[johhns4]

If it is a constant issue where dedicated employees feel burnt out, then of course it is his business. I don't think the solution is to find less engaged people to work. It's not just about the employees, it is also about the general work and the value the team will bring. Maybe hiring low effort people will solve the problem, but then again so will no employees at all as well I suppose.

As a manager, you should work towards keeping people engaged, doing good work, while making sure they don't burn out.

If people are on the brink of burn out, it's not a "it's their own fault for caring about their work." It's because they're trying to do their actual jobs and care enough about the results.

I find this trend where we're just blaming people that burn out for caring about the work they do interesting, what's the end result? Just a bunch of people playing politics and laying around waiting for the day to end?

I rather work with someone that cares and does a good job but just needs a break, give them support so they can do their jobs, rather than force them to quit 'because they're a pain in the ass' for giving a shit.

[paulcole]

If somebody cares about their job more than themselves, that’s not a good thing either. If the business can get results with people who don’t require constant discussion of and attention to burnout, why wouldn’t they take that alternative?

A manager can’t keep people engaged. A manager can create an environment where a person can choose to be engaged, but it’s not something the manager can conjure up.

Sure it’s great for a company to create an environment that lets people care about their work and be 100% happy with their work-life-balance, but to say that it’s solely the employer’s responsibility is passing the buck IMO.

Personally, I look out for my well-being and I know nobody else will care about that as much as I do. I’m not going to blame my employer for burning me out, I’m going to accept some of the responsibility as well because I’m the one who suffers most.

[johhns4]

It's hardly that black and white. If people are burnt out there is a reason for it, blaming them won't make the problem go away.

I've seen this in a few where there is certainly an environmental issue but it's easier to blame the individual. Removing them never helped and it just tears in a lot of places, especially the ones that was held up by the employee itself. Usually the employee is quite clear about these areas as well.

You have to remember that in these cases, the person feeling burnt out is taking on too much to keep the organization going. The issue isn't the person but the expectation and workload. I've seen employees try to make it work so they can have some semblance of work life balance.

With regards to your first comment there, some organizations don't realize the work that they are putting on to one person. I've heard comments like "why don't they just stop caring about the work?" for their own organization. You think founders and managers want people to stop caring about the work? No. They say it to put blame elsewhere and then know that the work will keep going like always. If it stops, they'll get pissed off and argue that the employee isn't doing their job.

It's great that you are looking out for yourself, but people being put in these situations shouldn't get blamed. They literally just care about the work, and usually they do amazingly. Without these people then I don't think most organizations would have gotten as far as they have.

I do agree with you though, that best is to make sure you don't put yourself in this kind of situation.

However, the most talented and driven people do care a lot about the work they do, they put a lot of pride in it. In this case it's important to put guardrails in place and I think many are doing this right now.