Dealing with employee burn-out and boreout

Have you ever woken up to job you really don't like? Do you dread going into the office? Are you bored with your job? Chances are the employee morale at your job isn't very high. It could also be that you are going through a phase where you need more or less responsibility because you are suffering from burn out.

Employers sometimes worry that they are pilling up the work too high on their employees so to compensate; they reduce their employees work load and cause them to suffer from "boreout." This is basically the opposite of burn-out. With burn-out, you are dissatisfied, disinterested, and overwhelmed with your job. You may feel like a wall of water is about to come crushing down on top of you and you have no way out. With boreout, you come to work only to be done with your job within an hour or two of being there. Employees that suffer from boreout are not being utilized to their full potential and they basically come to work to fill the space in the office each day.

When employees start heading towards boredom with their jobs, they will start looking for a new one. Some employees actually get depression from their job because they are so bored. Employees that suffer from boreout need to find things to do to waste the extra 6 hours of their day. I once knew a company that hired a college-educated marketer to work for them as their new marketing manager. When the employee got to the company, they found out that they were basically a glorified secretary for a company that was just getting going. All the promises of traveling and building partnerships with other firms were a good 10-15 years down the road. Within 6 months of answering phones and surfing the web all day, the employee quit and moved onto a job that actually utilized his skills.

Employers like this don't often know what they are doing wrong. Employees that are bored with their jobs usually don't ask for more work because they are scared that their employer will pile too much work on. Instead of wasting company money by shopping on Ebay.com, find out what other jobs are open in the office. You may need a job that is a little more challenging for your skills.

What about your employees that are suffering from burn out? How can you help them? The first thing you need to do is take a look at their performance level. Have you noticed that their projects and assignments have not been up to par or have they turned them in late? What about their personal demeanor? Are they enthusiastic and energized when they come to work? Do they look like they enjoy their job or do they act like it is a burden? If you walk into their office, is it organized or does it look like papers are all over the place and they are constantly rolling around trying to find things? Employees like this are suffering from burn out. You need to get them some help. The first thing you need to do is call them into your office and talk to them about their workload. Ask them if they want some help. If they do want help, ask them if they have certain people in mind that they want to work with.

Job burn-out often comes when people do not have control over their job. Employees that sit around and wait for orders to come from their boss often suffer from job burn-out because they have no sense of direction. One day they are working on a project and the next day their boss wants them to completely shift their focus onto another one.

The best way to avoid burn-out and boreout is to have weekly meetings with your staff members. Lay out a clear plan of the projects they are working on and when they are due. You also need to find out what their goals are for their job so you can customize the job to suit their personality.

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