Are Your Go-To Employees on the Brink of Burnout?

Click to text me what you got out of this episode.

Are you aware of the hidden challenges your best employees may be facing? This episode of Mental Health Potluck tackles the critical issue of workplace burnout, particularly focusing on so-called go-to employees—those indispensable staff members you consistently rely on for their skills and expertise. We discuss how these individuals, often viewed as the backbone of organizations, may be at the greatest risk for burnout due to the extra pressures placed upon them in today’s fast-paced work environments. 

Join us as we dive into the nuanced signs and symptoms of burnout—exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficiency—and how these indicators can develop subtly over time. Discover how workplace culture can glorify overwork, creating an environment where admitting to failure seems impossible. We shine a light on the unique emotional burdens carried by professions like teaching, nursing, and social work, where the emotional labor and high expectations can exacerbate burnout rates. 

Moreover, the episode delivers actionable insights for leaders who may unknowingly contribute to their employees' burnout. Are you aware of the workloads you're placing on your team? Are you blurring boundaries by expecting constant availability? We outline essential questions leaders can ask themselves to recognize and mitigate their influence on team burnout. 

Prioritizing mental well-being isn't just beneficial for employees—it's good for business, fostering stronger, more engaged teams. We encourage all listeners, especially those in leadership roles, to reflect on their practices and take significant steps to promote a healthier work environment. Tune in, evaluate your roles, and start transforming your workplace culture into a beacon of well-being! Subscribe and be part of this essential conversation!

About Danny Clark
Danny Clark is a licensed clinical social worker and family therapist based in Houston, Texas. As the founder of Texas Insight Center, he specializes in helping individuals, couples, and families navigate mental health challenges with practical, evidence-based approaches.

💡 Is therapy right for you? Let’s talk. If you’re struggling with stress or emotional regulation or just want to explore healthier coping strategies, reach out for a consultation. Visit www.texasinsightcenter.com to learn more and schedule a session.

📩 Have a question or topic suggestion? Send it to [e-mail]

You can also follow me on Instagram @texasinsightcenter or visit my webpage at texasinsightcenter.com

Join the conversation! Share your key takeaways using #MentalHealthPotluck or tag me on social media.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Research shows that go-to people in work
environments those who arereliable, helpful and
consistently sought after fortheir skill or expertise are
more prone to burnout.
This happens because they oftentake on disproportionate amount
of responsibilities, experiencepressure to always deliver and
can struggle to set boundaries.
So, as a manager or a leader inyour organization, are you

(00:22):
pushing your go-to employeestowards burnout?
Or a leader in yourorganization, are you pushing
your go-to employees towardsburnout?
Welcome to Mental HealthPotluck, where everyone brings
something to the table.
I'm Danny Clark, licensedclinical social worker and
family therapist.
This podcast is all aboutserving up bite-sized mental
health insights, practicalwellness tips and real

(00:43):
conversations that nourish themind and the soul.
Today, we're tackling workplaceburnout how to identify it,
what causes it and, mostimportantly, how organizations
and leaders can prevent it.
Because burnout occurs througha slow progression, people don't

(01:05):
often recognize that it'shappening when it's happening,
but there are a few differentways that you can consider if
you are experiencing burnout orif somebody in your workplace is
experiencing burnout.
So when we look at what burnoutis, it's actually a chronic
stress response.
It's not a one-time deal.
It's something that builds upover time and when we look at it

(01:32):
, we look at it based on threedifferent components.
The first one is exhaustion Arepeople feeling physically and
emotionally drained whilethey're at work?
Another one is cynicism, andthis one is important because
this is where we start to detachfrom work and sort of lose its
purpose, and so it's reflectivein a lot of ways, and like how
you respond to emails or way youtalk to different people in
meetings and things like that.
The last one is inefficiency,and this is feeling like your

(01:55):
work doesn't matter, and there'sa sense that whatever you do is
overlooked or not evenrecognized.
What's important to know isthat it's not an individual
failure.
Burnout is a response to anunhealthy work environment, and
so sometimes it's not so muchabout how do you fix or change
your habits as much as it is.
Sometimes you have to changeyour environment or the

(02:17):
environment has to change itself.
So people often struggle torecognize burnout because it
develops gradually and can bemistaken for everyday stress or
fatigue.
But there are reasons whyburnout occurs, and they can be
difficult to identify.
Normalizing of overwork is oneof the biggest, most prevalent

(02:38):
reasons why people have burnout.
This is when there's a workculture that glorifies being
busy, making exhaustion seemlike a badge of honor rather
than a warning sign.
The other one is slowprogression.
So it's something that younotice.
You're changing over time.
So, while you look at thepresent moment that you're
feeling anxious or you mightfeel stressed or you don't feel

(03:00):
motivated, what's best is tolook at where you were, or when
did that start to occur, and didit occur because of some kind
of event or a change in the workenvironment?
Another reason why burnout ishard to recognize is because
there's a blurred line betweenwhat is stress and what is
burnout.
You see, stress is often seenas temporary, while burnout is

(03:21):
chronic.
People may believe that theyjust need to take a short break
or go on a vacation, but theydon't realize their exhaustion
is persistent.
You see, stress can happenbecause you have a project
that's going on and there's somenew changes that are occurring,
but burnout is where you havesomething that is persistently
occurring that makes you moreand more unhappy and unfulfilled

(03:42):
in the job that you're doing.
And lastly, the thing that'sthe most critical is that
there's a lot of different waysin which we may not even
recognize it happening, becausewe're in this mode of adaptation
to our work environment.
If stress and exhaustion areyour everyday norm.
It's easy to stop questioningthem when everyone around you is
also exhausted.

(04:02):
You might assume it's just partof the job.
Many people notice theheadaches, the constant fatigue,
the stomach issues, but theydon't connect it to the
emotional exhaustion.
Instead of addressing the rootcause, they treat the symptoms
with caffeine, painkillers orjust pushing through.
What results in all of this isthat there's a denial of burnout

(04:23):
occurring, and admitting toburnout can feel like failure or
weakness, especially inhigh-performance environments.
The grind is glorified andsaying you're struggling can
feel like a wave of a white flag.
We know that some industries andjobs are more susceptible to
burnout, but caring professionslike teachers, nurses and social

(04:46):
workers experience it at someof the highest rates.
It's not just about long hoursor workload.
It's the emotional labor, theconstant giving, supporting and
problem-solving that wears themdown.
For example, teachers aremanaging classrooms, meeting
academic standards, supportingstudents emotionally and often
dealing with underfunded systems.
Nurses face high patient loads,unpredictable shifts and the

(05:09):
emotional toll of caring forpeople in crisis.
Social workers are navigatingcomplex cases, advocating for
vulnerable populations and oftenworking with bureaucratic
systems that make change verydifficult for people.
And these professions don'tjust require physical effort.
They demand emotional andmental energy, often without
adequate support or resources.

(05:29):
So burnout in the field doesn'tjust impact the profession.
It affects students, patientsand communities who rely on them
.
What we know is that burnoutdoesn't just happen in isolation
.
It's shaped by workplaceculture, expectations and
leadership.
When it comes to recognizingand supporting employees

(05:50):
experiencing burnout, managersand leaders play a huge role.
A good leader doesn't just pushfor results.
They pay attention to how theirteam is getting there.
Research has shown that go-topeople in work environments
those who are reliable, helpfuland consistently sought after
for their skills and expertiseare more prone to burnout.

(06:11):
This happens because they oftentake on disproportionate
amounts of responsibility.
They experience pressure toalways deliver and can struggle
to set boundaries.
The problem is that the morethey handle, the more they're
given, and over time, thatconstant demand leads to stress,
exhaustion and burnout.
What makes it worse is thatgo-to employees rarely ask for

(06:32):
help.
They don't want to let anyonedown, so they keep pushing
through until they can't anymore.
So what can managers do?
Well, the first step isrecognizing how you, as a
manager, might inadvertently becontributing to your best
employee's burnout.
What's important to recognizeis that your go-to employee,
their personality, might bewhat's causing them to take on

(06:53):
more than they can handle, butit's our responsibility as
managers and leaders to not takeadvantage of that.
So what do we do as a manager?
Well, here are five keyquestions leaders can ask
themselves to see if they'reinadvertently contributing to an
employee's burnout, the firstone being are we consistently
increasing our employees'workload?
When reliable employees areconstantly given additional

(07:16):
tasks, they may struggle withcapacity limits.
We want to watch for employeeswho always say yes but seem
overwhelmed or miss deadlinesdue to too much work.
Another question leaders canask themselves is are they
expecting their go-to employeesto always be available, even
outside regular work hours?
Some go-to employees arecontacted frequently for help.
This can blur boundaries andprevent rest.

(07:38):
Employees who respond to workemails or messages late at night
or during weekends, or evenwhile they're on vacation, could
be showing signs of stress.
Leaders should also consider ifthey have an over-reliance on
their go-to employee's emotionallabor.
These are the employees whooften are the ones who handle
workplace tensions and emotionalsupport, which can lead to

(08:00):
mental fatigue.
Employees being the problemsolver in interpersonal
conflicts and emotionalsituations can leave them
feeling emotionally drained.
Another question leaders canask is are they providing the
appropriate recognition orcompensation for the additional
work they may be putting onthose go-to employees when their
additional efforts areoverlooked.

(08:21):
Go-to employees may feelundervalued and unappreciated.
High performers often heargreat job but don't see that
reflected in their pay title orworkload adjustments.
Appreciation is good, but realrecognition is often better.
And the last question that'simportant for leaders to
consider is how are theyproviding any kind of support or

(08:41):
offering them help when theyrecognize that burnout is
occurring?
Just because someone seems likethey can handle it all doesn't
mean that they really need to.
If they don't feel safe askingfor help, they'll just keep
pushing through until they can'tanymore.
So burnout isn't a personalfailure.
It's a structural issue.
When managers recognize thesepatterns early, distribute

(09:01):
workloads more evenly and createa culture where employees feel
safe, setting boundaries, theydon't just prevent burnout.
They build stronger, moresustainable teams.
Leadership that prioritizeswell-being isn't just good for
employees, it's good forbusiness, because in the long
run, burned out employees don'tjust leave jobs, they disengage,

(09:22):
they underperform and they takethe heart of the workplace with
them.
Well, hopefully this got you alittle more information on
burnout and how it's a realchallenge.
But when leaders recognize thesigns and take action,
workplaces can become better,healthier and more sustainable
for everyone.
If this episode resonated withyou, I'd love to hear your
thoughts.
You can send me an email atdanny at texasinsightcentercom,

(09:46):
or leave a message in thecomments.
And don't forget to join menext time on Mental Health
Potluck, where we bringdifferent perspectives to the
table and talk about what reallymatters in mental health and
well-being.
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