Boredom or Burnout? How to Tell and What to Do About It

Boredom and burnout can look the same, but they have drastically different fixes. Do your employees have enough time and resources to do their jobs, but productivity is lacking?? It might be boredom.

When we notice low energy or disengagement from employees, it is easy to assume they might be burned out. The last few years of the pandemic were hard, and reports of high burnout among employees are everywhere.

Gallup reports that nearly 60% of employees are disengaged, and 28% are experiencing burnout. It is not hard to see how the two connect.

But what if burnout isn’t the issue, but rather boredom? Both can look like disengagement.

Humans need an optimal balance of pressure and resources to be motivated and energized for our work.

If we have high expectations or heavy demands, but few resources?we expect the strain on employees to lead to stress and burnout. If we have enough resources to do the job, but low expectations we are likely to see low motivation and boredom.

How do you diagnose whether an employee is burned out or bored?

• Consider the resources the employee has If staffing is adequate and the workload seems reasonable, it is more likely to be boredom than burnout. If employees are working short-staffed or handling expanded responsibilities, it is more likely to be a burnout issue.
• "What parts of the job energize you?" If the answer is none, the employee may have mastered their role. If the employee has an answer, discuss how their role might be able to evolve to do more of that type of work.
• "Which parts of the job use all of your strengths?" If they don’t have an answer, they may be experiencing a misalignment between their strengths and the requirements of the job. It might be time for a challenge demand that uses their individual strengths.

?If boredom is the culprit, consider these fixes:

Give them a new challenge demand

I recently signed up to run a half-marathon, which I haven’t done since way before having kids, a sedentary job, and getting deconditioned during COVID. I am the world’s okayest runner.

Why, you ask?

I am better at life when I am training for something. Pushing myself in one area usually makes me more disciplined in every area. I am getting up earlier, eating better, and getting more focused at work.

Giving employees something they need to train for can also help give them a motivational boost.

A challenge demand is a task or project that will be challenging, but that will give the individual a sense of growth or accomplishment once completed. Ideally, this will be an opportunity that also helps connect the employee back to the mission or goals of the organization.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour.

– The Task, William Cowper, 1875

A friend told their family they liked wooden nutcracker figures as a Christmas present around age 7. For the next 20 years, they paid for the mistake, receiving only wooden nutcrackers from all extended family.

Nobody wants the same thing over and over.

Sometimes employees are good at something, so they get asked to do more of it…. And more of it…. Until their jobs become quite mundane. Further, as we grapple with digital proliferation and rapidly expanding knowledge in science and medicine, job descriptions are getting narrower.

Task variety is important. Encourage employees to consider trading tasks, cross-training, or teaching others how to do certain tasks so that they can still have a sense of variety in the day.

Are you feeling a low sense of energy or engagement at work? Give some careful thought to whether you are feeling burned out or bored and ready for something new.

Lead Well,

Katherine

Katherine A. Meese, PhD

For more on this, check out my upcoming book with?Quint Studer?called The Human Margin: Building Foundations of Trust, coming soon from Health Administration Press.

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UAB Department of Health Services Administration?University of Alabama at Birmingham?UAB Medicine Office of Wellness