Impact of activity-based workplaces on burnout and engagement dimensions

Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek,Pascale Le Blanc,Rik Aussems,Theo Arentze,Theo Van Der Voordt

doi:10.1108/jcre-09-2019-0041

Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, Pascale Le Blanc + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/jcre-09-2019-0041

Copy DOI

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to explore, which characteristics of activity-based offices are related to the position of workers on the burnout – engagement continuum.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review and an online survey amongst knowledge workers in the Netherlands, which provided data of 184 respondents from 14 organisations. The data has been analysed by descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, factor analyses and path analysis, to test the conceptual model.FindingsFive physical work environment constructs were identified of which three showed to have significant relations with employees’ position on one of the three dimensions of the burnout – engagement continuum. Distraction has a direct and indirect (through overload) negative relation with the individual strain (meaning increased exhaustion). Office comfort has indirect positive relations (through recognition and appreciation) with the interpersonal strain (meaning increased involvement). The possibility for teleworking has an indirect positive relation (through control) on the self-evaluation strain (meaning increased efficacy).Practical implicationsThe findings show that in the design and management of a healthy physical work environment, corporate real estate managers and human resource managers should particularly pay attention to lowering distraction, providing comfortable workplaces and considering the option of teleworking to some extent.Originality/valueThis paper provides new insights into the impact of distinct activity-based workplace characteristics on workers’ position on the burnout – engagement continuum.

Highlights

According to Maslach and Leiter (1997), people’s psychological relationship to their job can be positioned on a continuum between the negative experience of burnout and the positive experience of engagement
Office use has been operationalised by the frequency of choosing a workplace that fits best with the activity, leaving behind a clean desk, claiming a workplace by personalisation, interaction, distraction, the experience of excessive noise and opportunities to isolate themselves from colleagues, using 10 items (e.g. “during work, I interact with colleagues on a social level” and “during work, I am distracted by colleagues”)
Overload showed to be the strongest predictor of the individual dimension of the burnout-engagement continuum (BEC), the importance of formal interaction of the interpersonal dimension and work experience of the self-evaluation dimension

Summary

Introduction

According to Maslach and Leiter (1997), people’s psychological relationship to their job can be positioned on a continuum between the negative experience of burnout and the positive experience of engagement. Burnout can be defined as a state of mental and physical exhaustion caused by one’s professional life (Freudenberger, 1974). It is associated with psychological and physical health problems (Schaufeli and Enzmann, 1998; Shirom et al, 2005), job dissatisfaction, low levels of commitment and destabilisation of one’s work-life balance (Grawitch et al, 2006), increased sickness absence (Schaufeli et al, 2009) and reduced productivity and job performance (Maslach and Leiter, 2008). Engaged workers appear to be more open to new experiences, explore their work environments and, in doing so, become more creative (Fredrickson, 2001)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion