Can Infusing Servant Leadership into Supervision Mitigate Against Employee Burnout?

Purpose: The present conceptual paper sets out to answer the question, can a model of servant leadership be infused within supervision in order to mitigate employee burnout and negative stressful experiences in the health and social care sector. Design/Approach: A brief targeted review of the literature was undertaken to assess the extent of burnout in the health and social care sectors. The supervision literature was also explored for possible gaps in effectiveness. The outcomes associated with servant leadership were distilled, focusing on employee wellbeing and how these are linked to burnout. Findings: The literature suggests that burnout and related concepts such as secondary trauma and compassion fatigue impact these professions disproportionately. At the same time, servant leadership is suggested to mitigate some of these factors. The author presents a conceptual model of servant leadership supervision consisting of an ideographic model of servant leadership, Servant Leadership Scale-28 (SLS-28), using the most recent meta-analysis defining this construct, and previously validated measures in the extant literature to inform its design. A Servant Leadership Supervision Scale (SLSS) is also presented aligning its use to several of the core characteristics of servant leadership practice. Research Implications/limitations: This conceptual model may help reduce burnout of health and social care sector employees. It is the first articulated servant leadership supervision model specifically put forward to reduce burnout in this population. Limitations are considered in light of the conceptual paper having no primary data.

Serving Diverse Customers: The Impact of Cultural Intelligence on Employee Burnout, Engagement, and Job Satisfaction

This study examined the impact of cultural intelligence (CQ) on three key work-related attitudinal outcomes (burnout, engagement and job satisfaction) in a structural equation model. Data were collected from 288 restaurant employees in Hawaii, United States, where restaurant patrons are culturally diverse. Among the four dimensions of CQ (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral), cognitive and motivational CQ played a primary role in the proposed model. Motivational CQ predicted employee burnout and engagement; cognitive CQ predicted engagement. In addition, both motivational and cognitive CQs had an indirect influence on job satisfaction through engagement or burnout. Unlike previous studies of people who are studying or working abroad, this study indicates that CQ can be a salient personal resource for hospitality employees in their home countries but who have diverse customers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed based on the findings of this research.

Does Psychological Empowerment Mediates the Association of Workplace Spirituality with Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Employee Burnout?

The purpose of this study is to explore the mediating role of psychological empowerment in linking the relationship among workplace spirituality, OCB and burnout. The convenience sampling method was employed to collected data from a sample of 362 employees working in banking sector of Pakistan by a self-administered survey. Workplace Spirituality Scale (Ashmos & Duchon, 2000; Milliman, Andrew & Jeffery, 2003), Organizational Citizenship Behaviour Scale (Podsakoff and MacKenzie, 1994), Employee Burnout Scale (Maslach and Jackson, 1981) and Psychological Empowerment Scale (Spreitzer, 1995) were used. Regression analysis exhibits that workplace spirituality has a positive association with OCB whereas it was negatively linked with employee burnout. Further psychological empowerment significantly mediates the relationship of workplace spirituality with OCB and burnout. This research provides new insights into the workplace spirituality by investigating the empirical assessment of the combined impact of workplace spirituality and psychological empowerment on OCB and burnout.

Looking at both sides of high-performance work systems and individual performance: a job demands−resources model

In this study, we show how high-performance work systems (HPWS) in an organization can significantly affect employees' creative performance and burnout. To do this, we propose and test a dual-process framework that is based on HR attribution theory, ability−motivation−opportunity theory, micro- and macro-theoretical perspectives, and the job demands−resources (JD-R) model. Using data from a multisource field study with a sample of 311 participants, we found that HPWS benefited employee creative performance and did not lead to employee burnout. However, HPWS affected both job demands and job resources when employees adopted self-protection and self-enhancement strategies. Also, we found that HPWS had unique indirect effects on employee creative performance via job resources whereas job demands fully mediated the relationship between HPWS and employee burnout. The findings shed light on key aspects of HR attribution theory. We discuss accompanying theoretical and practical implications.