Managers, here’s how to talk to an employee experiencing burnout

Employee burnout is not a new issue, but it has worsened, now surpassing even pandemic levels. Currently, 44% of U.S. employees report experiencing burnout at work. This alarming trend puts increasing pressure on managers, who often lack the training needed to address burnout effectively, further intensifying the problem.

As a leadership and team coach, I frequently work with managers facing demanding conditions and limited resources. These pressures can create prolonged, taxing environments that push teams toward exhaustion, with some members nearing burnout.

To mitigate these challenges, I help managers build teams that are better equipped to handle stress through resilience, agility, and a strong focus on personal well-being and professional growth. This comprehensive approach strengthens team endurance and adaptability, enabling them to thrive under pressure.

Understand the Context

Addressing burnout begins with empathy. As a people leader, it’s essential to understand your team’s experiences. Create a safe, open environment where employees are comfortable sharing their feelings and challenges without fear of judgment. To do so, ask thoughtful, open-ended questions to explore their personal experiences with stress and workload:

• Can you share what has been particularly challenging for you lately?
• What do you feel has contributed to these feelings?
• How have you been managing or coping with these pressures?

It’s essential to be truly present during these conversations and practice what we call in coaching “level 3 listening.” This means hearing what is being said and how it is said, while using your intuition to uncover any underlying factors contributing to the situation.

Acknowledge the Individual

It’s critical for leaders to communicate that experiencing burnout is not a sign of personal failure or weakness. As managers, we must normalize the conversation about burnout and recognize individual and systemic causes.

For example, you might say, “Burnout is the result of intense and prolonged stress, and it’s something many of us encounter. We’ve all faced it at different moments in our careers. It’s not a reflection of your abilities or worth. We’re all doing our best while working within imperfect systems.”

Acknowledging this helps destigmatize burnout and emphasizes that the problem often stems from organizational demands, rather than individual shortcomings.

Lead with Vulnerability

Sharing your own experiences with burnout can be incredibly powerful. Whether it’s your personal struggle with burnout or a story about supporting a colleague, family member, or friend, these examples humanize you as a leader and demonstrate that vulnerability is a strength, not a weakness.

If you haven’t personally experienced burnout, you can still share your experience helping someone who has. It’s also okay to admit if you’re new to this topic. Be open about your lack of experience, and emphasize your commitment to learning, collaborating with your team, and working with the organization to provide support.

Empower Individual Agency

As a manager, you get to work with your teammate to come up with solutions together. This may take the form of informal coaching and advising.

One thing you can do is to help your direct report reframe their situation by focusing on what they can control, such as setting healthy work boundaries or prioritizing tasks. Burnout expert and UC Berkeley Psychology Professor Christina Maslach has identified six areas contributing to burnout: unsustainable workload, perceived lack of control, insufficient rewards for effort, lack of a supportive community, lack of fairness, and mismatched values and skills.

Discuss the power of “selective engagement” to reduce what they say “yes” to. This can significantly reduce work-related stress and enhance job satisfaction. This might involve setting clear workplace boundaries, such as not taking work home, limiting communication after hours, or deciding which meetings are essential.

You might bring in an external coach who could help them address the following questions:

• What are your most important goals right now? How do your current tasks align with them?
• What boundaries could you set to protect your mental well-being?
• Who in your network can you contact for support and advice?

This is also a good time to encourage employees to envision changes that could improve their work-life balance and overall satisfaction. Ask questions like:

• What would you change about your job if you could?
• What would you advise your best friend to do in your situation?

These can spark creativity and help individuals envision a more sustainable and fulfilling professional life. Regaining hope and optimism about the future is essential in overcoming burnout.

Encourage Flexible Problem-Solving and Autonomy

Adaptability is key when managing uncertainty. Remind your employee that being in control doesn’t mean having all the answers. The focus should be on figuring things out, not having immediate solutions.

This is a great opportunity to share your personal experience. Discuss the value of flexibility and adapting to changing circumstances. This can reduce the pressure to solve every problem perfectly. Encourage them to let go of the “hero mentality.” Emphasizing flexibility and the ability to navigate imperfect solutions can relieve the pressure to perform flawlessly.

Autonomy is also a powerful remedy for burnout. By giving employees a degree of self-direction, you instill a sense of ownership and control over their work. This could manifest as flexible work hours, the freedom to choose projects aligned with their passions, or the ability to set personal goals. Even in small increments, autonomy can boost morale and productivity, as employees feel more engaged in outcomes they help shape.

For example, you might say: “Let’s take a moment to discuss what could give you a greater sense of control and reduce any feelings of anxiety. Can you share which parts of your workday feel out of control and how that impacts you?”

Allow them time to self-reflect and share. Conclude the conversation by asking them to commit to taking a small step that could positively impact their daily experience.

Enhance Your Employee’s Skill Set

Prioritizing skills development can be a key strategy in helping employees manage burnout. When speaking with your direct reports, it’s important to explore the root causes of their burnout. Identifying these underlying issues allows for more targeted and effective interventions.

If burnout stems from an unsustainable workload or a perceived lack of control due to a skills gap, providing opportunities for skill enhancement can be a powerful solution. By helping employees develop the competencies needed to perform their jobs more effectively, you empower them to manage their workload and reduce feelings of overwhelm.

Giving employee feedback is always challenging, but it requires even more knowledge, empathy, and understanding when addressing someone experiencing burnout. However, having open conversations about burnout is a critical step toward recovery. The key is to first address the immediate symptoms of burnout, then focus on building a workplace culture that prioritizes mental health and promotes sustainable work practices.

By doing this, you not only support the individual’s well-being but also positively impact the entire team, improving morale and productivity across the organization.