BurnOut Theory Paper - Jane Nelson

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BURN OUT

By Jane Nelson

INTRODUCTION
Within the case study ‘Staff Resignations at the Division of Cultural Programs’, it
was identified that due to the nature of the management style, staff tended to burn out.
Therefore the issue to be discussed in this paper is that of staff burnout, definition of
burnout, why burnout occurs, the symptoms and management functions and
responsibilities.

In looking at the issue of burnout it is necessary to first understand the causes of


burnout, and this usually is job stress or issues outside of the workplace that can effect
the workers performance within the workplace. This stress within the workplace
leads to strain, and it is these efforts and the failure of an individual’s coping
mechanisms that leads to burnout.

This stress occurs within the workplace as many individuals are increasingly feeling
pressure to manage workloads including completing deadlines within timelines that
are unrealistic. In addition, employees can be exposed to excessive workloads when
expected to undertake additional work that usually would be undertaken by peers or
other employees in times of staff cutbacks.

DEFINITION OF BURNOUT
Maslach (1976) defines burnout in Cherniss (1980) ‘as the loss of concern for people
with whom one is working’. In analyzing this definition it is obvious that when an
individual situated within the work place is affected by burnout they appear not to
have an interest with those that surround them or the work that they are doing. This
therefore in many situations may cause the person or people to become isolated and
even alienated from other employees or clients.

PROCESSES OF BURNOUT
In looking at many of the definitions of burnout it suggests that burnout follows three
different stages. Cherniss (1980) describes these in the following way; ‘the first
stage involves an imbalance between resources and demand (stress). The second
stage is the immediate, short-term emotional response to this imbalance, characterized
by feelings of anxiety, tension, fatigue, and exhaustion (strain). The third stage
consists of a number of changes in attitude and behaviour, such as a tendency to treat
clients in a detached and mechanical fashion or a cynical preoccupation with
gratification of one’s own needs (defensive coping)’. Therefore from these three
distinct stages it shows that burnout is a process which involves stress pertaining to
the person’s job, the strain on the worker and psychological accommodation.

As stated by McGrath (1970, p.44) in Cherniss (1980) ‘It also should be clear that the
level of stress experienced by the individual depends upon the perceived
consequences of failure to meet the demand’. Cheriss goes onto to say ‘the more
important the consequences, the greater will be the stress. When the imbalance
between demand and resources threatens to produce greater harm, the stress will be
greater. Thus, level of stress is a function of the perceived discrepancy between
resources and demand and the perceived degree of harm that would occur if demand
were not met’.
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There are also many other factors aside from the stress of the job that can cause
burnout and these factors can include the employee’s life outside of the workplace,
how the person copes with stress in general and any difficulties in the employees
interpersonal relationships with family and friends. These factors outside of the
working environment can include financial burdens, family structure e.g. supports
needed for children, the individuals partner and their working or study commitments,
health of family members and so forth. How individuals cope with stress depends on
how they manage conflicts or demands that outstrip their resources. Coping involves
the individual/s modifying their environment to ensure that resources are increased or
the demand for these resources is decreased. Coping can also incorporate looking at
how distress can be lowered through modification of areas such as the personal
attitudes or future goals to reduce the perceived consequences of failure.

Differences between managers and employees can cause much stress if there is a
personality clash. These differences can be caused by values and attitudes or personal
beliefs. In addition stress can be caused between employees and managers when they
have different opinions of how a job is to be performed and these perceptions can be
caused by individuals who have opposing learning styles, training previously
undertaken or experiences within the workplace.

As stated in Cherniss (1980) ‘research suggests that those with an external locus of
control may be more vulnerable to burnout’. In addition, individuals who are more
vulnerable to stress are those who are flexible in the work delivery as opposed to
individuals who are rigid in their thinking. However even though it is those
individuals who are flexible in their work delivery that are more vulnerable to stress,
they seem to be able to cope with the stress more adaptively than those individuals
who are rigid in their working environment.

WORK LOADS DEFINED


In analysing a person’s workload, research has shown that under loading a person
with work can be as detrimental as over loading someone. The condition of under
load maybe as common a factor as overload in causing, burnout. Overload is when
employees are expected to complete a certain amount of work, within a period of
time, and this workload may or may not be their regular amount of work. It may be a
delegation of additional work that is passed onto the person, which therefore
contributes to overload. Under load however is situated at opposite ends of the
spectrum to overload and is when employees skills and abilities are underutilized,
when challenges are lacking and the individual/s feels that they are not stimulated
intellectually. Therefore due to underutilization the person becomes disinterested in
the job at hand, may feel that the issues that they present as being important or
relevant are disregarded based on the employees lower position and therefore not
acted on. This can ultimately make employees feel that they are under loaded with
work, which can result in certain levels of stress and eventually burnout.

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
As stated in McIlwee and Roberts (1991 p. 119) ‘there is apparently broad agreement
amongst writers on management that the management function is comprised of the
following activities: planning, organization, control, coordination, motivation,
communication and the development of human resource within the organization’.
These are seen as some of the traditional roles of mangers, however in larger
organizations there are specific roles that pertain to certain jobs performed, and these
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depend on the level of the manager within the organization. In addition to this a
manager’s role may change depending on the influences within the environment.

In looking at management functions it is also helpful to understand that many


managers follow a specific career path, which can be broken into 5 stages. As stated
in Robbins, Low and Mourell (1986 p. 255) ‘we begin to form our careers during our
elementary and secondary school years. Our careers begin to wind down as we reach
retirement age. We can identify five career stages that most of us have or will go
through during these years: exploration, establishment, mid-career, late career and
decline’. Robbins, Low and Mourell (1986 p. 259) go on to say that ‘additionally,
viewing careers as having stages should make clear that early career anxieties, mid-
career crisis or late-career depressions are not that unusual and that progressive
organisations should work closely with employees when these maladies strike’.

In looking at these career stages it is also important that managers within the
organisations are aware of these five stages to therefore have an understanding of
where individuals are at in their career paths. This hopefully would enable managers
to assess what the career needs of the employees are and match these needs with those
of the agencies. Therefore if staff are appropriately selected for positions pertaining
to their skills and abilities then staff are more likely to be satisfied within their job. In
addition to this if staff are given challenges in the early stages of their career and
successfully achieve these, they are more likely to become stimulated and thus
perform well in future years.

However if employees are not suitable for positions or become stressed within a
particular situation burnout can occur.

MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Many individuals suffer from burnout at some point in their working life and it is the
responsibility of managers to identifying the signs and symptoms of burnout of their
employees by trying to reduce or enhance the employee’s workload. These signs and
symptoms can include; tiredness, absenteeism and negativity to the work
environment. These are only to mention a few, as there are many more that fit within
the category of stress and burnout.

In looking at the responsibilities of the managers it is also important to note that it is


also the responsibility of the person who is suffering from burnout or prolonged stress
to inform managers of the issues pertaining to stress so that the managers or
supervisors can take necessary action to support this individual.

Another area where managers can assist with preventing burnout is in providing
employees with support and feedback on how they are performing within the
workplace and a stable working environment. This enables the individual/s have an
insight into their performance. This feedback or recognition can include such items as
positive feedback, newsletter articles, company memobilia e.g. mugs, pens and so
forth. In addition to this, feedback can be provided to the employees through staff
appraisals e.g. allowing staff to attend courses or conferences of particular interest as
identified through this appraisal process.

Managers are also responsible for having knowledge and some degree of
understanding in salient issues such as employee rights. These rights may include
employees being members of an industrial award, which therefore means that staff
can engage in enterprise bargaining issues and have the opportunity to define specific
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rights within the work place. Managers, particularly human resource managers, need
to be aware of these industrial awards to therefore pass onto other managers within
the organization, so that when these issues come to the fore front managers are
prepared for the demands of staff.

As resources are cut back and staff are made redundant, managers in particular are
expected to take on more responsibilities and workloads and this may mean that the
workload may move outside of their original job description and might need to
delegate to other staff increasing the general stress level in the workplace.

As stated in Kramar (1999 p.27) ‘the responsibility of line managers has increased in
many areas, particularly in occupational safety and health (53% of organisations
reported an increase in line managers’ responsibility), training and development
(50% reported an increase) and recruitment and selection (44% reported an increase)’.
This therefore highlights the scope that managers are required to fulfill within their
role.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Processes or systems need to be developed within the workplace whereby employee’s
performance is managed. These structures or systems can include ensuring that staff
are trained for the work that they are undertaking, inducting staff in any
policies/procedures within the agency and involving staff of any new developments in
this area and providing staff with feedback on their performance.

‘[Research indicates] that task variety is by far the strongest predictor of job
satisfaction. That is, greater job variety tends to enhance job satisfaction. [Research]
also indicated that greater participation in decisions was strongly conducive to job
satisfaction. The results also indicated that greater participation in decisions was
strongly conducive to job satisfaction. This finding signals the need to encourage
greater delegation of authority (downwards in the hierarchy) thereby enhancing
employee involvement in task-related areas in which job satisfaction may be
problematic’ (Zeffane 1994 p.1)

This finding is indeed pertinent to the individual’s job satisfaction, however it is also
necessary to ensure through this process that the individual/s doesn’t become
overloaded with this delegation of authority which will then in turn cause burnout. It
is therefore salient that the manager/supervisor sets up the necessary systems to
oversee this delegation of authority.

ALLEVIATION OF BURNOUT
Burnout can be alleviated or reduced within the workplace and this may not equate to
large changes in increasing resources or even personnel. As stated in Cherniss (1980)
[the strategies to alleviate stress] ‘fall into five general categories: staff development
(including orientation, in-service training, personnel assessment and counseling, and
supportive groups), the job and role structure, management development,
organizational problem-solving processes, and agency goals and guiding
philosophies’. Reducing job stress and burnout can occur within most organisations.

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CONCLUSION
Burnout is an issue that can occur within organizations and can affect employees
whether they are working at the forefront of the organization or as the Executive
Director. The initial stages of burnout is job stress and it is this stress within the
workplace that leads to strain. The effort taken to deal with this strain therefore
causes burnout.

Burnout and stress affect the body and mind in many different ways and these can
have significant effects on the workers role within the agency. It is therefore the
responsibility of both the manager and the worker to recognize these signs and
symptoms and modifications need to be made to alleviate this stress.

There are several ways that stress can be alleviated within the workplace and these
can include the development of staff, ensuring that individuals’ job and roles within
their job have structure, development of managerial roles, processes within the
organization which include problem – solving and goals and guidelines that the
agency follows and adheres to.

REFERENCES
Cherniss, C. (1980) Staff Burnout. Job stress in the Human Services. London: Sage
Publications

Krama, R. (1999) Policies for managing people in Australia: What has Changed in the
1990s?. Asian Pacific Journal of Human Resources 37(2)

McIlwee, T & Roberts I. (1991) Human resources management in the Corporate


environment. England: ELM Publications.

Robbins, S.P, Low, P.S & Mourell, M.P (1986) Managing Human Resources
Australia: Prentice-Hall

Zeffane, R. (1994) Job satisfaction and work redesign: findings from Australia.
International Journal of Comparative Socio...Jan-April v35 n1-2
p137(5)

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