Totally Fried
I have a nickname. One of the docs I used to work with still calls me "Fried," which is short for Fried Social Worker. That's what I christened myself after developing a classic case of burnout. I used to wake up before the alarm sounded, but I didn't want to get out of bed. I'd hide under the covers wishing I didn't have to go to work today ... or any other day for that matter! I no longer felt effective and I had lost my desire to excel. After all, what was the point? There was no appreciation from management, the same clients kept using the system, and no amount of salary seemed to justify the torment I felt on the job.

How did this happen? What transformed me from energetic, efficient, and optimistic social worker into an exhausted, cynical individual who hated her job? Like many other burned-out Human Services professionals, I fell victim to a host of negative working conditions which sapped my desire, drained my health, and nearly destroyed my spirit. I didn't see the warning signs until it was too late. While there are many who perceive burnout as an employee's personal inability to cope with job stress, my experience with other burned-out Human Services professionals is that the work environment itself is largely to blame.

Why We Burn Out
It's easy to see why those of us who work in Human Services, charities, or nonprofits (1) burn out. We have excessively large caseloads with an ever-shrinking resource budget available to assist our clients. This tight budget also forces us to work under the constant fear of downsizing and the potential threat of job loss. Some of us are subjected to forced overtime, on-call after hours, and other schedule imbalances which blur the distinction between time at work and time off. We face overwhelming caseload numbers. Some of our clients are violent or otherwise jeopardize our safety. Unrelenting demands upon our time prevent us from taking meal or rest breaks. And despite working at a frantic pace, our efforts are frequently not appreciated by management or clients.  Is it any wonder that workers in the Human Services have high rates of burnout?

Prevention
Fortunately, there are some prevention strategies you can employ to avoid the perils of burnout. If you make a conscious effort to recognize its warning signs, you may be able to avoid exhaustion and heartache down the road.

According to Maslach & Leiter, burnout is the degree of "dislocation between what people are and what they have to do (2) ." It manifests itself in the form of chronic exhaustion, cynical detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness (2). It results from the "gradual process of loss during which the mismatch between the needs of the person and the demands of the job grows ever greater (3)."

Satisfaction Inventory
Identify every aspect of your work duties and office environment which is presently satisfying. Consider factors such as scheduling flexibility, wages and benefits. Survey your work tasks for those which you find most enjoyable, such as the direct client contact, report-writing, etc. It may be helpful to develop your Satisfaction Inventory over an extended period of time rather than composing it hastily. What satisfies you today may not be so satisfying 6 months from now. You may also find it helpful to include dates in your satisfaction inventory, which will allow you to track your levels of satisfaction over time.

Change is inevitable in any work setting. This is especially so in Human Services, where people and their problems are our business. High rates of staff turnover, frequent policy changes, and financial considerations will constantly evolve in ways which alter your work and your work setting. If you have clearly identified what is satisfactory in your work, you are in a better position to evaluate the way in which workplace changes impact you. This is crucial because burnout doesn't happen overnight. It usually has an insidious onset and often we don't notice it until its advanced stages. If you're truly serious about avoiding burnout, you will want to develop a course of action to address any organizational changes which negatively impact the variables you have identified as most satisfactory to you. Failure to do this can result in a gradual loss of many once-satisfactory elements of your job and work environment. And when you begin to lose what you enjoy at work, your risk of burnout increases.

Management Inventory
Fostering a healthy relationship with your managers is an effective way to inoculate yourself against burnout. Maslach & Leiter have shown that workers "cannot bear the entire burden of adjusting to fit the job (4)." Management indeed plays an essential role, both in the prevention of burnout and in addressing it after it surfaces. In addition to your relationship with your supervisors, you may also find it helpful to evaluate the degree to which your management makes effective responses to problems you face on the job.

In constructing a Management Inventory, there are multiple variables to consider. They include conflicting managerial expectations or conflicting organizational management structures. Other variables include policy conflicts and problems delegated to you but over which you have no real authority to act. Still others include lack of resources to meet demands, and evaluation or performance issues.  Management variables are highly unique to your situation and your manager's personality and leadership style.

One starting point for your management inventory is to identify those circumstances and factors which are negatively impacting your ability to perform well, and for which you need managerial support to solve the problem. In addition to identifying such variables, you may also find it helpful to monitor your degree of satisfaction with management's response to your initiatives, suggestions, and concerns.

If your Management Inventory shows that you are satisfied with supervisory responses to your concerns, consider yourself lucky to have this burnout-busting support. If you discover that you are having managerial issues which are unsatisfactory or chronically unresolved, you are in the unfortunate position of being at a greater risk of burnout.

Developing a Supportive Environment
This sounds like a no-brainer, but it can be very difficult to sustain a positive working environment. Office politics and difficult personalities can interfere with support and workflow and negatively impact morale. Overwhelming caseloads and endless paperwork can make it easy to miss meetings, resulting in feelings of isolation and disconnection from the information flow. Therefore it's important that you put forth your best effort to become part of a solid, productive team. Likewise, it's important that your management provide you with the tools to do so, such as providing coverage so that you can attend meetings, provide timely communication on upcoming changes, etc.

Mentoring
One way to decrease isolation and to enhance overall supportiveness is to engage in mentoring. It makes us feel good to offer our support and the wisdom we've gained to those with less experience. Remember, too, that even seasoned professionals will sometimes benefit from being mentored. The complexity of our clients and the problems they face can be enormous. Having a trusted mentor for peer review can greatly enhance your overall satisfaction and your confidence in your own job performance.

Recognition
Another means of making your environment more positive and supportive is to recognize the achievements of colleagues. If your organization doesn't have a recognition committee or a system of rewards for a job well done, take the initiative to create one! Rewards don't always have to be serious. Humorous celebrations and gag awards can go a long way toward promoting a pleasant and effective work place.

Humor
Did you ever stop to consider what percentage of your life you spend at work? If you work an 8 hour day, that's fully 1/3 of your day spent at the office. Do you really want to spend a third of your day being totally serious and stuffy? Why not enjoy it a little? In fact, numerous studies have shown that a fun workplace increases your productiveness, quality of work, and overall job satisfaction.

Paul McGhee, PhD, has a nifty web site which concisely outlines the physiological, emotional, and work-related benefits of humor. According to his site, aptly named LaughterRemedy.com, appropriate use of humor enhances the way we cope with conflict, stress, and a variety of other on-the-job situations (5).

Did you know that laughter triggers the body's release of endorphins, which are nature's painkillers and mood elevators? Numerous studies have documented their ability to lower your blood pressure, reduce your levels of stress hormones, and boost immune system functions. So don't underestimate the power of a good belly laugh!

Consider filling one of your desk drawers with office toys or relaxation aids to provide a brief respite from work-related stress. My personal favorite for humorous but inexpensive office toys and accessories is Office Playground (6). For other ideas to promote healthy fun at work, pick up a copy of 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work (7) at your favorite bookstore.

Plan for Professional Growth
You may be perfectly content doing face-to-face interviews with clients for eight hours a day right now. But what about 5 years from now? Will you be happy doing the same thing? Exploring other potential areas of practice within your organization gives you options for the future. It gives you time to grow your professional credentials now, so that later you can make a smooth transition into another role within the organization if your current work environment changes in ways which are unhealthy for you.

Know Your Limits!
It's always wise to have a clear sense of what is and is not acceptable regarding your job. How much forced overtime is too much for you? How many clients make up the maximum caseload you can serve effectively? How many weekends on call are acceptable?

At some point in the future, if the demands of your job become too great, you may find yourself needing to respectively set limits on your employer. If you're lucky, management will respond in a healthy, supportive fashion. But you may also encounter the misfortune of unresponsive management. What then? You need to know your limit, and to know when to say enough is enough ... and leave. Sometimes the environment is too toxic to allow you to thrive. And sometimes it's too toxic to tolerate healthy change, which means your only option is to resign.

I once found myself in that very position. One day at work I had moment of insight:  Every minute I was on the job, I didn't want to be there. And I had no power to make the situation any better. Therefore, I would be wishing away my life each day I came to work. Life is too short to wish it away! I quit that job a short time later. It was the healthiest thing I ever did.

Human Services workers are a special breed. We care about others, and we care about making our world a better place. That caring sometimes comes with the high price of burnout. I hope you'll start now to identify what you find personally fulfilling at work ... and fight to maintain it when the inevitable winds of change begin to blow. Preserving those aspects of your job which motivate and sustain you can be an effective tool in the burnout-busting arsenal of any Human Services worker.

Back to Burnout Articles

____________

FOOTNOTES

(1) For an excellent discussion of burnout and self care for those who work with charities or nonprofits, please see You Can't Do it All  by Kristin Duare McKinnon, MSW.

(2) Maslach, C. and Leiter, P. The Truth About Burnout : How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997, p 17. 

(5) Laughter Remedy web site http://www.laughterremedy.com

(6) Office Playground web site

(7) Hemsath, D. and Yerkes, L. 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work . San Francisco: Berret-Koehler Publishers, 1997.