Strategies used by individuals to prevent burnout

Abstract

Background: Burnout represents a syndrome that is related to demanding job characteristics combined with the absence of resources or motivational job characteristics. The aim of this position study was to present strategies that individuals use to minimize burnout and its unfavourable effects.

Materials and methods: The study focuses explicitly on strategies that individuals use to (i) deal with diminished resources that come with burnout, (ii) change their job characteristics such that the job becomes less demanding and more motivating and (iii) manage the interplay between the work and nonwork domains.

Results: Individuals seem to use coping, recovery and compensation strategies to reduce the impact of work stressors by changing the stressor or their responses to the stressor. Moreover, they use job crafting to alter the characteristics of the job such that it becomes less hindering and more motivating. Finally, individuals create boundaries between their work and nonwork domains to experience less work-family and family-work conflicts by actively detaching from work.

Conclusions: Finding bottom-up strategies that individuals use to minimize burnout or its unfavourable effects may be essential to complement the top-down interventions initiated by organizations.

Keywords: Burnout; coping; job crafting; work-family interface.