Question

How could you use work engagement theory to combat burnout? Be specific and share examples.

Answer 1

Work engagement has been defined as a positive psychological state within the labor environment composed of three dimensions: vigor, dedication, and absorption. Vigor is characterized by high levels of energy while working as well as willingness to invest even more effort on it. Dedication is referred as the sense of being strongly involved in one's work, and experiencing high levels of meaning and enthusiasm. Absorption consists on being fully concentrated and engrossed in one's work.

It has been found that work engagement positively correlate with similar constructs such as organizational commitment, intra- and inter-role behavior, type A behavior, and addiction to work. Engaged workers are reported to enjoy better physical and mental health. Work engagement is essential to contemporary organizations given the countless challenges ahead of them, specially, because employee's attitudes are a key factor to improve organization performance, productivity, staff retention, financial performance, and even shareholder's return .

Currently, Mexican workers are often exposed to unfavorable working conditions causing behavioral and physiological alterations such as chronic stress that can lead to the emergence of occupational burnout (OB). Essentially, burnout is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged stress. In the work setting, OB impairs the employee physical and mental health, they often report feeling exhausted and unable to cope with the work pressure and obstacles. According to Maslach (1993), there are three dimensions that composed OB sindrome: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished sense of personal accomplishment or dissatisfaction.