Challenges in Career Development

Burnout The erosion of the soul A cross between helplessness and hopelessness. A mismatch between the requirements of the job and the abilities of the employee. Burnout can be the result of stress, low morale, poor working conditions, or simply having too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Burnout Occurs at every level of an organization from the mailroom to the boardroom. It commonly occurs amongst helping professionals like teachers, nurses and social workers. It also occurs amongst salespeople, customer service people, factory workers and white- collar executives.

Profile of Burnout Employees First coined in 1974 by Herbert Freudenberger, in his book, “Burnout: The High Cost of High Achievement”. Defined ‘burnout’ as, “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one's devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.”

Profile of Burnout Employees It is often the rising stars within an organization, whose burning ambition is fueled by idealism, dreams and the desire to really make a difference in the world.

Burnout Symptoms Depleted Physical Energy: -Prolonged stress can be physically draining, causing you to feel tired much of the time. -Getting out of bed to face another day of the same gets more difficult.

Burnout Symptoms Emotional Exhaustion: -Feel impatient, moody, inexplicably sad, or just get frustrated more easily than you normally would. -Feel like you can’t deal with life as easily than you once could.

Burnout Symptoms Lowered Immunity to Illness: -When stress levels are high for a prolonged amount of time, your immune system does suffer. -People who are suffering from burnout usually get the message from their body that something needs to change, and that message comes in the form of increases susceptibility to colds, the flu, and other minor illnesses.

Burnout Symptoms Less Investment in Interpersonal Relationships: -You may feel like you have less to give, or less interest in having fun, or just less patience with people.

Burnout Symptoms Increasingly Pessimistic Outlook: -It’s harder to get excited about life, harder to expect the best, harder to let things roll off your back, and harder to ‘look on the bright side’ in general.

Burnout Symptoms Increased Absenteeism and Inefficiency at Work: -When experiencing job burnout, it gets more difficult just to get out of bed and face more of what’s been overwhelming you in the first place. -Stay home from work more often. -This is part of why it makes sense for workers to take some time off before they’re feeling burned-out.

Job-related causes of burnout Unclear Requirements: When it’s not clear to workers how to succeed, it’s harder for them to be confident, enjoy their work, and feel they’re doing a good job

Job-related causes of burnout Impossible Requirements: Sometimes it’s just not possible to do a job as it’s explained. Lack of Personal Control: -People feel excited when they are able to creatively decide what needs to be done and come up with ways of handling problems that arise. -Workers who feel restricted and unable to exercise personal control over their environment and daily decisions tend to be at greater risk for burnout.

Role Ambiguity A lack of clarity about expected behavior from a job or position. A key component of role stress. Ambiguity makes employees work in circumstances where there is no clear goal, outcome or path.

Role Ambiguity Kahn et al. (1964): Single or multiple roles that confront the role incumbent, which may not be clearly articulated in terms of expectations, priorities, behaviors, or performance levels.

Role Ambiguity Role ambiguity is most common in new positions or in positions undergoing change. Four most frequently cited instances of role ambiguity (Handy, 1985): 1)Uncertainty about how work is evaluated 2)Uncertainty about advancement opportunities 3)Uncertainty about scope of responsibilities 4)Uncertainty about other’s performance expectations.

Role Ambiguity The greater the role ambiguity, the lesser the individual is able to predict the outcome of their behaviors. For example, expatriates with high role ambiguity are less able to predict how others in their organization will respond to decisions they make, causing them to not make necessary decisions.

Role Ambiguity In one study of North American expatriates in Ireland, role ambiguity displayed the most significant relationship (negatively) with work adjustment (Morley & Flynn, 2003).

Role Ambiguity Reducing role ambiguity had most significant impact on work adjustment compared to other interventions eg. mentoring, training, compensation.

Reduce Role Ambiguity Clear purpose and goals of the assignment Clear expectations and responsibilities Clear levels of authority and decision-making capabilities