Burnout assessment tools are used to detect states of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. Measuring burnout at work is an important step for organization’s as it helps both individuals and teams identify the potential risk of psychological distress; highlighting areas for improvement, and leading to greater overall workplace morale, performance, and productivity.
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) evaluates individuals’ experiences in the workplace and determines their risk of burnout. Taking a multidimensional approach to burnout assessment, the BAT provides a comprehensive understanding of employees’ well-being, promoting avenues for effective intervention strategies and improvement.
What Is Burnout?
According to the American Psychological Association, burnout is a state of “[…]physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others.”
Burnout can result from consistently performing at a high, stress-fueled level in which prolonged mental or physical overwhelm and exertion from workload takes its toll. In addition to a overbearing workload, burnout can result from:
- A lack of control.
- Insufficient rewards.
- Management practices.
- Poor workplace dynamics.
- An imbalanced work and personal life.1
What Are The Effects Of Burnout?
The effects of burnout are wide-ranging and potentially severe. In the workplace, we see its impact on both an individual and organization-wide level. Effects of burnout can include decreased performance and productivity, increased absenteeism, reduced well-being and higher incidences of mood disorders, and more staff turnover rates.1,2
Why Is It Important to Measure Burnout?
It’s important to measure burnout due to its detrimental impact on both an individual and the broader team. Regardless of the reason burnout develops, if the prolonged mental overwhelm continues and it is not understood early on in the process, the feelings of exhaustion can move onto feelings of depression, eventually impacting many areas of life (also personal).
In the workplace, the symptoms of burnout can include:
- Physical and emotional exhaustion. leading to an individual feeling incapable of handling personal or professional challenges.
- Social withdrawal. including distancing oneself from colleagues and feeling frustration towards others.
- Reduced performance. including handling responsibilities, concentrating, and the ability to be creative.
- Mental burnout. including self-doubt, lack of identity and purpose, dissatisfaction, and feelings of failure.
- Physical burnout. including extreme fatigue, increased occasions of illness, body aches, insomnia, and loss of appetite.1-4
Although burnout rates differ across types of employment and industries, according to research, approximately 27% of individuals experience symptoms of burnout at some point in their lifetime. Such a high percentage may have significant personal and organizational implications, including mental health problems and reduction in job satisfaction and performance.1
Measuring burnout can provide avenues for identification of risk factors, as well as effective intervention strategies which could improve satisfaction on individual and organizational levels. This point is important to remember; although the symptoms of burnout are experienced on an individual level, it’s also important to consider how an organization’s culture and structure, as well as teams’ dynamics, impact how a person experiences burnout at work.
It’s clear that burnout can be detrimental to workplace satisfaction and productivity, demonstrating the need for effective measurement tools.
What Does The Burnout Assessment Tool Measure?
Burnout is typically assessed through the use of validated, reliable self-report measures which inquire about the symptoms and impact of burnout.
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is a validated assessment, originally created by a team of researchers led by Schmitz and Wilkins. The BATs purpose is to assess burnout across its various dimensions, including physical, emotional, and behavioral components.5,6
The key components measured by The Burnout Assessment Tool include:
- Emotional exhaustion.
- Cynicism, towards the job role or colleagues.
- Professional competence or accomplishment.
- Personal burnout outside of job related influences.
- Professional burnout specific to job-related factors.
- Client-related burnout from the emotional stress of dealing with client/patient interactions.
The Burnout Assessment Tool is suitable for a wide-range of occupational environments, and, although it is not diagnostic, it is invaluable for providing insight into individual and organizational functioning and well-being.
Example Items on The BAT
1. I feel emotionally drained from my work.
2. I have become less interested in my work.
3. I feel I am making a valuable contribution at work.
4. I feel burned out from my personal life.
5. I feel overwhelmed by the demands of my job.
6. I find it hard to care about my clients.
Measure Burnout At Work With MindOnly
In our Attachment At Work assessment, we combine The Burnout Assessment Tool with other measures which assess aspects of psychological well-being (including self-esteem, resilience, and emotion regulation).
Additionally, the Attachment At Work assessment helps teams to perform at their personal and professional ideal by measuring and reporting on group dynamics, including:
- Psychological safety.
- Team identification.
- Team-member exchange.
- Leader-member exchange.
- How to lead a thriving team.
Conclusion: The Burnout Assessment Tool
In a world where work environments are becoming increasingly more demanding, understanding and preventing burnout is crucial to employee and organizational well-being and productivity. Measuring burnout using a reliable and valid tool helps organizations to pinpoint burnout early, identify risk factors, and implement effective intervention strategies; preventing long term implications of psychological and emotional burnout.
The Burnout Assessment Tool is suitable for a wide-range of occupational environments and is invaluable for providing insight into individual and organizational functioning and well-being. As part of our Attachment At Work assessment, we are thrilled to be able to offer that insight; promoting individual and organizational satisfaction.
References
[1] Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout: A guide to identifying burnout and pathways to recovery. Harvard Business Review Press.
[2] Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Euwema, M. C. (2005). Job resources buffer the impact of job demands on burnout. Journal of occupational health psychology, 10(2), 170.
[3] Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293-315.
[4]Taris, T. W., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2015). Individual well-being and performance at work: A conceptual and theoretical overview. In M. van Veldhoven & R. Peccei (Eds.), Well-being and performance at work: The role of context (pp. 15–34). Psychology Press.
[5] Schaufeli, W. B., Desart, S., & De Witte, H. (2020). Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT)-Development, Validity, and Reliability. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(24), 9495
