Burnout is a serious issue in all high-stress jobs, especially the human services field. What burnout is, factors that contribute to burnout, and methods used to prevent burnout are discussed in this paper. A self-analysis of my reactions and responses to high-stress situations and methods I may use to reduce work-related burnout will follow, along with ideas of how I could respond and react to employee burnout as a human services manager.
Burnout is a state of exhaustion, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional, that an individual experiences when under extreme stress (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Burnout can be identified by three major features: emotional exhaustion, feelings of decreased successful outcomes with clients, and increased feelings of being de-sensitized to the needs of clients (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Supervisees may show physical, emotional, or behavioral sign and symptoms of burnout. Physical signs may include a fatigued or drained appearance, more frequent absences due to illness, increases in physical complaints, and changes in weight (Smith, Jaffe-Gill, Segal, & Segal, 2008). Emotional signs of burnout may include feelings of failure, helplessness, detachment, increasing cynicism, and decreased satisfaction (Smith, Jaffe-Gill, Segal, & Segal, 2008). Behavioral signs may include withdrawal from work responsibilities, frequent isolation, procrastination, the use of food, drugs, or alcohol to cope with work duties, increased outbursts of anger or frustration towards others, and increased absences (Smith, Jaffe-Gill, Segal, & Segal, 2008).
Causes of burnout may be individual, cultural, organizational, lack of social support, supervisory, or a combination of any of these. One study found that “high emotional demands, high demands for hiding emotions, high quantitative demands, high work pace, low possibilities for development, low meaning of work, low predictability, low role-clarity and high role-conflict predicted burnout” (Borritz, 2006, p. 27). Employees with Type A personalities, inflexible management philosophies, low employee motivation, lack of “participative decision making”, and work policies that go against employees’ cultural beliefs are all common causes of burnout (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007).
Methods to prevent burnout depend on what type of burnout is primarily observed in employees. An organization that observes its employees experiencing burnout due to working on the same service or project daily or working in highly stressful situations daily, restructuring job responsibilities to add variety to the employee’s workload would be an appropriate method to prevent continued burnout for this reason. However, supervisors more than likely observe burnout for various reasons, so a mixture of methods may need to be used to effectively prevent burnout for all causes. Clarifying the goals and expectations of each job title can help employees experience higher job motivation and a stronger sense of purpose at work if burning out due to low role-clarity or low meaning of work. Supervisors must also be aware of their responsibility to be a role model for all employees, exuberating excitement and motivation about work goals and objectives. Frequent communication between supervisors and employees also creates a strong social support network for individuals under stress to fall back on for guidance. Jobs that require strict confidentiality, privacy, and secrecy can cause problems for employees, since this strong social support network is not often present in these situations. Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) may be a good option for these individuals when feeling the symptoms of burnout (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Burnout as a result of individual factors may be addressed by staff development interventions and in-house trainings related to time management, peer support groups, problem solving, and resource exchange (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007).
After extensive thought and completing a self-assessment of my personal stress management reactions, I realize that I often overreact in highly stressful situations. My decision making skills also seem to be affected when I am under extreme stress, as evidenced by the outcomes of some poor decisions made during stressful times of my life. I tend to react worse to personal stress than work-related stress, which I believe is due to my efforts to remain professional at work at all times. My reactions to personal and work-related stressful situations also tend to affect all aspects of my life, as I have been told that my emotions are easily identified simply by my body language and facial expressions. Since I currently work one on one with a mentally challenged client, I experience the high stress of the human services field daily. One method I currently use to reduce personal and work-related stress is to spend at least 20-30 minutes alone each day. Whether I spend this time at home watching TV, at the tanning salon, or driving in the car listening to the radio, this alone time always seems to put me in a better mood. I find that regular exercise is another way to reduce individual stress. I enjoy listening to music while I exercise, but I occasionally read a magazine or watch TV. I notice that the less I exercise, the higher I feel my stress level rises, so I try to go to the gym at least three times per week. I also get to take my client with me to the gym, and she also enjoys listening to music while exercising, so this is a stress reliever for us both. An area I need to work on regarding stress control is time management. Due to recent personal changes in my life I have taken on much more personal responsibilities in my life, and find it hard to adjust to these added tasks in my daily routine. I have adjusted to daily schedule to incorporate a lot of multi-tasking, but I sometimes feel this affects the quality of my work personally, professionally, and educationally. However, I feel that this stress is positive in a way, because after I complete my education goals hopefully many of the stresses in my personal life related to finances, job security, and job satisfaction, will decline.
Preventing burnout as a human services manager requires knowledge of the signs and symptoms of burnout among supervisees. Identifying recurring signs of burnout among employees and developing programs to avert the causes of these signs is the best way to prevent burnout. As manager a top priority should be staying alert to the signs of burnout and reacting immediately to avoid any progression. Once signs of burnout are noticed, the manager should immediately discuss their concerns with the employee and try to work together to identify causes and develop solutions. Causes of burnout the manager feel they are unable to provide resolution for should be referred to a professional with the ability to assist the employee. Maintaining a database of contacts that can assist employees with burnout issues would make the referral process easier and less time-consuming. The human services manager should also stay trained and updated in how to deal with burnout among their employees and for themselves. A manager dealing poorly with stress at home or at work is less able to assist any employees with burnout issues.
Burnout is common is human services positions, which traditionally hold high stress job responsibilities. Managers can identify and prevent burnout by knowing the meaning and signs of burnout, understanding the causes of burnout, developing interventions to prevent burnout, and analyzing how they deal with their own personal and work-related stress. Managers are the first line in controlling burnout issues among employees, and must be able to intervene with staff as well as themselves.
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References
Borritz, M. (2006). Burnout in human service work – causes and consequences. National Instutue of Occupational Health.
Lewis, J., Packard, T., & Lewis, M. (2007). Management of human service programs. Belmont: Thomson.
Smith, M., Jaffe-Gill, E., Segal, J., & Segal, R. (2008, December). Preventing Burnout: Signs, symptoms, causes, and coping strategies. Retrieved May 17, 2010, from Helpguide.org: Understand, prevent, and resolve life’s challenges: http://helpguide.org/mental/burnout_signs_symptoms.htm
