“Control yourself or someone else will control you. Effect of job demands on employee burnout: a perspective from self-regulation theory”

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to show the role of employees’ self-regulation in defining the effect of job demands on employees’ burnout. Moreover, the paper also highlights the importance of a high-performance work system (HPWS) on the relation between job demands and employee self-regulation.Design/methodology/approachData has been collected from public sector hospital nurses through a survey strategy following a time-lagged approach. This data has been analysed to validate the measure and to test the hypotheses through structural equation modelling.FindingsResults of this study indicate that job demands affect employees’ burnout through adaptive regulation (recovery) and maladaptive regulation (self-undermining). Adaptive regulation minimizes while maladaptive regulation supports this effect. Moreover, results also highlight the role of HPWS in mitigating the negative impact of job demands on adaptive regulation.Practical implicationsThis study serves as a guide for managers to minimize the burnout of their subordinates in the face of increasing job demands. This study also emphasizes the use of HPWS in organizations so that the burnout of the employees may be decreased by increasing adaptive self-regulation or recovery.Originality/valueThis study enriches the literature on the job demand resource theory by showing how employee job demands, employee self-regulation (psychological processes) and HPWS (organizational processes) collaborate to determine the extent of job burnout of employees.