Consequences of burnout for the employees and the company.
At the very beginning, burn-out (or burnout syndrome) was seen as a psychological illness that only concerned professions that were focused on others (Truchot, 2019). According to Maslach and Jackson (as cited in Truchot, 2019), burnout is “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that occurs in individuals who are professionally involved with others.”
Burn-out is a syndrome with three dimensions. The first dimension is emotional exhaustion, which is characterized by chronic fatigue caused by various psychosocial risk factors such as lack of social support or poor working conditions.
Then, there is cynicism towards work, the person adopts negative or even harsh behaviours towards the work he or she does. This will lead to a lack of interest in the work from which he or she will disengage, as well as a distancing from those around him or her. This dimension is often seen as a coping strategy.
Finally, the third dimension is the decrease in personal accomplishment at work. The person will devalue him/herself, he/she will no longer feel up to doing his/her job.
However, some authors believe that this is due more to personality or stress at work, and that this dimension should not be included in the definition of burnout.
Various factors can lead to psychosocial risks and therefore to burnout. These factors include: work demands (intensity and time), emotional demands, poor social relations, lack of autonomy and room for manoeuvre, value conflicts and impeded quality, and finally the insecurity of the work situation. (ANACT, INRS, & Ministère du travail, 2015).
Burn-out can have several consequences for both the person and the company in which he or she works. For the person, the consequences can be of different kinds. First of all, they can be physical (it can lead to a long recovery time), they can be mental or emotional (associated with physical fatigue that can affect the well-being of this person), finally, the consequences can be financial (the cost of drugs associated with a decrease in income of the person due to this burnout).
For the company, when the number of burned-out people is high, this will increase the absenteeism rate. It also results in a decrease in productivity and creativity, and it implies additional costs (Mediarte, 2017).
The consequences for health are numerous, they can be physical, psychosomatic, there can even be depressive symptoms. People suffering from burn-out spend less and less time doing leisure activities and spend more time in front of their TV. In addition, in some cases, there may be a higher than normal consumption of alcohol or cigarettes with a disruption of eating habits
The person’s entourage is also affected by this syndrome. Indeed, if the person suffering from burnout has children, there is a significant economic pressure. Especially when this burnout is associated with the possible loss of his job or the decrease of his salary (because of the decrease of his productivity) (Mepha, 2017).
Burn-out becomes a problem for the company when the person can no longer meet deadlines or quotas.
There may also be a drop in the quality of work (difficulty in staying focused, more errors).
Then, when their stress is very high, they will be more disorganized, they will have difficulty with their time management. What makes things more complicated is when it affects the quality of work of other employees. Their cynicism can be reflected in the relationship with customers and it would be the image of the company that would be impacted.
Finally, if the person resigns, there will be a turnover of personnel with the associated costs of replacing that person (Shepell.fgi, 2011).
It is therefore important to identify as soon as possible when an employee experiences stress at work that could lead to burnout in order to avoid a worsening of the situation and the resulting negative consequences.
Bibliography :
Truchot, D. (2019). Épuisement professionnel (burnout). Dans : Gérard Valléry éd., Psychologie du Travail et des Organisations : 110 notions clés (pp. 190-194). Paris: Dunod.
https://doi.org/10.3917/dunod.valle.2019.01.0190″
ANACT, INRS, & Ministère du travail. (2015). Le syndrome d’épuisement professionnel ou burnout. Travail-emploi.gouv. Consulté le 28 octobre 2021, à l’adresse https://travail- emploi.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/Exe_Burnout_21-05-2015_version_internet.pdf)
Mediarte. (2017). Les conséquences du burn-out. https://www.mediarte.be/fr/les- consequences-du-burn-out
Mepha. (2017). Mieux informé sur le burnout – le syndrome d’épuisement professionnel. Consulté le 28 octobre 2021, à l’adresse https://www.mepha.ch/globalassets/pim/ch/ratgeber/ ratgeber_burnout_hcp_pub_f_225307-241701.pdf
Shepell.fgi. (2011). Les répercussions de l’épuisement professionnel sur la productivité. Consulté le 28 octobre 2021, à l’adresse https://www.shepellfgi.com/EN-CA/hrfundamentals/pdf/ The%20Sting%20of%20Burnout%20on%20Productivity%20FR.pdf