When one of our clients joined the leadership team of an international financial institution based in Germany, there was a standing item on the executive team’s meeting agenda: burnout cases. That was costly from a time perspective, of course, but that they were spending time on it in each of their meetings was the least of the costs—human and financial—for the organization.

In Germany, burnout isn’t just a water cooler complaint. It is taken very seriously by the authorities and has real consequences for organizations where affected individuals work and for the economy. Employees who are suffering from burnout are signed off as sick but continue to be paid by their employer or an insurer for up to 18 months. Their jobs must be held for them if they return, and when they do there is a structured process for ramping up their workload; 10 hours in week one, 15 hours in week two and so on. From a human standpoint it is a well‐designed process for re-integrating burnout cases.

Often, it works. And still, long after they return, there remains uncertainty: Will they be able to take the pressure again? Someone who was once a stalwart resource has become a question mark on the team.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Fast Company.