Employee Monitoring Glossary
Burnout Score
An early warning metric derived from work pattern data — long hours, late nights, weekend sessions, declining productivity — to flag burnout risk before it becomes a crisis.
Definition
An employee burnout score is a composite metric derived from objective work pattern data that serves as an early warning indicator for employee burnout risk. Unlike traditional burnout assessment — which relies on surveys or manager observation — a software-derived burnout score is continuous and objective, updated daily from actual behaviour data.
Signals Used to Calculate Burnout Score
- Hours per day — consistently working 10+ hour days above the team norm
- Late-night sessions — regular activity logged after 10 PM or before 6 AM
- Weekend activity — frequent Saturday or Sunday work sessions
- Declining productivity score — a downward trend in activity ratio or productive app usage over 2-4 weeks
- Increased idle time — rising idle-to-active ratio despite logged-in sessions (disengagement signal)
How to Use Burnout Scores
Burnout scores should trigger a check-in conversation, not a disciplinary response. A high burnout signal means a team member may need workload adjustment, time off, or management support. TheDeskMonitor's Wellbeing Reports surface burnout signals at team level — allowing managers to proactively support at-risk employees before performance suffers or the employee resigns.