Burnout The erosion of the soul

A cross between helplessness and hopelessness.

A mismatch between the requirements of the job and the abilities of the employee.

Burnout can be the result of stress, low morale, poor working conditions, or simply having too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Occurs at every level of an organization from the mailroom to the boardroom.

It commonly occurs amongst helping professionals like teachers, nurses and social workers.

It also occurs amongst salespeople, customer service people, factory workers and white-collar executives.

First coined in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger,

in his book, Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement.

Defined burnout as, the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one's devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.