We often use burnout as an interchangeable term with "stress". But the two couldn't be more different. So what is burnout? Is it real? And how can you mitigate it's effects? The problem with burnout and HRHR is expected to champion wellbeing programmes in the workplace, manage people and ensure they don’t run into a company-wide burnout crisis — all the while, they themselves are facing burnout at the highest rate out of everyone. With HR burnout on the rise and recent research finding 77% of employees have experienced at least one burnout symptom in the past year, we thought it time to bring out the multi-talented burnout expert to help us navigate beating burnout in the workplace once and for all: Kelly Swingler. Watch the full conversation with Kelly Swingler here.In the belly of burnout Kelly Swingler is a former HR director turned 5-time author, TEDx speaker and highly sought-after burnout consultant on a mission to help organisations worldwide build burnout-resistant workforces. But none of her success was born without first experiencing burnout herself to the utmost degree. “I reached burnout in 2013, but I didn’t know at the time that it was burnout. Nobody seemed to know what it was. I was kind of in and out of hospital for 7 months,” she said. She didn’t know the cause, couldn’t stop herself from working and didn’t even know she had to. “I ended up having two operations in 48 hours, went back to work, thought everything was fine. But I knew I didn’t fit in in this toxic workplace I was in,” she said. And when she finally got out of the business, she got devastating news not long after: “I received a phone call that said that my replacement had died whilst in her sleep on a leadership residential.” It wasn’t until this final straw that Kelly started to truly see into the belly of the beast — she soon found out she wasn’t the first one to fall ill in that organisation. There were numerous others. And that’s when her trajectory and mission shifted. She narrowed her focus to the changes that needed to be made in the working world today. Because something was clearly broken. And if she could help it, no more people were going to be in such ill health they end up hosptalised, or dead, because of a corporate job. But the way we’re going, it’s not looking good. “I had a conversation with somebody last week,” said Kelly. “Who, while she’s reading her daughter bedtime stories, is hiding her phone under the quilt so that she can respond to emails.” This is the level of toxic working habits that are creeping into people’s lives. And that stress, even if it’s not noticeable at first, becomes truly detrimental over time. “I had a list of 20 self-care things that I was doing on a daily basis,” she said. “But then I reached burnout a second time. My second almost killed me. I live now with like 2 invisible disabilities all as a result of burnout.”That’s when Kelly started hosting workshops and diving into the nitty gritty details with businesses of all kinds to assess burnout risk and build strategies to prevent it in the workplace. “I wanted to understand stress from a neuroscience perspective, from a psychology perspective,” says Kelly. “I’m absolutely convinced that burnout will kill our confidence our career and us if we’re not careful. And that’s why I’m on a mission to do something about it.” We were lucky enough to have her join a discussion with us in the Yuniverse where she gave some incredible insight for HR professionals in all industries on managing the risks of burnout and avoiding it themselves before the consequences rear their ugly heads. Kelly helped us to understand the nuances of what we’re doing wrong — and we’ve rounded up 4 key steps that HR and employers should focus on today to help beat burnout, and move their people — and themselves — away from this dangerous crisis. Step 1: Address burnout facts & falsities in the workplace First, it’s vital to understand what happens when one experiences burnout. Basically, we start operating primitively — we are in fight or flight mode constantly just trying to get through the day, and it’s a space where innovation cannot happen. It’s detrimental not only to the health and wellbeing of the individual, but burnout is a parasite to productivity and efficiency in the workplace. That’s why it’s important to truly educate and understand the facts around burnout in order to stop it from taking over your workforce. Especially because there are many misconceptions that people often have about burnout Some common misconceptions include: Burnout is a mental health condition: While burnout can cause mental health conditions, burnout itself is not a mental health condition that should be maintained or lived with. Burnout is a state that one reaches when one experiences chronic, extensive exhaustion to the point of being unable to cope or execute daily tasks. Chronically experiencing burnout can have immense impacts on your physical and mental wellbeing. Burnout means failure or a lack of resilience: The most at-risk people are those who are perfectionists, workaholics and those who truly care about other people and enjoy the work that they do. And most of them will feel as though admitting to burnout means they’ve failed or aren’t resilient enough. Create an understanding that burnout is simply a result of too much work and not enough resources. It’s not a reflection of the individual’s capabilities. Burnout simply means high stress: People often talk about experiencing burnout casually at the end of a long week, or describe themselves as being “burnt out”, but then feeling cured after a relaxing weekend away. Stress and burnout aren’t the same thing. The cause of burnout is prolonged stress over an extended period — like months or sometimes even years — that results in complete exhaustion and inability to manage day-to-day tasks, often resulting in illness. Stress is adaptive, and can come in short bursts. When it’s prolonged and continuously maladaptive—that’s when burnout hits. While understanding the misconceptions, it’s equally important to know the tell-tale signs of burnout in order to truly stop it from taking over the workplace. For a full list of signs, symptoms and checklists to help you identify burnout in the workplace, check out our Anti-Burnout Book available to download FREE right here.Step 2: Establish who you are Kelly’s #1 tip for preventing burnout for HR leaders and executives: know your why. She urges leaders to ask themselves:“Who are you? We’ve gotta take it back to the purpose and the vision and the mission and actually what we are here for,” expresses Kelly. “We are not in business to be constantly busy — we are there to make a difference.” Take the time as a leadership team to know your business. Who are you as leaders? Who are you as a team of leaders? And what is the ultimate mission of your company on a larger scale?The more you connect yourselves and employees to that reality, the more likely you are to not just be constantly ‘busy’, and actually generate output that makes an impact. It’s important to note, however, that while establishing clarity around purpose is vital for employers — burnout prevention also requires committed effort from your employees. If employees truly understand their purpose and themselves as individuals, they will become more resilient to burnout. Step 3: Stop using EAPs and benefits to mask a toxic culture “I think [EAPs] can absolutely be useful,” says Kelly. “I think where we fall into a trap is where organisations use the EAP almost as an excuse for them not to be accountable.” Unfortunately, many toxic workplaces use wellbeing programmes and EAPs as scapegoats for allowing a toxic workplace culture to persist. While compensating employees with benefits builds loyalty and satisfaction, it doesn’t truly combat the systems and habits that are making people sick. The truth is: tools aren’ts solutions. They have to be offered in tandem with workplace reorganisaion and proper values being instilled at a leadership level. “4-day working will not solve burnout unless we’re doing it for the right reasons,” says Kelly. “If you’re still working with a toxic culture but you know jazz-handing ‘but we do a 4-day workweek…' it’s not going to make a difference.” EAPs and wellbeing programmes are incredibly imporant for building a holsitically healthy workplace, but they can’t be band-aids for psychologically unsafe work environments and unhealthy expectations in return. They are added benefits, not bargaining chips. Step 4: Small consistent steps vs. big leaps The key is to understand that none of us are immune to experiencing burnout. Stop waiting for the next weekend, holiday or break, instead, create aciontable change that can be sustianed long-term.Healthy behaviour change and systematic change in the unhealthy, corporate norms we’ve built is only going to happen through strength in numbers and repeated action. “We want new neural pathways,” says Kelly. “And we only are able to do that through consistency. So there’s no one and done.” In order to avoid burnout and build a sustainable, long-term workplace strategy that’s accessible and easy to replicate is through adopting small, actionable steps that can be executed consistently. About YuLifeYuLife is working to reimagine the insurance industry by protecting lives, rewarding living and inspiring life. We’re on a mission to transform traditional insurance into a life-enhancing experience each employee will value and use daily. How does it work?Our award-winning app uses behavioural science and game mechanics to reward your people for living well while offering protection in case of crisis. And with our top-rated employee assistance programme, your team gets access to mental, financial and social support, virtual GPs, nutritionists, life coaches and more to help them live their best lives.Because we believe that your employees should benefit from their insurance from day one — and that wellbeing should be accessible every day, for everyone.Request a demo for your team today.