The impact of supervisors attitude on employee burnout

Abstract

Burnout is a state of physical and psychological exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress combined with various situational factors as dysfunctional workplace dynamics. The purpose of this research was to explore how employees, who had experienced burnout and taken a sick leave from work at doctors advise, perceived support and understanding from their supervisors and if those factors contributed to their return to the workplace after the sick leave ended. In addition, the aim was to explore if understanding and knowledge among supervisors of the burnout condition might have been beneficial for the employee and finally if there were any resources for burnout recovery provided by the workplace and if those resources benefited the employees. Qualitative method was used for this research. Semi-structured interviews were used with the objective to collect information about the participants experience. Snowballing method was used to gather participants. Thematic analysis was used to code the interviews. The results show that participants who did not experience support from their supervisor did not return to their workplace after the sick leave. Out of nine participants, only four chose to return after their sick leave was over. The participants who did not return described a lack of support from supervisors, dysfunctional working environment, trust issues and experiencing unfairness and indifference from supervisors. All participants blamed themselves in some manner for their burnout. Participants described a lack of understanding from supervisors of the burnout syndrome and the severity of the illness. Majority of participants were not offered resources of any kind to treat their burnout or any education or guidance to get help for burnout. The results demonstrate the importance of educating supervisors on how their support and knowledge is a key factor in the return of burnout employees. The results also indicate that it is significant for supervisors to create a healthy and stable working environment.