If you show up to work, only to see a star employee lose their productivity and work without their usual spark, then you might be dealing with a burned out employee.

What is employee burnout, and what causes it?

Employee burnout is exactly what the name suggests: the case when an employee is overworked to the point that their entire motivational streak is pulled right out of them. They work sluggishly, while harbouring cynical thoughts throughout. They feel so disengaged from work, that they don’t feel the need to give their 100% anymore.

Although this is pretty common for any employee to feel at some point, it spells trouble for the entrepreneur. The moment their workforce stops giving their all, the productivity of the overall product will also fall – and so will profits.

Here are some surefire ways you can manage employee burnout:

Notice It Before It Escalates

Burnout is something that settles and builds up during a long period. Instead of dealing with the point-of-no-return, recognise the early signs first.

Some of the most common and visible symptoms include:

• Showing up late or leaving early
• Isolation
• Pessimistic approach to work
• Frequent unexplained absences

Be observant, and make sure your managers also keep their eyes opened. The more people are informed, the easier you can nip the bud before the weed ruins the entire crop.

Understand Why It’s Happening

After realising whether it’s happening or not, now it’s time to understand why it exists in the first place.

The causes vary from person to person. It may be because of excessive workload, having their hard work pass by without acknowledgement, working overtime with no rewards, or having stressful deadlines. The possibilities are endless, but there’s one thing common in them all: they all cause distress to the employee, making their working period both problematic and tiring. The sooner you understand the root cause, the better you can work towards a solution.

Talk It Out Openly

The best way you can solve a problem is by talking about it – the more open you are about it with your employee, the better.

Conduct regular meetings, and ask them about the issue; let them be open and voice their concerns without any repercussions, making sure nothing is left for implication. Once you know your employees’ needs and thoughts, it’ll be easier to relieve them of their feelings of burnout. Furthermore, a stronger sense of trust is built between you and your workforce.

Motivate, Motivate, Motivate!

We can’t stress this enough! Employees like it when their hard work is appreciated, so be sure to encourage the positives as much as possible.

In case you encounter a negative from them, make sure you acknowledge it, without stressing on it too much. Give your employees to grow from the mistake, instead of regretting it every step of the way.

Another way to motivate them is by changing up their work every once in a while. Mixing it up helps employees try new fields, and hence build their skills even more. Trying something new helps expand their horizons, so that their productivity levels shoot up.

In fact, you can see the increase in productivity using an employee management system. Instead of investing in one separately, you can find an employee management software in Pakistan within Oscar POS. It lets you filter each employee’s performance through custom ID segmentation, so that you can see how well everyone is contributing – whether it’s by sales or customer feedback.


Employee burnout can be a menace, because it can happen to even the best employee out there. Be ready to notice the problem as soon as it surfaces, instead of letting it fester and damage your entire business.