Professional ‘burnout’ in the construction industry: an occupational health issue Helen Lingard and Anna Sublet Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning The University of Melbourne.

Job characteristics Conflicting demands...inter-personal conflict…tight profit margins…risk and uncertainty…cost and time overruns…competition and job insecurity…contractual disputes and threat of litigation…responsibility and legal liability…bureaucracy and paperwork etc. Why is it that our employees look burnt out by their thirties?

What is burnout? "a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among people who do 'people work' of some kind" (Maslach et al 1996). A 3-dimensional construct emotional exhaustion cynicism diminished personal efficacy

Antecedents of burnout ORGANISATIONAL Role-conflict Overload Lack of control/autonomy Sense of unfairness Inter-personal conflict Lack of career development Lack of supervisory support INDIVIDUAL Age Level of educational achievement Family status Personality variables hardiness optimism neuroticism

The work/family interface Changing workforce demographics Changing employee expectations New generation of employees Role conflict between domains Negative spillover from work to family life Burnout as a contagion Affects other family members

Consequences of burnout INDIVIDUAL Psychological distress anxiety, depression & low self-esteem Unhealthy behaviour substance abuse Psycho-somatic complaints coronary heart disease ORGANISATIONAL Compensation claims Diminished organisational effectiveness absenteeism, turnover, low organisational commitment & job satisfaction

Recent Australian research Examined experiences of professionals in the construction industry (civil engineers) Pilot questionnaire survey of members of IEAUST Burnout using the MBI (General Survey) Job and individual antecedents, including demographic, family and personality variables Intention to turnover (organisational consequence) Response rate of 36% (n=182)

Initial findings Both individual and job-related factors were significant predictors of burnout dimensions supports “ecological” models of burnout The multiple regression models we generated were powerful predictors of emotional exhaustion and cynicism (34% and 31% of variation explained respectively) In general, job-related variables were more important predictors than individual ones.

Significant predictors PREDICTORS OF EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION Tenure (inverse) Hours per week Subjective overload Role conflict Neuroticism PREDICTORS OF CYNICSIM Satisfaction with promotion prospects (inverse) Responsibility (inverse) Extroversion (inverse) Role clarity (inverse) Tenure (inverse) Satisfaction with pay (inverse)

Work and family issues PREDICTORS OF EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION Conflict in marital relationship Role overload (work) Role conflict (work) PREDICTORS OF CYNICSIM Satisfaction with promotion prospects (inverse) Satisfaction in relationship with partner/spouse Role clarity (inverse) Responsibility (inverse)

Demographic differences Different predictors of burnout between respondents in dual and single income families work hours a predictor of emotional exhaustion in dual but not single income participants Satisfaction in relationship with spouse/partner and clarity of role predicted cynicism in dual income couples Satisfaction with pay and promotion prospects predicted cynicism in single income participants

Differences by parental status Different predictors of burnout among parents and childless respondents Childless respondents sole predictor for emotional exhaustion was work hours Predictors of emotional exhaustion for parents were conflict in marital relationship, subjective overload and role conflict. Cynicism predicted by satisfaction in relationship with spouse/partner among parents but not non-parents

Implications Burnout dimensions predicted by different variables - multiple interventions may be needed to prevent it. Job design solutions could improve individual-job “fit” Work, individual and family “stressors” interact to create burnout can no longer treat work experience as existing in a “vacuum” Employees’ needs change according to their demographic characteristics organisational interventions should be designed to suit employees’ profile

Burnout and intention to turnover Emotional exhaustion and cynicism were strong predictors in stated intention to leave current job 38% of variation “explained” Measures to prevent burnout might assist organisations in attraction and retention of talented employees long term health of workforce, organisation and industry at stake.

What can companies do? Individual interventions time management training, negotiation and conflict resolution, effective coping mechanisms, employee assistance programmes. Organisational interventions improve person-job match in terms of workload, control, reward, community, fairness and values Flexibility of work schedule and regular respite Enhance supervisory support, sensitivity training.

On-going work Longitudinal study examining “process” of burnout sequential order of onset of burnout enables causes to be identified with certainty will inform development of prevention and early intervention strategies Examining burnout as a “contagion” crossover or transmission between family members eg husbands’ burnout leads to burnout in wives.