Burnout and Resiliency
Researchers are increasingly characterizing burnout as a worldwide epidemic (Bocheliuk, Zavatska, Bokhonkova, Toba, & Panov, 2020). According to research completed by Primack et al. (2010), populations that are most prevalently affected by burnout include underrepresented minority workers, workers over the age of 35, and women.
The three features that characterize the presence of burnout in a worker are emotional exhaustion, cynicism aka depersonalization, and lack of regard for personal achievements (Adams, Hough, Proeschold-Bell, Yao, & Kolkin, 2017). Employee burnout involves a pattern of feeling general exhaustion in conjunction with emotional, social, and cognitive distress (Bocheliuk et al., 2020). Consequences of employee burnout affect the overall health of the organization that employs them, the individual employee, their family, and workers associated with the employee experiencing burnout.
The current theory of the burnout process states that emotional exhaustion from significant interactions with other people leads to cynicism and depersonalization of others (Adams et al., 2017). As the worker experiences increased levels of burnout, they unwittingly use this depersonalization as a defense mechanism to avoid what feels to them like an overwhelming workload (Adams et al., 2017). The final factor, lack of personal achievement is characterized by a decrease in self competence and satisfaction with one’s own achievements in which the infected worker begins feeling guilty or self-blame for not performing as well as they would like (Lingle, 2022).
Burnout is “contagious” within an organization because its effects do not end with just the person burning out. As the stages of burnout progress, people unknowingly try to distance themselves from stressful work situations, potentially alienating coworkers and managers. As the affected worker copes with the emotional, social, and cognitive distress associated with burnout they may begin to isolate and distance themselves from contact with coworkers, transferring professional responsibilities to others (Bocheliuk, et al., 2020).
“Ultimately, the long-term consequences of such impaired relationships in the workplace are increased stress on everyone, including the individual burning out and those who work around him or her” (Paine, 1984, p. 4). Burnout can be improved with the use of appropriate interventions, so it’s advantageous for organizations to identify workers at risk of burnout and to provide workers with support as early as possible (Primack et al., 2010).
Without intervention, burnout leads to physiological changes in the individual’s body and the brain. Stress, anxiety, and feelings of being overwhelmed reduces awareness of the physical body and muscles become tense and breathing often becomes shallow and rapid. Overall health can be negatively impacted, and memory and attention can be compromised by stress resulting in a decrease in the brain’s ability to respond to work pressures, make decisions, and prioritize tasks.
Procrastination, absenteeism, decreased productivity, and reduced commitment to the organization’s mission can all arise from worker burnout. Long-term organizational outcomes can include lowered employee morale, decreased worker creativity, increased depression rates, minor and major health problems, increased employee absences, greater employee substance abuse, more workplace accidents, counterproductive employee behaviors like pilferage and sabotage, escalated use of health benefits, and higher employee turnover rates (Paine, 1984).
Organizations may benefit in a number of ways from providing resiliency building education programs to their employees. Programs to educate workers about the signs and symptoms of impending burnout can allow employees to proactively seek out resources and support from managers, coworkers, employee assistance programs, and private sources. Suan and Nasurdin (2014) found that human resource management practices can have significant influence on employees’ attitudes towards their work tasks by assisting workers to accomplish their goals and best utilize their energy, thus, achieving a more positive outlook on their jobs. Employees are likely to be engaged in their work with positive attitudes, being energetic, dedicated, and happy in work when their work goals are achieved and job stress is reduced.
Human resource management can empower workers and offset the helplessness that can occur as a result of burnout by facilitating dialogue between workers and decision makers. This step can feel particularly empowering to employees from indigenous and other underrepresented minority cultures considering their often more collectivist, community focused relational styles (Morven & Cunningham, 2020). Additionally, implementing mentoring programs for women and underrepresented minority employees can increase feelings of well-being, boost career development, and create safe spaces for mentees to learn to navigate the organizational culture and may aid employee retention (Stuckey, Collins, Patrick, Grove, & Ward, 2019).
Resources
Adams, C. J., Hough, H., Proeschold-Bell, R. J., Yao, J., & Kolkin, M. (2017). Clergy burnout: Acomparison study with other helping professions. Pastoral Psychology, 66, 147-175. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/811089016-0722-4
Bocheliuk, V. Y., Zavatska, N. Y., Bokhonkova, Y. O., Toba, M. V., & Panov, N. S. (2020). Emotional burnout: Prevalence rate and symptoms in different socio-professional groups. Journal of Intellectual Disability - Diagnosis and Treatment, 8, 33-40.
Lingle, R. (2022). On Burnout: A Doctoral Dissertation.
Morven, F. & Cunningham, J. B. (2020). Recruiting and retaining of indigenous probation officers: Steps to creating diverse workplaces that reflect community culture. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 39(2), 145-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EDI-06-2019-0183
Paine, W. S. (1984). Professional burnout: Some major costs. Family and Community Health, 6(4), 1-11.
Primack, B. A., Dilmore, T. C. Switzer, G. E., Bryce, C. L., Seltzer, D. L., Li, J., Landsittel, D. P., Kapoor, W. N., & Rubio, D. M. (2010). Burnout among early career clinical investigators. Clinical and Translational Science, 3(4), 186-188.
Stuckey, S. M, Collins, B. T., Patrick, S., Grove, K. S., & Ward, E. (2019). Thriving vs surviving: Benefits of formal mentoring program on faculty will-being. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education 8(4), 378-396. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJMCE-02-2019-0024
Suan, C. L. & Nasurdin, A. M. (2014). Any empirical investigation into the influence of human resource management practices on work engagement: the case of customer-contact employees in Malaysia. International Journal of culture, tourism and hospitality research, 8(3), 345-360. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-12-2013-0083
Rachel Lingle, LMFT
Rachel Lingle is a consultant at Legacy Consulting & Research Group. Rachel has a background in burnout research, clinical practice, administration, and teaching. Rachel is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and currently is finishing a doctoral degree in June 2023.
