Burnout
As an organization your well-being is the most important issue on our people agenda. We are in unprecedented times right now in terms of heightened stress, anxiety, and significant changes inside our organization. As a result, many employees are experiencing feelings of burnout, exhaustion, and workplace stress.
What is burnout?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest and motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place.
Burnout reduces productivity and saps your energy, leaving you feeling increasingly helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Eventually, you may feel like you have nothing more to give.
The negative effects of burnout spill over into every area of life—including your home, work, and social life. Burnout can also cause long-term changes to your body that make you vulnerable to illnesses like colds and flu. Because of its many consequences, it’s important to deal with burnout right away.
Signs and symptoms of burnout
Most of us have days when we feel helpless, overloaded, or unappreciated—when dragging ourselves out of bed requires the determination of Hercules. If you feel like this most of the time, however, you may be burned out.
Burnout is a gradual process. It doesn’t happen overnight, but it can creep up on you. The signs and symptoms are subtle at first, but become worse as time goes on. Think of the early symptoms as red flags that something is wrong that needs to be addressed. If you pay attention and actively reduce your stress, you can prevent a major breakdown. If you ignore them, you’ll eventually burn out.
Physical signs and symptoms of burnout
Feeling tired and drained most of the time.
Lowered immunity, frequent illnesses.
Frequent headaches or muscle pain.
Change in appetite or sleep habits.
Emotional signs and symptoms of burnout
Sense of failure and self-doubt.
Feeling helpless, trapped, and defeated.
Detachment, feeling alone in the world.
Loss of motivation.
Increasingly cynical and negative outlook.
Decreased satisfaction and sense of accomplishment.
Behavioral signs and symptoms of burnout
Withdrawing from responsibilities.
Isolating yourself from others.
Procrastinating, taking longer to get things done.
Using food or drugs to cope.
Taking out your frustrations on others.
Skipping work or coming in late and leaving early.
Resources available to you:
Check out this Guide for dealing with Burnout from the EAP
Try out Tranquility by Inkblot, a digital platform that uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help people take control of their mental health.
Check out MindBeacon, mental health support that fits your life.
Email NA.HumanResources@Pernod-Ricard.com or your HR Business Partner
Reach out to our EAP provider to access support which includes confidential health assessments, 3 face to face counseling sessions per issue per year and a 24-hour hotline for personal crises.
Self paced courses available through Odyssey:
· How to recognize signs of employee burnout
· Thriving @ Work: Leveraging the Connection between Well-Being and Productivity
BetterUp Care: A new way to strengthen your mental fitness that is redefining employee engagement, productivity, and business growth. You’ll have unlimited access to confidential 1:1 coaching sessions to support you on nutrition, sleep, work/life balance, and diversity and inclusion so that you can think, feel, and show up at your best.