burn-in

The process by which components of a system are exercised prior to being placed in service (and sometimes before assembly), forcing certain failures to occur under supervised conditions.

The phase preceding a burn-out in which a worker's productivity and engagement with their work declines.

A huge personal investment results in a huge ‘burn-in’. This is probably the first state that needs to be dealt with, before switching to ‘burn-out’. Indeed discussion about the important interaction between the two could lead to the avoidance of ‘burn-out’ through understanding ‘burn-in’. Interestingly, a large body of literature has shown that professionals in the mental heath^([sic]) services seem to be more vulnerable to the ‘burn-in’—‘burn-out’ process.