How to Deal with Employee Burnout

I still remember my first day at my first job as a developer.

My manager, a super nice guy, was planning my onboarding tasks with me.

During our chat, he turned to a colleague & asked her if she would kindly walk me through the codebase.

She swiveled on her rotating chair, met my manager's eyes & blurted "No way! I'm not going to do this. Please find someone else."

She was clearly pissed off.

I felt embarrassed & awkward. I was made to seem like an unwanted burden.

Shortly after, I was handed off to another senior resource who obliged.

For several years, that memory lived with me as an example of poor workplace behavior & a horrible way to welcome a new team member.

Until I came to a realization.

Did I really know what she was going through?

Was she overworked? Did she have a tight deadline to meet that day? Was she being asked to onboard everyone without respite? Was she having issues at home?

Sure, her response could have been framed better "in an ideal world".

However, sometimes, we forget to humanize people & expect them to behave like robots. We hold them to inhumane standards.

Everyone has an off day. It happens.

Next time you see a colleague flip out, give them some space.

Don't just feed them to the gossip vultures.