This article is an excerpt from our recent webinar, Burnout in the Nonprofit Sector: What you need to know, presented by Rensia Melles. Click here to view the full webinar recording and access all the additional resources.

We want to talk about what might be the root causes, and what are the kinds of things that can contribute [to burnout]. Because knowing the root causes, knowing the source, sets the course, right? So that way, when we understand what some of the things are…that will help us to set ideas that come up with a guide, an action plan for where we want to stop that cycle and start to turn it around.

So here are some of the risk factors: there are work-related risk factors. Now, you will notice that I put at the bottom [of the slide] an overwhelming workload. What Gallup found, and what is a recurring theme that they find with work satisfaction, work engagement, and work effectiveness, is that it’s not always the amount of work, even work-life balance isn’t always about working less – it’s about how you feel about your work and your work environment. And that’s really important.

So what’s going on in the workplace? How are you feeling? Is it a psychologically healthy and safe place for you to be? Do you feel that people have your back? Or, if you are a manager, is this an organization where people have each other’s back, where management has the back of the team, where team members have each other’s back, where they’re supported for each other, where there’s trust and autonomy?

When we talked about mental well-being, the first definition of mental health is about being able to be recognized, being able to thrive, to feel successful, and being able to use your abilities, that means that you have the autonomy to do those things, the trust from people to do those things. It also means that, for instance, you are given the tools, the training, and the resources, to do what you have to do and that you have the support to do it. So those are some of the things that are risk factors in the workplace, if you are not getting those things, if the relationships aren’t working, if the circumstances and the tools aren’t in place.

Also, if you’re not working to your strengths, and I love this one, this is one that doesn’t come up a lot, but it can be extremely hard. If you are essentially a left-handed person, and you’re doing right-handed work – that’s a lot more work than doing left-handed work. So, the point is that an organization needs to use you for your strengths. You need to be looking for your strengths, knowing your strengths, and be able to apply those and to speak up about those things. But, as an organization, it’s important to look at whether I am allowing people to work to their strengths or if I am trying to put a square peg into a round hole. 

There are also personal factors, which we carry with us that can impact how at risk we are for going into burnout. And that has a lot to do with how enmeshed I am with my work. Is my whole identity my workplace, is my whole identity being perfect, always doing the right thing? Whether that’s at home or at work? Do I give myself permission? Have I got values that are actually helpful or do I have values that are destructive? Is my whole self-esteem tied up into always doing the right thing, always getting it right, always getting everything done? Am I my job? Do I put difficult demands on myself?

The other thing is, have I put myself in a place where I’m actually working to my strengths? Do I know what my strengths are and am I actually using them or am I one of those people that thinks, well I’m really good at A so, you know what, I think I’m going to go do B so I can get good at that. That is not always the right way to work. You know, you can stretch, but leveraging your strengths makes you also stronger. There’s nothing wrong with saying I’m going to do what I’m good at. And I’m not going to try and do something that I’m not good at and kill myself and press on myself to try and get that done. 

And then of course there are also circumstances that contribute. What are you juggling? Are you going through a new marriage? Are you going through a separation? Are you grieving? Are you in a financially insecure place? People may be juggling a lot of different balls and so those are things are not workplace-related, but it is the context in which you are also juggling those work responsibilities.

And then last but not least is the human giver syndrome. Do you suffer from human giver syndrome? And, human giver syndrome is really something that people do at home and at work, and it’s a very high-risk factor for people in the nonprofit sector. This is where other people’s needs are always more important than yours. So you suspend what you need to do for yourself. You suspend taking breaks. You suspend taking care of your health. You don’t go and do your annual doctor’s visit. You don’t go to the dentist. You’re not doing the things that you need to do for your health. You’re not making sure you get to bed on time. You’re not making sure you get good nutrition because you know you’re so absorbed in giving and taking care of others until you burn out and there’s nothing left to give. So this is one that is very common and it has a lot to do also with some of the unique factors of the nonprofit sector.

Want to learn more about burnout and how to address it in your own life and at your organization? Watch the full webinar recording here.