A study of workplace environment and worker burnout and engagement

Abstract

Previous studies indicated that worker burnout and engagement are more associated with work environments than individual characteristics of employees. Burnout is linked with deteriorating quality of work and serious individual health crises, thereby contributing to organisational loss. Engagement is linked with enthusiastic and productive workers. K-means cluster analysis was used with 561 respondents to identify five profiles of engagement or burnout. As was hypothesised, further analyses found significant differences between clusters on workload, control, reward, community, fairness, values and management trustworthiness. This study highlighted psycho-social work domains that can inform employers about preventing burnout and promoting worker engagement.