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6 Contributing Factors to Burnout and How to Tackle Them

Writer's picture: Amanda Rocheleau, RSWAmanda Rocheleau, RSW

Updated: Jan 25

Burnout is a serious, often misunderstood issue that affects individuals and organizations alike. While it’s easy to think of burnout as a personal problem—something that happens when someone is super stressed out—the reality is much more complex. Burnout is a systemic issue that often stems from environmental factors. As helping professionals, we are not exempt from this risk; in fact, research indicates a significant rise in burnout among helping professionals since 2018.


To better understand burnout, we need to look at it through an ecological lens, meaning we focus on the structural and organizational factors that contribute to it, alongside the individual factors (which I’ll touch on in another blog). The good news is that organizations can make changes to address these environmental factors, significantly reducing the risk of burnout for employees.


Christina Maslach’s research on burnout in the 1980s helped us understand that burnout isn’t just about being tired and stressed. It’s a combination of emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and feelings of inefficacy. Her pioneering research identified six contributing factors to burnout, which are still widely regarded as key to understanding this issue. These factors—work overload, lack of control, insufficient reward, absence of fairness, lack of community, and conflicting values—have been shown to cause significant stress and contribute to disengagement at work.


In this post, I’ll break down each factor and offer actionable steps for both individuals and organizations to address them.  I’ve also included a TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read) section for each factor to give you a quick summary of the key points.



1. Work Overload

Work overload is the leading cause of burnout, characterized by chronic demands that prevent recovery. In helping professions, this relentless pressure leads to stress and fatigue, with excessive demands being a systemic issue across industries.


Burnout symptoms include physical fatigue and emotional distress, worsened by looming deadlines and rising expectations. This creates a vicious cycle where exhaustion lowers work quality, increasing stress and inadequacy.


The culture of productivity glorifies busyness, making it hard to recognize limits. Fear of falling behind discourages breaks and seeking help, exacerbating the problem. It's crucial to address the impact of such environments on health.


How to Tackle Work Overload:

  • For Individuals:

    • Set Boundaries: Limit overtime and avoid taking work home. Schedule lunch breaks and time off, and stick to them.

    • Prioritize Tasks: Break tasks into smaller, manageable pieces, and focus on what’s most important. Try using the The Eisenhower Matrix (found in the Free Resources page on my website) to help categorize your tasks based on urgency and importance.

    • Request Support: If the workload is consistently too high, have a conversation with your manager about delegating tasks or seeking additional resources.

  • For Organizations:

    • Review Workloads: Regularly assess whether workloads are realistic and ensure equitable distribution of tasks.

    • Encourage Breaks: Promote regular breaks to recharge, and encourage employees to take sick days and use their vacation time.

    • Promote Flexible Schedules: Offer options like remote work, staggered hours, or compressed workweeks to help employees balance personal and professional needs.

TLDR: Burnout often starts with work overload—too many tasks, too little time to recharge. It’s not just occasional busy weeks, but the chronic stress of excessive workload. Individuals can set boundaries, prioritize tasks, and ask for support, while organizations should regularly assess workloads, encourage breaks, and promote flexible schedules to reduce stress.


2. Lack of Control

Feeling like you have little control over your work can lead to burnout, as it causes stress and frustration. This disempowerment often results in decreased motivation, enthusiasm, and a sense of fatigue, making you feel like an unnoticed cog in a machine. Lack of autonomy also stifles creativity, leading to a monotonous work environment and affecting both morale and productivity.


Organizations that prioritize employee well-being and encourage autonomy often see better outcomes and job satisfaction. Fostering a culture that values input and personal agency can mitigate feelings of helplessness and burnout.


How to Tackle Lack of Control:

  • For Individuals:

    • Manage Your Time: Block out focused work periods and breaks, especially during peak productivity times.

    • Advocate for Autonomy: Ask for more flexibility in how you approach your tasks and manage your schedule.

  • For Organizations:

    • Encourage Autonomy: Give employees the freedom to manage their workload and explore creative solutions within their roles.

    • Avoid Micromanaging: Trust employees to perform their tasks independently and offer support when needed.


TLDR: A lack of control over your work can lead to frustration and burnout. When employees feel powerless in their roles, it drains motivation and leads to disengagement. Individuals can advocate for autonomy in their tasks, while organizations should encourage employee input, avoid micromanaging, and give staff more decision-making power to improve morale and reduce stress.


3. Insufficient Reward

Feeling like you're giving your all without recognition can lead to disillusionment, a common issue across professions. This invisibility affects productivity, increases stress, and causes detachment from work.


Feeling valued is crucial for engagement and satisfaction, extending beyond financial rewards to include social recognition and appreciation. Recognition, whether verbal, formal, or a token of appreciation, reinforces that contributions are vital. Such validation boosts morale and fosters a supportive workplace culture.


How to Tackle Insufficient Reward:

  • For Individuals:

    • Schedule Regular Check-Ins: Meet with your manager to discuss your progress and highlight how your work contributes to team goals.

    • Set Clear Expectations for Recognition: Communicate what kind of recognition you value, whether it's public acknowledgment or more responsibilities.

    • Celebrate Your Wins: Recognize your own successes and reflect on your achievements to stay motivated.

  • For Organizations:

    • Embed Recognition into Daily Practices: Regularly acknowledge employee contributions, even with small gestures like shout-outs in meetings or thank-you notes.

    • Be Specific and Timely: Acknowledge the "how" and "why" behind accomplishments. For example, "Your empathetic approach in helping that client during their crisis was truly impactful."

    • Implement Structured Recognition Programs: Create formalized recognition programs that allow both managers and peers to celebrate each other's successes.


TLDR: When employees feel like they’re giving their all with little recognition, burnout sets in. Individuals can advocate for recognition, celebrate their own wins, and seek regular check-ins with supervisors. Organizations should make recognition a regular practice, be specific and timely in acknowledging contributions, and create formal recognition programs to keep employees motivated and engaged.


4. Absence of Fairness

When employees perceive unfair treatment, burnout often follows, manifesting as resentment, inadequacy, and anxiety. Unfairness can stem from factors like unequal workload, favoritism, bias, discrimination, or bullying, creating an unhealthy work environment that undermines morale and engagement.


Inequitable task distribution can burden some employees while others face fewer responsibilities. Favoritism or bias, such as preferential treatment or unearned promotions, intensifies feelings of injustice, leading employees to question the value of their work if unrecognized.


Lack of transparency in decision-making exacerbates unfairness. When employees are uninformed about decisions affecting their roles, they feel powerless and lose trust in leadership, leading to gossip, speculation, and weakened team cohesion.


How to Tackle Absence of Fairness:

  • For Individuals: 

    • Speak Up: Address unfair treatment with your manager, HR, or union. Use “I” statements to explain how specific actions make you feel.

    • Look for Fairness: Be aware of inequities in your workplace and advocate for yourself and others.

    • Be an Ally: Support colleagues who may feel marginalized, and reflect on your own biases.

  • For Organizations:

    • Ensure Transparent Policies: Make sure policies are clear and consistent, covering areas like hiring, promotions, and performance evaluations.

    • Address Biases: Actively work to eliminate biases in hiring and daily interactions.

    • Provide Channels for Grievances: Implement anonymous reporting systems or regular check-ins to give employees a voice.

    • Invest in Leadership Training: Ensure leaders are trained to promote fairness and lead by example.


TLDR: Perceived unfairness—whether through unequal workloads, favoritism, or lack of transparency—can breed burnout. Individuals should speak up when they feel treated unfairly and be an ally for others. Organizations must ensure transparent policies, address biases, and provide channels for grievances to foster fairness and build trust among employees.


5. Lack of Community

Burnout thrives in isolation. Without supportive communities, employees feel disconnected, increasing burnout risk. This isolation highlights systemic issues in organizational culture, where siloed departments weaken communication and understanding, forcing employees to face challenges alone, leading to disengagement and burnout.


When individuals focus on personal struggles, organizational goals suffer. Employees become preoccupied with their tasks, missing collaboration opportunities, which is particularly harmful in helping professions where teamwork and peer support are crucial for effective care. A shared purpose and mutual understanding are vital.


Research shows peer support effectively combats burnout and secondary traumatic stress. It fosters resilience, trust, and belonging, offering a protective buffer for mental health and job satisfaction. Having someone who understands and supports you can significantly enhance your work experience and help you thrive.


How to Tackle Lack of Community:

  • For Individuals:

    • Build Relationships: Take time to connect with colleagues—whether it’s a coffee break or a quick chat after a meeting, make time to build trust and camaraderie.

    • Peer Debriefing: Schedule regular debriefing sessions with peers to process experiences, share challenges, and provide support. In my blog post on debriefing (and my Debriefing as a Helping Professional online course), I discuss how to approach debriefing in a healthy way that fosters healing and resilience, without getting bogged down in negativity.

  • For Organizations:

    • Foster Teamwork: Encourage collaborative team-building activities, both formal and informal, to strengthen trust and communication.

    • Provide Mentorship Programs: Pair less experienced staff with mentors for guidance and support.

    • Integrate Regular Debrief Sessions: Make debriefing part of the workplace routine to help employees reflect on their work and share insights.

    • Mingle and Cross-Departmental Communication: Encourage mingling between departments to foster understanding and create a more cohesive workplace culture.


TLDR: Burnout thrives in isolation. Without a strong sense of community and support from colleagues, employees feel disconnected and unsupported. Individuals can build relationships and prioritize peer debriefing, while organizations should foster teamwork, offer mentorship, and implement regular debrief sessions to ensure employees feel connected and supported.


6. Conflicting Values

When personal values clash with an organization’s values or mission, it can cause inner conflict, harming emotional well-being and leading to burnout. Many enter helping professions, like healthcare or education, driven by a purpose to help others, based on beliefs in compassion and empathy. However, if organizations shift focus towards profit or bureaucracy, disillusionment can occur. This misalignment is evident when financial outcomes overshadow care, policies hinder support, or efficiency is prioritized over service quality. Employees may feel torn between their commitment to helping others and the organization’s new direction, leading to frustration and burnout.


This disconnect can cause moral injury, the emotional toll when individuals can’t act according to their ethical beliefs due to work constraints. This can lead to guilt, alienation, and emotional exhaustion. The pressure to conform to organizational mandates exacerbates this burden, causing disengagement, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness, resulting in compassion fatigue and diminished caregiving ability.


How to Tackle Conflicting Values:

  • For Individuals:

    • Reflect on Your Values: Take time to identify what truly matters to you and whether your work aligns with those values.

    • Link to Action: Regularly assess whether your daily actions align with your values and make adjustments when needed.

  • For Organizations:

    • Go Public with Your Values and Mission: Make sure organizational values are clear and reflected in daily operations.

    • Assess and Reflect Regularly: Periodically evaluate if the organization’s values align with its practices and make adjustments as needed.

    • Practice What You Preach: Leaders must model the values they promote, showing through action that they are committed to the well-being of employees.

    • Encourage Open Dialogue: Foster an environment where employees can share concerns about values misalignment and offer feedback to improve alignment.

TLDR: When personal values don’t align with organizational values, burnout can result from moral injury and disillusionment. Individuals should reflect on their values and advocate for alignment with their work. Organizations should ensure their values are clear, regularly assess alignment, and practice what they preach to ensure employees feel supported and connected to the organization's mission.



Tackling Burnout Together

Burnout isn’t just an individual problem—it’s an organizational issue that requires action from both individuals and organizations. By addressing these six contributing factors and implementing these approaches, both employees and employers can work collaboratively to reduce the risk of burnout and create healthier, more sustainable workplaces that foster engagement and satisfaction among all team members.



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We acknowledge with humility and respect that we do our work on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People. We are committed to reconciliation and equal partnership with Indigenous peoples; one based on truth, dignity, and mutual respect. 

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