Why a plan?

Burn-out does not appear over night. Colleagues, often also the management, have for some time seen that something is wrong, but they have not addressed the problem because they do not know what to do. The employee that is burning out has neither done anything because he or she feels trapped in the situation and has difficulty finding possible solutions. A plan makes it easier to take action for those who see that "something" is wrong.

Plan of action

The plan should contain actions that will be put into effect when burn-out is revealed. The main focus should be on employees that are close to becoming burned out, but the plan should also contain actions towards people that risk burning out in the long run due to their working habits. It is both time-consuming and difficult to treat fully blossomed burn-out. It is best to stop the development of burn-out before it gets severe. The earlier in the burn-out process actions are carried out, the better.

The plan should contain concrete actions:

• Identify short-term actions to stop the development of burn-out; for instance going on sick leave. It is important that the employees get time to get better and that they do not feel obligated to come back to work too soon. Returning to work should be gradually; both in hours, and responsibility/pressure to achieve

• Identify organization, tasks related and personal factors that led to the burn-out and necessary actions that can improve the situation. Possible actions are:
• with demanding and stressful tasks; give the employee other tasks and less demanding work situation
• with poor work environment or stressful management style; transfer the employee to another department. Is this the case, actions should also be carried out in the department, or towards the boss to prevent more employees to get burned out
• the employee gets training in stress coping and perhaps other courses/follow-up that may contribute to morea  suitable balance between rest, recreation and career
• Establish long-term follow-ups or routines that prevent the employee from getting burned out again

The plan should contain an overview over who is responsible for what.

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