“Smart Engagement” – Preventing Highly-Motivated Employees from Burning Out

I recently came across an interesting article in the Harvard Business Review written by Emma Seppala and Julia Moeller: 1 in 5 Highly Engaged Employees Is at Risk of Burnout. As its name suggests, the article discusses the “dark side” of employee engagement—highly engaged employees often suffer high levels of stress, which can lead to employee burnout. But the article also provides a few suggestions of how to foster “smart engagement,” which Seppala and Moeller describe as the kind of engagement “that leads to enthusiasm, motivation, and productivity, without the burnout.” 

In short, to prevent highly-motivated and high-performing employees from becoming burned out and leaving the organization altogether, employers should do more than offer wellness programs focused on healthy eating, exercise, or mindfulness. According to Seppala and Moeller, employers should ensure that the workloads of productive employees or those with a particular skill set are not overburdened and increase the resources available to employees, including intangible resources such as the ability to disengage when not working. 

After reading Seppala and Moeller’s article, ask yourself how your organization can support smart engagement.