Burnout is a situation in which the mind and the whole body get tired as a result of excessive thinking about psychologically involving situations or issues. When Burnout is prolonged, one loses the inspiration that made him accept a certain task. Burnout takes place gradually over a prolonged period of time. In the initial stages, it may appear fine, but as time progress, it becomes detrimental, especially if its signs are not addressed promptly. However, it’s important to give the signs of Burnout special attention as this is the best way to manage it(Lewis &Packard, 2007).
Burnout is caused by various factors. These are the characteristics of the individual and the surroundings. Individual factors include high expectations failure to vent out negative feelings, the high working speed with little meaning attached to the work (Borritz, 2006). The work of an individual causes burnout, especially when somebody has no control over his or her duties and gets little appreciation in whatever he or she does. In addition, high hopes for the work, doing the same work for a long duration of time, and a hostile working environment are precursors of burnouts. An Individual’s way of life may play a key role in the genesis of burnouts. Doing a lot of work with little or no time for leisure and having many responsibilities with little assistance or little time for resting may increase the chances of developing burnouts (Borritz, 2006).
Burnout can be controlled by the individual or the organization. Understanding the cause of Burnout is vital in identifying the method of managing it. For instance, if workers develop Burnout because of the monotony of work, it is the responsibility of the supervisors to seek an alternative assignment for the worker in question. If Burnout is caused by many workplace reasons, the managers should categorize the various types of based on the levels of expectations in order to increase the desire to work. Burnout caused as a result of individual attributes is controlled by formulating programs that will address issues like time management (Lewis & Packard, 2007).
Personally, burnout has affected me in a number of ways. Due to burnout, I have been forced to make detrimental decisions and failed to control myself during stressful circumstances. In managing burnouts, I do several exercises when I am alone, and in most cases, they relieve me of stress and burnouts. Furthermore, when I want to diffuse the effects of burnouts, I lookout for any signs of burnouts and develop modalities that would assist in combating its causes.
As a human service manager, I have the responsibility of catering to the well-being of staff. As such, I would monitor the employees closely, and if there is a change in character, personality, or productivity of an employee, I will investigate the case in order to establish what the problem is. This is important in identifying instances of burnout among employees, and so, it would provide a pathway of seeking a remedy to problems at hand. In addition, I would develop organization programs that would assist the staff in managing stressful events and burnout such as enlisting the services of a professional therapist to counsel stress-related burnouts, establish work plan that is worker-friendly to avoid job monotony, create a good working environment that involves work breaks and socialization among workers and advising the organization to provide resources that cater for employees’ health wellbeing (Borritz, 2006).
References
Borritz, M. (2006). Burnout in human service work – causes and consequences. New York: McGraw-Hills Publishers.
Lewis, J.,& Packard,T.(2007). Management of human service programs. Belmont: Thomson.