Burnout Prevention

Detecting, preventing and treating burnout within organizations. Don’t let aspirations burn to cinders.

“Burnout is the 21st century illness. People are increasingly pressured to perform harder and faster. At the same time, we learn less and less how to deal with emotions and difficulties. Everyone has to be happy, and unhappy people can only blame themselves. These ideas put unnecessary pressure on people and can isolate them. If you suffer from burnout, it’s time to examine this.”

Every year, 20,000 employees are unable to work due to burnout.
People with burnout symptoms show atypical behavior compared to their usual performance. They adapt to the organization’s implicit expectations according to an underlying pattern rather than excelling in their uniqueness.

Don’t wait until burnout weakens your organization like an insidious poison. Act proactively! When you support your employees in this way, you can save your organization thousands of euros.

Burnout Prevention Plan

When treating or preventing burnout in a company, it is important to take the individual as well as the organization into account.
Our approach is based on three cornerstones: detection, prevention and treatment.

When burnout is detected early, the circumstances that trigger it can be dealt with more quickly, preventing employees from suffering further, or even from dropping out. Supervisors should be able to recognize possible signals of burnout, and understand how to respond to employees showing the signs of burnout.

In the Supervisors Workshop, attendees learn:

  • the differences between stress, being overworked, burnout, depression or an autoimmune disease such as CFS
  • the characteristics of burnout in its different stages, e.g.
    • someone heading for a burnout
    • someone on the verge of burnout
    • someone who is completely burned out
  • the underlying signals an employee may show in case of burnout, e.g.
    • negative attitude
    • more conflicts
    • more absenteeism
    • late arrival
  • the causes of burnout
  • ways to initiate a conversation about this topic with an employee
  • the factors that are important to avoid burnout, e.g.
    • increase involvement
    • autonomy
    • implication in decision-making

We also introduce the MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory) test in this workshop.

Preventing burnout is only possible if an organization remains aware of and attentive to what is going on with its employees. Fast intervention can eliminate worst-case scenarios when employees tend towards burnout.

Keywords: recognition, pulling out of isolation, vitalization.

We use the potential within the organization and believe in cross-pollination between people in the same state of mind. Sharing experiences and creating an ‘I’m not alone’ feeling have an important impact on someone who feels that they’re slipping away in burnout. We achieve this through intervision groups, which are groups of colleagues learning from each other.

The objectives of an intervision group are to:

  • Take away any stigma and make it easy to discuss the signals of burnout among employees.
  • Find recognition with each other without sliding into self-victimization.
  • Encourage reorganization of the work environment and improve work-life balance.
  • Increase motivation and engagement.
  • Spark the connection between employees to avoid or reverse isolation.
  • Provide follow-up after reintegration.

Burnout coaching starts as soon as someone remains at home after being diagnosed with burnout. A prior evaluation determines if the person is willing to commit. Burnout coaching consists of 5 to 10 sessions covering clearly defined phases:

  1. Recovering physically and mentally.
  2. Gaining understanding of what exactly happened.
  3. Looking at the future.

The last phase coincides with the resumption of work. During reintegration, it’s important that the coach is able to follow up with the employee.

The objectives of burnout coaching are, among others:

  • Gaining insights into the burnout phenomenon.
  • Regaining self-confidence and self-esteem.
  • Assessing coping behavior (how the employee deals with stress, changes, pressure, expectations, etc.)
  • Job match: is this the right job for the employee?
  • Tackle energy drains and sources.
  • What convictions and concerns are intrinsically present?
  • What changes are required for the future?

Developing a burnout prevention program starts with an intake interview to review your situation and identify your goals. Since the program is customized to your needs, pricing information is provided following the initial consultation.

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“A little more than a year ago I collapsed. I came home after a long day at work and couldn’t anymore. I was finished, totally exhausted. All I managed to do was cry and sleep and cry and sleep all over again.”
- Anonymous (Read more)