Team Burnout Early-Warning Scorecard

Why leading indicators, not lagging ones

By the time a rep misses quota badly or hands in notice, burnout has usually been building for 2-3 months. This scorecard tracks the signals that move before the resignation — so the intervention window is still open.

The 6 Indicators

1. Activity Trend

Volume of calls, emails, and booked meetings versus that rep's own baseline (not the team average — compare them to themselves).

• 1 — Green: At or above their own rolling 90-day baseline.
• 2: Down 10-20% for one week, otherwise steady.
• 3 — Watch: Down 20-30% for 2+ consecutive weeks.
• 4: Down 30-50% for 2+ weeks, no external cause (no vacation, no territory change).
• 5 — Red: Sustained drop of 50%+ for a month with no explanation offered or asked for.

2. Response Latency & Meeting Engagement

Camera-on rate, punctuality to internal meetings, response time to manager/peer messages.

• 1: Engaged, on time, camera on as usual for them.
• 2: One or two late joins or camera-off instances, otherwise normal.
• 3 — Watch: Consistently late or camera-off for internal meetings for 2+ weeks.
• 4: Visibly distracted or multitasking in meetings that used to have their full attention; slower to respond to direct messages than their own baseline.
• 5 — Red: Skips internal meetings outright or goes unresponsive for 24+ hours repeatedly.

3. CRM / Admin Hygiene

Quality and timeliness of notes, logging lag between activity and entry.

• 1: Notes as detailed and timely as their own history.
• 2: Minor lag (same-day, but end-of-day instead of real-time).
• 3 — Watch: Notes get thinner — one-line entries replacing what used to be detailed context.
• 4: Logging lag stretches to 2-3 days; stage/close-date fields go stale.
• 5 — Red: CRM effectively stops being updated in real time; manager only learns deal status by asking directly.

4. Language Tone

Cynicism, detachment, or flatness in Slack, 1:1s, and forecast calls.

• 1: Normal range of tone for this individual.
• 2: One or two cynical comments, easily read as a bad day.
• 3 — Watch: Recurring detachment language ("whatever happens happens," "doesn't really matter either way").
• 4: Flat affect describing wins; language shifts from "we" to "you" when discussing the team or company.
• 5 — Red: Open cynicism about the role, the company, or the point of the work, stated more than once.

5. Time-Off Pattern

Sick-day usage, declined or cancelled 1:1s, unusual PTO requests.

• 1: Normal pattern for this individual.
• 2: One unusual sick day or reschedule.
• 3 — Watch: 2+ short-notice sick days or cancelled 1:1s in a month, more than their own baseline.
• 4: Pattern of Monday/Friday absences or repeated last-minute 1:1 cancellations.
• 5 — Red: Sudden PTO request with vague or evasive reasoning, or a spike in unplanned absence.

6. Peer Withdrawal

Participation in team channels, informal chat, peer shoutouts given or received.

• 1: Normal social participation for this individual.
• 2: Slightly quieter in team channels for a week.
• 3 — Watch: Stops initiating in team channels; only responds when directly addressed.
• 4: Skips optional team social events they used to attend; peers mention not hearing from them.
• 5 — Red: Visibly isolated — no informal interaction with peers for 2+ weeks, noticed by more than one teammate.

Scoring

Score each of the 6 indicators 1-5 for a rep, total (range 6-30).

Per-Rep Tracking Table (score monthly)

Intervention Playbook by Band

• Watch: Ask, don't announce. "How are you finding the workload lately, honestly?" is enough — a formal-sounding check-in can itself trigger disengagement.
• At-Risk: Name what you've observed specifically and non-judgmentally: "I've noticed [specific, factual observation] over the last few weeks — what's going on?" Then run the Mindset 1:1 Coaching Script's Layer 2 questions.
• Urgent: Treat this like a retention emergency, not a routine 1:1. Involve HR where appropriate, and don't let the conversation wait for a scheduled slot.