it for so long before you think, I have to get out. If it’s a values incompatibility, that’s a tough one to overcome.”

Employee burnout can be caused by a number of different stressors, many of which can be alleviated through effective human resources processes, such as hiring for organizational fit, setting clear performance expectations, and providing ongoing feedback & coaching while monitoring performance. For assistance with creating workplace conditions that minimize employee burnout, please contact Clear HR Consulting.