How to prevent, rescue burnt-out employees

By David Javitch

updated 5:46 p.m. ET Dec. 13, 2005

Highly motivated employees are true assets to any organization. They're productive, energetic, eager to take on additional responsibilities, and pleasant to be with and work with. Furthermore, they spread their enthusiasm and work ethic to others.

But every organization, no matter what the industry or what the size, also inevitably has non-performing, unmotivated, burning out — or burnt-out — employees as well. Therefore, to increase success, every business owner needs to deal with this obstacle by identifying unmotivated employees and "turning them around." But turning them around isn't as easy at it may seem, especially because as the employer you can't really "make" anyone be motivated! Remember the old adage, "You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink"? That, in a nutshell, is true with people as well. You can't motivate them if they don't want to be motivated. But you're the boss, so what can you do? First, you need to identify the signs of a person on the verge of burnout. Then you must create the atmosphere that encourages these non-performing employees to refresh and motivate themselves.

Identifying the signs of burnout
What are the signs of a lack of motivation or burnout? One of the key red flag symptoms is a decrease in performance or productivity. This is especially obvious when comparing an individual's past performance with current performance. Absent any serious reasons to explain away the change, de-motivation is usually the culprit. This leads us to the next red flag: an increase in the number of days missed. If you're in the midst of the flu season and a number of other employees call in sick, then ignore this absence. However, if someone who's rarely sick starts to miss work, then the likelihood is that de-motivation is the germ.

Here are more signals you need to be looking for and must begin to address:

• Attitude changes. The employee is usually upbeat, but now appears quiet, somber, sullen, disagreeable or even moody. Or the reverse — the employee becomes far more outgoing, energized or talkative than normal, typical or acceptable.
• Comments from co-workers that "something is wrong."
• Stress reactions. The job isn't being completed as well as in the past; the employee is jittery, short-tempered or difficult to get along with.
• Tardiness. The employee is arriving late in the morning and leaving early or at the exact end of the workday or shift.
• Change in lunch and coffee breaks. The employee takes more time than usual or doesn't take them at all.
• Decrease in positive interaction with other employees. He "just doesn't get along" as well with others anymore.
• Increase in errors.
• Decrease in productivity. There's an increase in time spent on projects without a subsequent increase in quality or productivity.

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