Burnout : Does it impact our ‘perceptions’ of wellbeing?
In today’s ever-changing and hyper-competitive business environment, the most relevant question that organizations are asking is how can business leaders and managers gain a competitive advantage. According to Panneerselvam and Raya (2013) the answer seems to lie in balancing people and the work performance parameters. Therefore creating a balance between profits and the profit makers (aka the employees). The focus has shifted from organizations as a whole to various individual-level factors that impact performance.
Employee welfare is a critical component in terms of organizational productivity and performance. In the absence of welfare programs, a negative impact would be felt in the final output and the overall service delivery of organizations. The wellness programs that are introduced in the workplace are often designed to include health promotion interventions, activities or policies to enhance and improve the health outcomes of workers in that organization (Lee, Blake, & Lloyd, 2010).
The focus on the health of organizations often comes from the ‘performance and health’ relationship which states that performance improves when health is cared for and deteriorates when it is ignored, thus emphasizing the importance of an employee’s health and well-being for business profitability (Smet, Loch, & Schaninger, 2007). Due to this many employers want to keep their worker/employees safe and healthy. The very characteristics of the work undertaken by the employees daily in terms of completion and execution might also impact their overall wellbeing.
The earliest theories of wellbeing by researchers like Flugel (1925) and Bradburn (1969) refer to wellbeing as a feeling in the day-to-day lives of the individual. Yet the concept of subjective well-being, which is often used and cited in literature currently, draws on works of Diener (1984). The research done by Diener gives more clarity about the concept of subjective wellbeing, which is viewed as an umbrella term that describes the well-being people experience based on their own subjective evaluations. Thus it refers to their own perceptions about their wellbeing, which are often obtained through self-report measures (Diener & Ryan, 2009).
Another term that is used in research studies conducted in the field of wellbeing is the concept of ‘psychological wellbeing’. Ryff (1989) had proposed a 6 dimensional model of psychological wellbeing that included a number of wellbeing components. Chen, Jing, Hayes and Lee (2012) argue that this distinction between psychological and subjective wellbeing is under debate and not very clear. The bi-factor analysis of psychological wellbeing and subjective well-being found that both constructs are strongly related to the general construct of ‘well-being’ but the individual components for psychological wellbeing and subjective well-being are distinct from each other (Chen, Jing, Hayes & Lee, 2012).
Based on these studies and theoretical arguments employee subjective well-being is operationally defined in this discussion as an employee’s subjective evaluation of their well-being. The emphasis should lie on the happiness and productivity of the workforce. This will have precedence over the theoretical understanding of the term well-being.
Work Engagement is another organizational variable that is often discussed in research exploring wellbeing because it may impact employee wellbeing. Kahn (1990) described the term work engagement in terms of employees who were engaged physically, cognitively and emotionally in their work and the roles they were attached to in their workplace. Engagement is concerned with a focusing of energy on the organizational goals that guide an organization and its employees (Macey, Schneider, Barbera & Young, 2009).
In understanding the construct of work engagement Bakker (2011) highlighted the Job Demands and Resources Model (JD-R) (Llorens, Bakker, Schaufeli & Salanova, 2006; Bakker, 2011). This model states that an individual must cope with job related demands that are made on them, using the personal resources that are present. This was found to be the main predictor of work engagement. Shuck and Reio (2013) emphasized the importance of work engagement by stating that poor employee engagement will be detrimental to the organization, because it may lead to decrease in the overall wellbeing and productivity.
Different studies have explored the interaction between work engagement and other organizational variables such as turnover intentions (Zhao & Zhao, 2017; Lu, Lu, Gursoy & Neale, 2016); deviant behavior outcomes (Shantz, Alfes, & Latham, 2014) and commitment (Jena, Bhattacharyya & Pradhan, 2017).
Both organizational and individual constructs discussed above may be affected by Burnout. Burnout is an individual’s response to constant workplace strains and stressors. Feelings of emotional depletion, cynicism about the work and situation one is in and has no control over may be felt. The person may feel that even if they put in the effort they cannot change the situation (Maslach & Jackson, 1981).
The impact of burnout on well-being has been of interest to researchers for a while now. The existing literature points to two reasons. The first is the ethical responsibility of the organization and its leaders to protect the well-being of employees in the workplace (Burton, 2010). The other reason emphasizes the role of employee wellbeing on performance, which will eventually improve the overall outcomes and service delivery (Sparks, Faragher, & Cooper, 2001; Ford, Cerasoli, Higgins & Decesare, 2011).
In this discussion, burnout has been operationally defined as the depletion of resources within an individual, which will create a burden and eventually lead to exhaustion that hampers their performance and productivity.
Burnout may also be influenced by interpersonal relationships within the work environment (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001). It poses a significant risk to various psychological and emotional components of well-being of the workers. This depletion of the personal resources may also lead to physical ailments by compromising the immune system of the worker who experiences burnout (Leiter & Maslach, 2001). Thus if these personal resources are sufficient they can be effectively employed by the employee. A study by Xanthopoulou, Bakker & Demerouti (2007) looked at the role of personal resources (optimism, self efficacy) in terms of the Job Demands-Resources model (JD-R) among Dutch employees. They found that personal resources did not offset the job demands and exhaustion relationship but personal resources mediated this relationship between job resources and engagement/exhaustion and may even impact the perception of job resources.
The World Health Organization (1948) defined Health as “state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing”. It is “not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. However healthy people often possess other additional positive character traits such as resilience, optimism, etc.
Researchers have found that positive environmental components may also determine employee health, well-being and performance in the workplace (Adkins, 1999; Macik-Frey, Quick & Nelson, 2007). This focus on the “what is right and good about people” as opposed to the earlier “preoccupation with what is wrong and dysfunctional with people” was popularized by research done by psychologist Martin Seligman (Luthans, Luthans & Luthans, 2004).
This focus on strengths rather than weaknesses is what had led Seligman to ask the question about what is psychological capital, what it stood for and how should one get it (2002). He answered this question by stating that when one is engaged and in a flow, maybe the person is investing, by building psychological capital for their future.
According to Luthans, Avolio, Avey & Norman (2007) Psychological Capital or PsyCap refers to an individuals positive psychological state that is characterized by 4 psychological constructs namely self efficacy, optimism, resilience and hope (Luthans , Avolio, Avey & Norman, 2007). The term self-efficacy, which is based on Bandura’s social cognitive theory, is an individual’s confidence in themselves (Bandura, 1997; Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). Optimism is concerned with the person’s expectation of positive outcomes (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 2001).
Resilience refers to the tendency to recover from any kind of adverse circumstances or depressing processes.It allows people to look optimistically at overwhelming situations(Smith, Tooley, Christopher & Kay,2010).Hope refers to having positive expectations and goals about the future and also having alternative pathways should these expectations need change (Luthans, Vogelgesang & Lester, 2006).
Even though the area of burnout in corporate sector employees has been explored by many researchers in other parts of the world, including its impact on wellbeing, the asian subcontinent has largely focused on the impact of burnout on the wellbeing of healthcare professionals including nurses, doctors, psychologists among other healthcare workers .
Further the role of Work Engagement and Psychological Capital specifically has not been explored sufficiently in the context of Burnout and Wellbeing.
Reviewing the existing literature…
The World Health Organization published a document titled ‘WHO Healthy Workplace Framework: Background and Supporting Literature and Practices’ which wasa conclusive document for occupational health professionals, scientists and medical professionals to provide the scientific basis for understanding what makes a healthy workplace (WHO, 2010). A healthy workplace has been defined as one in which the managers and the employees work collaboratively, continually improving the functioning process which protects and promotes the health, safety and wellbeing of the workers. Certain key areas such as health and safety concerns in the working environment, and finding ways of improving the health of workers, families and various other stakeholders of the community were highlighted (WHO, 2010).
Research has explored how a healthy workplace can improves outcome measures such as performance, work engagement, job satisfaction and even reduces absenteeism, job related injuries and burnout.
An Indian study on occupational health and psychological wellbeing of industrial employees working in the production units found that occupational health positively correlates with the mental health of its employees (Bharadwaj & Srivastava, 2008).
In another study by Singh and Suar (2013) which looked at health consequences and buffers to Job Burnout among 372 Indian software developers it was found that those experiencing more burnout also perceived adverse physical, mental and emotional health. Additionally they also reported that practicing yoga and meditation reduced the ill effects of job burnout on health related outcomes (Sing & Suar,2013).
Burnout and Subjective Wellbeing
It must be noted that deterioration in employee subjective wellbeing, which may lead to burnout, is especially problematic in the healthcare industry because another life is concerned with respect to patient/client safety and health.
In a systematic research review done by Hall, Johnson, Watt, Tsipa and O’Connor (2016) a significant correlation between poor wellbeing and eventually poor patient safety was found among the healthcare staff in the United Kingdom (Suzuki et al,2004;West et al, 2012). Similarly a correlation between burnout and patient safety was found in many of the studies, which were reviewed (Holden, Patel, Scanlon, Shalaby, Arnold, & Karsh, 2010; Block, Wu, Feldman, Yeh & Desai, 2013).
Another area that is almost as important to study is the field of education. In a study that was conduced in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, 9 state universities were identified to investigate occupational stress and burnout among university teachers. The teachers reported moderate to high level of stress and almost 86 % seemed to show professional burnout (Reddy & Poornima, 2012).
The studies we have read so far clearly suggest that these variables directly or indirectly affect one another and therefore must be focused upon by occupational health researchers and those intending to improve the work outcomes of employees in any organizational sector.
Work Engagement, Wellbeing and Burnout
Angelo and Chambel (2012) in their longitudinal study on Firefighters explored the relationship between work characteristics and employee burnout and engagement. A causal relationship was established between job demands and burnout meaning that firefighters viewed their work environment depending on their own levels of burnout. Further the firefighters perception of their working conditions also varied with their own mental health status, which will be briefly, discussed when we look at the role of psychological capital later.
In a study conducted on 343 PhD students in Belgium results showed that work engagement mediated the relationship between organizational support, job satisfaction and also perceived stress. This perceived organizational support had a positive impact on job satisfaction and a negative impact on perceived stress and sleep problems. Since the study was conducted to look at the impact of work engagement and workaholism on wellbeing the results are have useful implications. The authors found that workaholism is associated with negative indicators of wellbeing and work engagement with positive outcomes such as job satisfaction and organizational support(Caesens,Stinglhamber & Luypaert,2014) .
Yet various other studies have focused on the role of Work Engagement and negative employee outcomes such as employee’s intentions to quit (Mxenge, Dywili, & Bazana, 2014) , turnover intentions(Lu, Lu, Gursot & Neale, 2016), In contrast a study conducted on 335 employees of higher educational institutions in Pakistan explored the role of work engagement in employee deviant behaviors and also turnover intentions. Although the perceived supervisor support moderated the relationship between work engagement and deviant behavior, it did not moderate the relationship between engagement and turnover intentions (Khattak, Btool, Rehman, Fayaz & Asif, 2017).
Psychological Capital, Subjective Wellbeing and Burnout
Psychological Capital or PsyCap has been shown to affect individual perceptions of wellbeing and an improvement in the quality of life of employees in terms of their personal and work lives (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2012; Baron, Franklin & Hmieleski, 2013).It influences employee wellbeing over a period of time ( Avey, Luthans, Smith, & Palmer, 2010)
Further PsyCap has been found to moderate the relationship between labour and job satisfaction/burnout (Tang & Tang, 2011). 264 full time school teachers in China were chosen for the study. The results found that PsyCap was related to emotional labour, job satisfaction/burnout. Additionally a positive association was found between those with high PsyCap and job satisfaction as opposed to Burnout. Negative effects were found in those that were low on PsyCap and it was found that perceived resource constraint was felt by those that were low on PsyCap compared to the ones who had a high PsyCap score (Chadwick &Raver, 2013) .It is clear from existing literature that other variables such as psychological capital and work engagement impact the subjective well-being of an individual. Yet studies have mostly focused on one or two such variables and there is a major gap, which is found in terms of studies that focus on all 4 variables that have been chosen for this study.
Further the studies have mostly looked at the healthcare and education sector and the research in India specifically has mostly looked at doctors, nurses and psychologists. Although this is an important population, other sectors are concerned with human resource optimization. This study will focus on corporate sector employees, which is a rarely researched population in terms of all four variables.
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**Please Note : This document is a part of the dissertation work conducted during my MSc in Health Psychology at the University of Hyderabad to understand the impact of burnout on the subjective wellbeing of corporate employees. Some sections may not make sense in the entirety of this piece and more context which is present in the final dissertation document may be required**
