How to Identify Burnout Culture: 6 Key Warning Signs to Watch For [2024 Guide]

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

In a previous article, I explored why I doubt there’s a single trigger for identifying burnout culture. A single element that would make us have that “Aha” moment of “there it is, I found it”.

Rather than searching for one definitive sign, we need to look at patterns emerging over time. Today, I’ll dive into reliable ways to spot burnout culture, both during job interviews and in your current workplace.

3 Ways to Identify Burnout Culture During Job Interviews

1. Inquire About Work-Life Balance Initiatives

I strongly recommend to ask potential employers about work-life balance initiatives currently running and, most importantly, 👀observe their responses/body language. This will provide you insights into the company’s values and the hiring manager’s care for employee well-being.

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model, a cornerstone in understanding workplace stress, states that an imbalance between job demands and resources leads to burnout. Companies with strong work-life balance typically offer:

• Flexible work arrangements;
• Clear boundaries around working hours;
• Mental health support;
• Adequate time off policies.

These initiatives signal a proactive stance against burnout culture.

2. Assess Team Dynamics and Support Structures

Understanding team dynamics and support mechanisms is crucial in evaluating the potential for burnout culture:

• How is feedback communicated?
• What happens when conflicts arise?
• How does the team handle high-pressure situations?

Strong interpersonal connections and relationships at work play a key role in buffering against the negative effects of job stress. Thus, a workplace that fosters strong and supportive relationships among employees is better positioned to mitigate the impacts of burnout culture.

Pro tip ➡️ Connect with former and current employees on LinkedIn to get authentic insights about workplace culture.

A company’s culture is described best by those who experience(d) it. Not by those who want to promote it.

3. Examine Transparency in Communication and Expectations

Do not shy away from asking inquisitive questions about the team’s dynamics, what expectations are and how they came up to be, etc.

Pay attention to how clearly the organization communicates expectations and handles your questions during the interview process. It will give you insights into the organization’s transparency and how clearly job expectations are conveyed.

Indeed, the mutual beliefs, perceptions, and informal obligations between an employer and an employee play a significant role in job satisfaction and organizational commitment—this psychological contract influences how they behave day in and day out towards one another.

Transparency in communication helps outline this implicit contract, align expectations and reduce the likelihood of a mismatch between organization and job seeker. Look for:

• Clear role descriptions;
• Transparent communication about challenges;
• Honest discussion of workload;
• Openness to questions about culture.

3 Ways to Identify Burnout Culture in Your Current Job

1. Constant Overtime and Lack of Boundaries

Clear signs of burnout culture are:

• The expectation of constant overtime ⏳;
• An ever-growing workload without sanity checks 🤪, and;
• A lack of respect for personal boundaries.

Look around: are the people being recognized for their work also the ones sending emails during the weekend or staying connected well into the evening? The habits of the employees who are celebrated will tell you what the organization values 📝.

As we all want to feel valued and appreciated, this pattern has a knock-on effect on the other employees who then imitate their peers in order to get the same reward. They do so despite how these actions can affect their overall well-being 😕.

So, recognizing this pattern is the first step in advocating for more sustainable work practices.

2. Diminished Team Morale and High Turnover Rates

Low team morale and high turnover rates can indicate a pervasive burnout culture. According to Maslach’s Burnout Inventory, key dimensions of burnout are:

• Emotional exhaustion;
• Depersonalization, and;
• Lack of personal accomplishment.

A work environment that consistently exhibits these characteristics is likely suffering from a systemic issue.

What’s the tone of the conversations you have with your teammates, colleagues from other departments? 🤨, 🤩, 🫣 or 🥲?

Don’t get me wrong: life at work (and in general) is not all sunshine and rainbows.

There are rush periods when we need to do more, there are slumps where we worry about the meaning of our work, etc…But when emotional outbursts, medical leaves or resignations are routine events, you ought to take a step back and look at the scheme of things🤔.

3. Lack of Recognition and Personal Growth Opportunities

Frederick Herzberg theorized that employee satisfaction has two dimensions: hygiene and motivation (also known as Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory). More specifically, the theory distinguishes:

• Hygiene factors, such as salary and supervision, which prevent employees’ dissatisfaction with their work environment;
• Motivators, such as recognition and opportunities for growth, which encourage job satisfaction and make employees more productive and committed to their work.

How a company values or invests in its employees taps into those motivators. That’s no surprise they are included in the U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being:

TL;DR – How to Identify Burnout Culture: 6 Key Warning Signs to Watch For

Burnout culture thrives when work environments lack balance, recognition, and transparency. Here are actionable ways to identify and address it:

Use these insights to advocate for healthier workplaces or make informed career moves. 🌟