Regional variations in burnout rates in a natural resources agency

This study explores employee burnout within and across the four administrative regions of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) based on the hypothesis that burnout levels will vary systematically with workload levels. Approximately 1100 District Conservationists (DCs), the front-line operating officers of the NRCS, were surveyed. Results indicate significant variation in workload and burnout levels but no significant association between these two variables within and across regions. Further analysis revealed that a number of important variables help to explain burnout across regions including job design, functional unit cooperation, and adequate staffing. Within regions, the variables that explain burnout are under the categories of leadership, job design, human resource systems, and agency policy. The authors make use of the research findings to develop a set of organization development (OD) recommendations to help the agency deal with burnout within and across regions.