Line Managers' Perspectives and Responses when Employees Burn Out
M Claeys1, A Van den Broeck2, I Houkes3
1Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229 ER, the Netherlands.
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
|July 4, 2023
Summary
Line managers can help prevent employee burnout by recognizing early warning signs and intervening. Training managers to identify and act on these signals is crucial for early burnout intervention.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Management Studies
- Psychology
Background:
- Early detection of burnout is critical but under-researched.
- Line managers play a key role in employee well-being.
- Understanding manager perspectives on emerging burnout is essential for intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore line managers' perspectives and actions regarding employees showing early signs of burnout.
- To identify the phases managers experience when dealing with potential burnout in their employees.
- To understand how managers' experiences shape their responses to emerging burnout.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative study involving thematic analysis of interviews.
- 17 line managers from educational and healthcare sectors were interviewed.
- Focus on managers who had previously dealt with employee burnout-related sickness absence.
Main Results:
- Managers progressed through three phases: signal detection, role-taking, and re-evaluation.
- Managerial experience and personal frames of reference influenced signal detection and intervention.
- Active interventions included conversations, task modification, and job description changes.
Conclusions:
- Enhancing line managers' understanding and training can improve early burnout signal detection.
- Proactive manager training is a vital step in preventing the progression of early burnout symptoms.
- Managerial learning from burnout experiences can adapt their future responses.
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