Numerous surveys and studies confirm that occupational pressures and fears are far and away the leading source of stress for American adults

Over the years, the American Institute of Stress has gathered statistics on workplace stress that makes for depressing reading: over 80% of workers feel stress on the job, 19% or almost one in five respondents had quit a previous position because of job stress and nearly one in four have been driven to tears because of workplace stress. Almost half of respondents named workload as the main culprit of stress, which goes in line with the trend of  Americans to work longer and harder. 

79 percent of employees who quit their jobs claim that a lack of appreciation was a major reason for leaving

OC Tanner research makes it for depressing reading: 79 percent of employees who quit their jobs claim that a lack of appreciation was a major reason for leaving, while 65 percent of Americans claimed they weren’t even recognized one time last year. 

The surprising tipping point that defines whether employees will end up burnt out 

Berkeley professor Christina Maslach, who pioneered academic research on the topic, identified three symptoms of burnout as emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. In her latest research, she and Michael Leiter tried to figure out whether it is possible to predict who would burn out. 

But it’s still your job to retain your key talents

The masterminds behind the quitting algorithm, professors Brooks Holtom of Georgetown University and David Allen of Texas Christian University, used big data and machine learning to identify the employees who are most likely to quit.

Watch for these 6 signs of burnout in your employees and yourself 

It is easy to blame heavy workload for burnout. But despite being a foremost culprit, it’s not the only one: Christina Malasch, the Berkeley professor and pioneer researcher on the topic, names five other areas of worklife “that encompass the central relationships with burnout."

Despite being a costly problem for employees and companies alike, burnout is still perceived as a personal issue or an indicator of incompetence and being unfit for the job. Rather, it is a challenge that needs to be tackled from an organizational level. Harvard Business Review looked into companies with high burnout rates and identified three common culprits of burnout as excessive collaboration, weak time management disciplines, and a tendency to overload the most capable with too much work. 

15 easy tips that managers can implement to improve the wellbeing of their teams 

Burnout rarely has one cause, it usually results from a combination of issues. As a manager, you’ll need to get to the core of the issue and understand the reasons behind the stress. Remember, many stressors are within your power to correct or improve and they typically fall in broader categories such as unclear tasks and expectations, micromanagement or heavy workload.