The ethics of burnout

By Elizabeth Pittelkow KittnerVP of Finance, GigaOm

Both individuals and organizational leaders have an ethical role to play in preventing and addressing burnout— consider these tips.

Ideally, we should block or prevent burnout from happening since it often leads to work paralysis where an individual cannot work any further due to symptoms such as fatigue, pain, sickness, decreased motivation, anxiety, depression, disillusionment, and strained interpersonal relationships.

Notably, our efforts to address burnout are closely tied to ethics because they highlight the values and principles that emphasize the rights of individuals. These rights are essential to preserving well-being and job satisfaction. When you think about the fraud diamond theory, people are more likely to cut corners and engage in unethical behavior when they are under pressure.

Blocking burnout

As an individual:

• Communicate with colleagues about your workload. You may be able to share some of the work or engage in faster problem-solving if you discuss what you are working on with others.

• Implement priority management processes. Create to-do lists, set up one-on-one meetings with team members, and schedule time on your calendar to focus on tasks.

• Practice stress management techniques. Consider meditating, exercising, or listening to music.

• Prioritize wellness. Know and communicate your limits, take breaks, and address your health, as necessary.

• Celebrate your achievements. Recognizing any progress you make on tasks along the way will help you savor success and help you reflect positively on your work.

As an organizational leader:

• Limit overtime hours. Consider hiring contractors and interns during busy periods to help alleviate workloads and provide flexibility for people to be able to take time off during these times; ethical organizations care about fair work distribution, which means examining resources available to do the work.

• Offer professional development and growth opportunities. When people are excited about the work they are performing, they will be more engaged and less susceptible to burnout.

• Adopt technology solutions that will save time on tasks. Ensure the technology solutions are the right ones for the organization and are implemented before busy times to avoid adding extra stress from the new processes it brings. Additionally, apply proper security measures and backups to avoid the stress of compromised or lost data.

• Review your clients. Charge clients based on the value you provide them versus the cost it takes to perform tasks. Also, strategically transition clients out of your business who are difficult to work with or who make tasks difficult to complete.

• Promote positivity and celebrate achievements (even the small ones). Individual and team recognition helps maintain morale and excitement for the work.

Beating burnout

As much attention as we may give to blocking burnout, it may still occur. We may prioritize work over wellness, or we may be in a period of hustle to help meet a deadline or goal.

As an individual:

• Accept that you are going through burnout. You are not a failure because you reached a period of burnout— it is simply a normal reaction to stress. Recognize you have worked hard and will continue to work hard, and you may need to make some changes for your own health.

• Consider your food and beverage intake. Make dietary changes to help you have more energy and feel better throughout your day, like reducing sugar and increasing water consumption.

• Reduce screen time. Set a timer to remind you to look away from your screen during the day, and you may want to invest in glasses that block some of the screen light effects.

• Take more breaks. You may be more effective and efficient if you spend some time away from work and then come back to it with freshness.

• Seek guidance and support. Talk to colleagues or members of your personal network, such as family, friends, coaches, and counselors. Your organization may also have an employee assistance program (EAP) that can help.

As an organizational leader:

• Offer support. Spread out the workload for staff throughout the year and provide additional support as it relates to talent, technology, flexibility, etc.

• Arrange an EAP for employees to use at their discretion. Let your organization know it is okay for people to reach out for help when they need it.

• Provide regular check-ins with people. Check in with people—even via regular surveys—to see how they are doing, what well-being resources they may need, and if your well-being initiatives are effective.

Reprinted with permission of the Illinois CPA Society.