Employers may want to consider reducing unhealthy and unproductive workplace stressors that can lead to employee burnout, now that the World Health Organization has officially deemed it a medical condition.

“Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” WHO writes in the 11th revision of its handbook, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems.

Workers who experience burnout exhibit feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one's job or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy, according to the WHO.

These characteristics should prompt employers to address burnout “head-on,” according to Quartz.

“While personal exhaustion may be the first and perhaps most acknowledged symptom of burnout, the other two suggest that burned-out employees simply can't work as effectively,” Quartz writes.

The WHO handbook states that burnout should only be regarded in the context of work, and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life. Exclusions include adjustment disorder; disorders specifically associated with stress anxiety or fear-related disorders; and mood disorders. The WHO's ICD-11, the international standard for reporting diseases and health conditions that member states typically adopt, is slated to come into effect on January 1, 2022.

While employers can help workers combat burnout by providing stress management classes within wellness programs, they may also want to consider assessing conditions within their workplace to determine if certain things are causing undue stress, according to the Korn Ferry Institute.

Like bad bosses. A 2018 Korn Ferry survey of 2,000 professionals found that the largest source of stress comes from bosses. Other sources of stress come from dealing with changes in technology, increased workloads and interpersonal conflict.

“Organizations can take steps to help reduce stress, such as offering training on new technologies and development for managers on how best to lead,” Korn Ferry writes. “Leaders can restructure firms to dismantle anxiety-causing top-down corporate structures and eliminate authoritarian leadership styles.”

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Employee burnout now an official medical condition

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