Organizational burnout distinguishes between intervening only at the individual level (rest, therapy) and intervening at the organization (job redesign, coherent values, autonomy). Evidence shows that individual-only interventions have temporary effects: burnout returns when the person returns to the same role. Leiter and Maslach propose three levels of intervention: individual, team, and organization. Ignoring the organizational level perpetuates the problem.
Concept origin
Leiter MP, Maslach C. (2004). Areas of worklife: A structured approach to organizational predictors of job burnout. Research in Occupational Stress and Well Being, 3, 91-134. (based on Maslach, Schaufeli, Leiter 2001, doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397)
How it manifests
- ▸ Burnout that returns after vacations
- ▸ Collective burnout (the whole team)
- ▸ High turnover in a specific role
Therapeutic approach
To evaluate if burnout is organizational: (1) ask "are there people in this same role who are NOT burned out?" If the answer is no → it is organizational. (2) intervene: map the 6 areas of worklife (load, control, reward, community, justice, values) and prioritize changes. Individual CBT complements but does not resolve alone.
Related concepts
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