Michael P. Leiter

Early predictors of job burnout and engagement.

A longitudinal study predicted changes in burnout or engagement a year later by identifying 2 types of early indicators at the initial assessment. Organizational employees (N = 466) completed measures of burnout and 6 areas of worklife at 2 times with a 1-year interval. Those people who showed an inconsistent pattern at Time 1 were more likely to change over the year than were those who did not. Among this group, those who also displayed a workplace incongruity in the area of fairness moved to burnout at Time 2, while those without this incongruity moved toward engagement. The implications of these 2 predictive indicators are discussed in terms of the enhanced ability to customize interventions for targeted groups within the workplace.

Work engagement : an emerging concept in occupational health psychology

Abstract This position paper introduces the emerging concept of work engagement: a positive, fulfilling, affective-motivational state of work-related well-being that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. Although there are different views of work engagement, most scholars agree that engaged employees have high levels of energy and identify strongly with their work. The most often used instrument to measure engagement is the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, a self-report instrument that has been validated in many countries across the world. Research on engagement has investigated how engagement differs from related concepts (e.g., workaholism, organizational commitment), and has focused on the most important predictors of work engagement. These studies have revealed that engagement is a unique concept that is best predicted by job resources (e.g., autonomy, supervisory coaching, performance feedback) and personal resources (e.g., optimism, self-efficacy, self-esteem). Moreover, the first studies have shown that work engagement is predictive of job performance and client satisfaction. The paper closes with an account of what we do not know about work engagement, and offers a brief research agenda for future work.

Burnout: 35 years of research and practice

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Work engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research

Modern organizations expect their employees to be proactive, show initiative, take responsibility for their own professional development and to be committed to high quality performance standards. They need employees who feel energetic and dedicated – i.e., who are engaged with their work. It is therefore not surprising that the past decade has witnessed a sharp rise in scientific studies on engagement. The work engagement research discussed in this book offers evidence for the incremental validity of engagement over and above traditional I/O concepts. Work engagement provides a distinct, valuable perspective on the experience of work. In this final chapter, we integrate the perspectives on work engagement offered in this book and outline a research agenda. We do this by delineating a theoretical framework and by discussing seven avenues for research on work engagement. We will see that the future looks bright for engagement research. The chapter authors presented dynamic perspectives on work engagement. What we will do is try to synthesize the perspectives, and illuminate avenues for new research.Leiter, Bakker, Work Engagement: State of the Art. Schaufeli, Bakker, Defining and Measuring Work Engagement: Bringing Clarity to the Concept. Sonnentag, Dormann, Demerouti, Not All Days are Created Equal: The Concept of State Work Engagement. Taris, Schaufeli, Shimazu, The Push and Pull of Work: The Differences between Workaholism and Work Engagement. Sweetman, Lutgans, The Power of Positive Psychology: Psychological Capital and Work Engagement. Shirom, Feeling Energetic at Work: On Vigors Antecendents. Hakanen, Roodt, Using the Job-Demands-Resources Model to Predict Engagement: Analysing a Conceptual Model. Halbesleben, A Meta-analysis of Work Engagement: Relationships with Burnout, Demands, Resources and Consequences. Salanova, Schaufeli, Xanthopoulou, Bakker, The Gain Spiral of Resources and Work Engagement: Sustaining a Positive Worklife. Spreitzer, Lam, Fritz, Engagement and Human Thriving: Complementary Perspectives on Energy and Connections to Work. Demerouti, Cropanzano, From Thought to Action: Employee Work Engagement And Job Performance. Leiter, Maslach, Building Engagement: The Design and Evaluation of Interventions. Bakker, Leiter, Where To Go From Here: Integration and Future Research on Work Engagement.

Consistency of the burnout construct across occupations

This study assessed the extent to which a recently developed measure of burnout extended the concept of burnout as developed among human service providers to people in other occupations. The study replicated a factor structure derived from a study of aircraft maintenance workers, computer programmers, and administrators with staff in various occupations across two health care settings: a tertiary care hospital (N=3,312) and a residential mental health facility (N=417). Within the larger setting the analysis replicated the factor structure with four occupational groups: clerical/maintenance workers, technical personnel, nurses, and managers. The study found support for the validity of the scale through its consistency with the issues that participants raised in an open-ended questionnaire. Conceptual issues in burnout theory and suggestions for further research are presented.

AREAS OF WORKLIFE: A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO ORGANIZATIONAL PREDICTORS OF JOB BURNOUT

This chapter evaluates a model of the organizational context of burnout with direct reference to a new measure, the Areas of Worklife Scale (AWS). The model proposes a structured framework for considering six areas of worklife – workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values – that have resonated through the literature on burnout over the previous two decades. The chapter presents extensive data on the AWS, testing a model of the six areas’ interrelationships as well as their overall relationship to the three aspects of burnout. The results of these analyses are discussed in reference to the psychometric qualities of the measure and the implications of a structured approach to work environments for future development of research on burnout. Implications for developing workplace interventions are also considered.

The impact of civility interventions on employee social behavior, distress, and attitudes.

Although incivility has been identified as an important issue in workplaces, little research has focused on reducing incivility and improving employee outcomes. Health care workers (N = 1,173, Time 1; N = 907, Time 2) working in 41 units completed a survey of social relationships, burnout, turnover intention, attitudes, and management trust before and after a 6-month intervention, CREW (Civility, Respect, and Engagement at Work). Most measures significantly improved for the 8 intervention units, and these improvements were significantly greater than changes in the 33 contrast units. Specifically, significant interactions indicating greater improvements in the intervention groups than in the contrast groups were found for coworker civility, supervisor incivility, respect, cynicism, job satisfaction, management trust, and absences. Improvements in civility mediated improvements in attitudes. The results suggest that this employee-based civility intervention can improve collegiality and enhance health care provider outcomes.

The discriminant validity of burnout and depression: A confirmatory factor analytic study

Health care workers (N=307) completed measures of burnout and depression as part of a study of personal and occupational sources of distress. A confirmatory factor analysis provided support for differentiating burnout and depression. The analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the Maslach Burnout Inventory and s multiple factor structure for depression measures. The analysis also provided support for the existence of second-order factors of burnout and depression that accounted for the correlations among the primary factors within each syndrome. The implications of study for the construct validity of burnout and depression are discussed.

The Impact of Family Resources, Control Coping, and Skill Utilization on the Development of Burnout: A Longitudinal Study

Mental health workers (N= 122) provided information regarding burnout, coping styles, and resources in their work setting and their family. Resources from both work setting and family were found to be related to subsequent levels of burnout at a 6-month interval. A LISREL model testing procedure provided support for the hypothesis that each resource area, family, work setting, and coping style, was independently related to changes in burnout over time. Each of the three aspects of psychological burnout showed a distinct relationship with the resource measures. Emotional exhaustion was related only to family resources, while depersonalization was related to both work-setting and family resources. Diminished personal accomplishment was not related to family resources, but was related to both work-setting resources and coping styles. The implications of the results for including family coping in a model of burnout and occupational stress are discussed.

Burnout Among Mental Health Workers: a Review and a Research Agenda

The purpose of this paper is to review studies of burnout relating to mental health workers and to propose directions for future research. It will summarize findings with regard to established norms, demographic variables, possible antecedents and consequences of burnout, and burnout models tested with mental health workers. Comparison of group perceptions of burnout is facilitated by the fact that all the papers but one have used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1981, 1986). Strengths and weaknesses of the research will be analyzed and suggestions offered for extending research in this area.