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By Svitlana Bakhshaliieva, International Partnerships Manager, Zagoriy Foundation
“Working for a charity must be very satisfying,” is a phrase I hear quite often from my friends. “You help others full-time and feel you contribute to society.” Well, it’s really true. The desire to be helpful and do good is indeed the primary motivation1 for employees to join the non-profit sector, and the feeling of belonging to positive change is a significant moral incentive.
Nevertheless, employees of civil society organisations are no less exposed to burnout than in any other sector. A recent study, “Professional burnout of employees working in the charity sector,” by the Zagoriy Foundation, indicates that only 29% of representatives of non-profit organisations in Ukraine do not show signs of burnout. These signs include, among others, a reduction in professional responsibilities, emotional alienation and emotional and moral disorientation.
Does this sound familiar? These signs are more common among people who have worked in the charity sector for over a year. The cumulative effect plays a role here when the psyche opposes negative events for a long time and depletes mental resources. Gradually, a person loses interest in work, interacts and communicates less with others, and loses energy and motivation.
Burnout also affected employees of organisations that have changed their types of activities the most. It is perhaps important to emphasise the context here. Civil sector organisations in Ukraine live and work in a state of full-scale war, which has clearly impacted not only the mental health of employees but also the organisational structure and activities of organisations in general.
An excessive number of work responsibilities, lack of days off, prolonged ignoring of one’s own needs, and an immense amount of tasks became the new normal. These factors were reinforced by an internal desire to help as many people as possible and not stand aside during the crisis and by external moral pressure from society. Employees found themselves in a position where it became almost impossible to pause and look deeply into themselves.
Moreover, most organisations in Ukraine were often forced to reorient or expand their activities2. Evacuation needs and difficulties with access to medicines and transportation were added to the usual issues while phones were overwhelmed with calls. This led to an increase in the number of new responsibilities and diverse tasks.
The lack of a culture of mental health care at the level of society, organisations and the individual level only adds fuel to the fire. Not only does a person not know how to help themselves or a colleague, but they also may not be able to distinguish fatigue from long-term emotional exhaustion. Thus, among the participants in the qualitative stage of the study, a quarter (5 people) were experiencing burnout. However, only one person realised this fact.
Therefore, in order to effectively prevent and combat burnout, it is necessary to promote a culture of mental health at all possible levels and build a healthy corporate culture. While factors that arise at the individual level have the most significant impact, it is internal organisational factors that are most often the triggers of burnout.
The study shows that employees of non-profit organisations that offer training on emotional burnout or employ a psychologist are better able to identify the problem. In this case, the training is designed to serve a primarily educational function, namely to familiarise employees with the symptoms of burnout and draw attention to mental health so that employees can learn self-diagnostic skills and identify burnout markers. At the same time, holding joint sessions with the participation of all employees of the organisation will promote greater openness in expressing feelings and emotions, as well as team consolidation.
It is also a good practice to encourage employees to seek counselling directly from specialists who can help diagnose and help with overcoming the condition. At the same time, supporting the organisation’s management and colleagues is important. Healthy corporate culture and communication will help to dispel stereotypes and fears about visiting specialists and encourage employees to seek psychological support in the future.
In addition, according to the survey, non-profit workers believe that it is the organisation’s management that should organise and implement measures to counteract burnout. It is essential to understand that burnout can have a chain reaction. Thus, in addition to the “classic” factors of burnout, including dealing with emotionally difficult cases and frustration due to the futility of efforts, the risk of burnout is increased by toxic communication with colleagues who may have also become victims of emotional exhaustion. Therefore, the ability of managers to prevent and manage burnout is key to the productivity and effectiveness of the entire team.
Moreover, the most desirable measures to prevent burnout from the perspective of non-profit employees are fairly easy to implement and intangible. They mainly relate to effective process design and equal workload distribution, healthy communication and attention to everyone’s contribution to achieving results. Thus, team recognition of the merits of each team member, mutual support, and gratitude, along with maintaining a work-life balance, lay the foundation for preventing emotional exhaustion.
Preserving mental health within organisations should not only be embodied in policies but also expressed in practical and regular measures. Non-profit sector employees are particularly susceptible to burnout symptoms due to their altruism and putting others’ interests first. At the same time, it’s important to remember that taking care of yourself doesn’t hinder but only facilitates your effectiveness in helping others. Just as on an aeroplane, when the cabin is depressurised, you are asked to put on a mask first for yourself and then help others, so too should charity workers take care of themselves in order to be able to care for others.
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1. Professional burnout of employees working in the charity sector: report by Zagoriy Foundation and Socioinform research agency, 2023. https://zagoriy.foundation/en/publications/professional-burnout-of-employees-working-in-the-charity-sector/
2. Needs and activities of NGOs during the War: report by Zagoriy Foundation, 2023. https://zagoriy.foundation/en/publications/needs-and-activities-of-ngos-during-the-war/
Svitlana Bakhshaliieva is international partnerships manager at Zagoriy Foundation in Kyiv. She deals with international communications, coordinates cross-border initiatives, and shares the best philanthropic practices in Ukraine and abroad.
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