Jennifer Moss reminds us in her "The Burnout Epidemic" that the causes of burnout are organizational rather than individual.
Indeed, there are personalities who tend to say yes to everything, take on new tasks too eagerly, there are perfectionists and those who want to help everyone, but workload is an organizational issue.
Here are some signs from my personal consulting experience that tell me something about the potential stress level of an organization already at first glance:
⚡️Strategy looks like a 100 item to-do list or a wishlist without clear priorities and direction, or there is no strategy/vision/focus at all
⚡️Managers expect employees to work productively for all 8 hours (all 8 are counted as so-called billable hours)
⚡️The number of employees has been reduced so that all existing tasks have been distributed among the remaining employees
⚡️New tasks/projects/products/services are initiated with the same number of employees without giving up anything
⚡️More than two newcomers per existing employee have been hired within less than six months time
⚡️Deadlines and goals are set from the top down without asking the actual performers if it's feasible or what else is on their agenda
⚡️A lot of reporting and information sharing (including meetings) takes place without asking "why" it is necessary
⚡️Rewards and salary increases are based on something other than competence and performance
⚡️There are no visible agreements/values/discussion on how we work together
Here are some signs from my personal consulting experience that tell me something about the potential stress level of an organization already at first glance:
⚡️Strategy looks like a 100 item to-do list or a wishlist without clear priorities and direction, or there is no strategy/vision/focus at all
⚡️Managers expect employees to work productively for all 8 hours (all 8 are counted as so-called billable hours)
⚡️The number of employees has been reduced so that all existing tasks have been distributed among the remaining employees
⚡️New tasks/projects/products/services are initiated with the same number of employees without giving up anything
⚡️More than two newcomers per existing employee have been hired within less than six months time
⚡️Deadlines and goals are set from the top down without asking the actual performers if it's feasible or what else is on their agenda
⚡️A lot of reporting and information sharing (including meetings) takes place without asking "why" it is necessary
⚡️Rewards and salary increases are based on something other than competence and performance
⚡️There are no visible agreements/values/discussion on how we work together