A work-obsessed employee: Do you have employees who are very involved in the work? Who would like to dedicate themselves with heart and soul to the organization?
If someone is involved, he is very loyal to the organization. He sympathizes, thinks along, feels involved, makes proposals and takes initiatives to improve. An obsessed employee is willing to do more than requested and is willing to help others. He likes to put energy into his work. You would like all employees to be involved. But what if an employee is too involved?
It may seem useful for an employee to go out of his way because that will save you work. But you also run the risk of losing this hard-working employee if the amount of work becomes too much for him.

From committed to obsessed
There is nothing wrong with an employee who is committed and ambitious. On the contrary, such employees are a great added value for an organization. But it is very important to keep an eye on these very committed employees so that they don’t become obsessed. As soon as the word ‘too’ comes up, the employee can experience more and more stress. In addition, a burnout occurs primarily among employees who are over-involved.
All managers naturally want to get the best out of their employees. Who doesn’t want an employee who does his best on his own initiative, sees where there are problems and wants to help the company in a constructive way? These are obsessed employees.
It may, however, be the case that this fails. Some employees have difficulty releasing or putting their work into perspective. They feel personally responsible and solely responsible for disappointing results for which an entire team is responsible. If you recognize this in an employee, then you are dealing with an employee who has been or is obsessed. How wonderfully ambitious they seem at first is how destructive it is later for their personal lives and therefore for the functioning of the company.
Recognize a committed employee
As a supervisor, you recognize that an employee is obsessed when, for example, he is easily irritated with work in which he is involved, produces different results than expected. He finds it difficult to put things into perspective and makes work-related things heavier or more important than they are. Because he has become emotionally connected to his work, he often reacts more emotionally in situations related to the work. He can get upset if something goes wrong in the workplace or gets angry if someone doesn’t do his job well.
It happens all too often that you have noticed an employee who has become obsessed too late. People who are no longer able to let go of their work sometimes make up the largest group of long-term sickness due to burnout.
Also read: learning objectives to reduce absenteeism

Six important characteristics indicate that an employee has been or is obsessed.
An obsessed employee:
- Is also busy with his work outside working hours
- Interferes with matters that do not concern the employee
- Is often over cautious
- Can not stand criticism
- Can dose and relieve poorly
- Interferes with the work of the manager
Always busy with work
A very clear sign that your employee may or will get overworked is that he or she is always busy with work outside of working hours. It is, of course, no harm if an employee sometimes works longer on his own initiative, but if that becomes more frequent, it can be very harmful. Everyone needs time to recharge the batteries. If you are always busy with your work, recharging your batteries won’t happen.
Read also about, Break the pressure of the CC culture

Interferes with matters that are not of their concern
Employees thrive best when they have a clearly defined set of duties. It doesn’t hurt if an employee already thinks along constructively about a solution from a colleague. However, it is problematic if the employee pays unsolicited and disruptive tasks that do not concern him. This indicates that there is too much (emotional) involvement in aspects of the company that the employee would not be able to influence if he or she carries out his or her duties properly.
Also read: increasing personal effectiveness
Is often over cautious
You cannot solve everything on your own. An obsessed employee will sometimes be convinced of the opposite. The employee takes too much hay on his fork and wants to perform everything to perfection. In this way, the employee creates an unrealistic pattern of expectations for himself. The fact that they cannot fulfil these expectations often leads to a feeling of failure.
Also read: approaching an employee
Can’t handle criticism well
Because over-engaged employees invest too much in their work and attract the outcomes and processes personally and often emotionally, criticism is all the more serious for them. Even the most constructive criticism can feel like a personal attack that they cannot put into perspective.
Read also: conflicts between colleagues
Has difficulty delegating and giving up work
The fact that an employee has difficulty relinquishing tasks and dosing his own duties is an important cause of burnout for the employee involved. Precisely because he himself is no longer able to estimate how much hay he can take on his fork, he will no longer be able to finish his work on time and will, therefore, take it home with him. If an employee no longer wants to hand over work, this often also creates an unbalanced working atmosphere. The employee may look down on colleagues who can maintain a healthy private working relationship.
Also read: an employee with fear of failure
Too involved in the work of a manager
You can also notice that an employee is involved in how he behaves towards you (manager). Usually, over-involved people also feel responsible for the end result. It is possible that he will interfere too much with your work for that reason. This will then irritate you or you experience it as oppressive or experience little freedom of movement. It may also be that the employee wants to follow you throughout your life. To prevent rising tensions, it is good to communicate openly with this employee. You can explain what the other person’s behaviour does to you without hurting him. Help him see that he cannot have complete control over everything and that it is important that he learns to let go.
Also read: increasing assertiveness in work

The correct balance between work and private life for employees
An employee becomes over-involved because he really likes doing his job or feels responsible that the work is successful. It is therefore important that employees know how to find a balance between being involved with and keeping their distance from work. Do you need your employees to be reachable after working hours and do they have to answer their work emails in the evenings?
Assure your employees that they can switch off their telephone after 6 pm and that when they leave the office they actually close the door behind them. An employee can only be productive if he is occasionally not busy with work. If employees keep the right balance between work and private life and are not involved, they can enjoy their work and are valuable employees for your organization.
You can, therefore, help an employee who is involved by:
- Approving the work
- Specify limits within which he/she may move
- To set a good example yourself
- Realize that less is often more
- Build a safe atmosphere in which employees can have their say
Also read: Helping employees increase their personal effectiveness
Can we help you?
Leave us your information and one of our coaches will contact you.
How to manage a work-obsessed employee?
If you have recognized someone with the above characteristics, you should provide a good framework. After all, there is a good chance that the pressure on the emotional housekeeping of your employee will become so great that it will end in burnout.
Do you notice that the employee is trying to take up too much of your personal workspace, in other words, that he or she feels responsible for the end result at your level? Then it is very important that you set clear boundaries without compromising the value of his or her work. In addition, after a while, you can become self-irritated by that infringement in your freedom of movement.
Often an over-engaged employee also has a poor balance between work and private life. An employee who is almost always busy with work has no time to recharge his batteries in order to be able to fully get going again.
You can certainly do something about this. For example, make it clear to your employees that they no longer have to pick up their phone in the evening or that they should no longer expect mail. Set clear limits that the employee must respect if you also create a safe environment in which all employees can express themselves. You also have to set a good example yourself. For example, make it clear to your employees on certain days that you will not send any mail back that evening.
Above all, know that an employee who is involved is someone who is actually very valuable and invested in the company. Involved employees are people who – if you have the right framework – can be your best employees.
Also read: common problems companies
Conquer burnout and stress
Reducing stress and recovering from burnout can be quite the challenge. With the help of our professional coaches, we are convinced that a full recovery is within reach. Our years of experience has taught us what stepping stones will help you reach your goal more effectively and how to make sure the changes you make will be of help to you for the rest of your life. Let’s turn your burnout or stress into your best life ever.
Please check out our 3-step process:
Yay google is my king helped me to find this great internet site! .
Whats Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It absolutely useful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to give a contribution & assist other users like its helped me. Great job.
I feel that is among the such a lot vital information for me. And i’m glad reading your article. However want to observation on some basic issues, The web site taste is perfect, the articles is in reality excellent : D. Just right activity, cheers
I was reading through some of your posts on this internet site and I believe this web site is real informative! Keep on putting up.
Hey, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Chrome, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, superb blog!
Really enjoyed this post, is there any way I can receive an email sent to me when you publish a fresh post?
hey there and thank you for your information – I’ve certainly picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical issues using this web site, since I experienced to reload the site lots of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your web host is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my email and could look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing content. Ensure that you update this again very soon..
Thank you for the auspicious writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?
Thank you for another informative website. Where else could I get that type of info written in such an ideal way? I’ve a project that I’m just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.
Dead written subject matter, Really enjoyed looking at.
Good write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s site, maintain up the excellent operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a lengthy time.
Fantastic website. Lots of useful info here. I am sending it to several pals ans additionally sharing in delicious. And of course, thanks for your effort!
My brother suggested I might like this web site. He used to be totally right. This publish truly made my day. You cann’t imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
I have been absent for some time, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thank you, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your web site?
Nice blog here! Also your site loads up very fast!
What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?
I am curious to find out what blog platform you are utilizing?
I’m experiencing some small security issues with my latest blog and I would
like to find something more secure. Do you have any suggestions?
I¦ve read some good stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how so much attempt you set to create this kind of great informative site.
Spot on with this write-up, I really think this amazing site needs far
more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read
more, thanks for the info!
I believe this website has some rattling excellent info for everyone :D. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Very good written article. It will be helpful to anyone who usess it, as well as yours truly :). Keep doing what you are doing – i will definitely read more posts.
I don’t even know the way I stopped up right here, but I believed this post used to be great. I don’t recognize who you’re but certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger for those who aren’t already 😉 Cheers!
You actually make it appear so easy together with your presentation but I in finding this matter to be actually something that I think I might never understand. It seems too complex and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward to your next submit, I will attempt to get the cling of it!
Hi there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re working with?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and
I must say this blog loads a lot faster
then most. Can you suggest a good hosting provider at a reasonable price?
Many thanks, I appreciate it!
With havin so much written content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My site has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any methods to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Do you have any video of that? I’d love to find out some additional information.
What a data of un-ambiguity and preserveness of precious knowledge
about unexpected emotions.
Hi! I simply want to give you a huge thumbs up for the great info you have got here on this post.
I am returning to your site for more soon.
Outstanding post however , I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Kudos!
Hey are using WordPress for your blog platform?
I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and create my own. Do you need any html coding knowledge
to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly
appreciated!
Greetings from California! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to
check out your website on my iphone during lunch break.
I really like the knowledge you present here and can’t wait to
take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my mobile ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways,
wonderful site!
Now I am going away to do my breakfast, afterward having my
breakfast coming over again to read further news.
Have you ever thought about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and everything. But think about if you added some great visuals or videos to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with pics and clips, this site could definitely be one of the most beneficial in its field. Superb blog!
Wonderful post however , I was wondering if you could write a litte
more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a
little bit more. Thanks!
One drawback of online shopping is the expectation of waiting for your package to reach! Best sellers 2023
Hello, i feel that i saw you visited my web site thus
i got here to return the want?.I am trying to in finding things to enhance
my web site!I assume its good enough to make use of a few of your ideas!!
Spot on with this write-up, I seriously
feel this website needs much more attention. I’ll probably be back again to read
through more, thanks for the info!
Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Many thanks, However I am going through troubles with your RSS.
I don’t know why I can’t subscribe to it. Is there anybody else getting similar RSS problems?
Anyone who knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanx!!
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally,
it seems as though you relied on the video to make your
point. You obviously know what youre talking about,
why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such wonderful information being shared freely out there.
Hi, just wanted to mention, I enjoyed this post.
It was inspiring. Keep on posting!