For some reason, no one ever talks about such an occurrence in business, as burning out. But it is a large, widespread problem for the employee, as well as for his employer or partner. I've encountered situations like this many times and know, that it is almost impossible (and has been done by very few) to get a person out of this state.

The good news is it's very easy to spot a 'burnout' – his or her work intensity and overall persistence falls dramatically, but mainly his or her creativity disappears. I send 3,000 emails per week, my employees – 600, and the burnout sends 100. That's the whole test.

However, identifying isn't the same as curing. It's especially bad that most burnouts are good people, effective, up to some point, employees. Furthermore, a burnout doesn't just do a bad job himself, but also 'infects' people around him or her. So, in any case, this cannot be disregarded – the 'disease' shall not 'cure' itself. A person can show up to work on time and sincerely want to help others, but it won't work, and he isn't to blame. The first thought that comes to mind is sending this employee on a vacation. But it's not so easy- upon returning, if it were just a regular short vacation, he or she would probably not get any 'better'. I've tried this with a couple of people, it didn't work, upon their return they were just as ineffective as before they'd left. The second method is to try and give extra motivation to a person (financial, usually). This is also not the best idea, as the problem lies not with a lack of motivation, the burnout sincerely wants to help, but simply cannot.

Nevertheless, getting this person back on track is possible. The main point that has to be understood is that burning out is just like any other illness, like, for example, alcoholism, so it needs to be approached calmly, unemotionally. You shouldn't scold or push hard. Just treat this person.

First, you will have to send this employee on a vacation, but for at least a few weeks, otherwise this would be useless. Second, you will have to change his type of work, his surroundings, the more drastically, the better. You need this person to find a new focus. This is how we acted with one of our executives: at first we forced him to go on vacation (he strongly resisted), then we gave him a completely different project, relieving him of all his previous duties. It helped! He became more active and creative, than he was before. The third method is letting the burnout see a psychologist. We have an organisational psychologist, Alan Spizman, who consults many American corporations. Alan works for all of our companies – Acronis, Parallels and Runa. There's nothing shameful in seeking professional help. But if none of this works, just let the person go, let him try and find himself on his own.

By the way, burning out can be prevented beforehand. In many large successful companies personnel rotation is commonplace. At Microsoft and Cisco, for example, some people work for 20 or more years, but they are constantly being moved to different positions. One more duty of an adequate manager is seeking a healthy balance between the work, sleep and personal life of his top people. There must be balance everywhere, and imbalance should not be rewarded, even if it's in favor of work. Some people think that I work 24 hours a day, but that is not true, when it is needed I shift the balance.

To be honest , there aren't many chances of returning a person to a normal state, without mentioning that the process of doing so is costly and long, so it's best to try and prevent this situation altogether.

About the Author: Serguei Beloussov, CEO, Acronis Software, is a self-made entrepreneur and business executive involved with building, growing and leading high-performing, multi-national high tech companies in North America, Europe and Asia. Acronis is a global leader in backup and disaster recovery, very profitable, and continues to grow quickly. Beloussov is also a founder, main investor and Chairman of the Board of Acumatica – fast-growing startup company in the cloud ERP space.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author. MYB takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the information provided by the author.