Indian Model of Executive Burnout

Abstract

Burnout is described as a state of depletion of a person's resources and energy resulting in apathetic and impassive behaviour towards others, having dysfunctional repercussions on the individual and adverse effects on organizations. Though an enormous amount of research is available on “stress” in both Western and Indian contexts, there is very little research on “burnout” in the Indian workplaces. For this study, important considerations included evolving an exclusive construct of “executive burnout” in the industrial context which does not exist and also developing the construct of burnout in the Indian context. The Western construct of burnout using Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) developed in 1982 has largely been based on people occupations (like nurses and teachers) and later extended to non-service occupations. When tested by the author on the Indian sample of executives, it revealed the following: There is a difference in the dimension of diminished personal accomplishment which was not valid on the Indian sample. Those suffering from burnout did not have low personal accomplishment; on the contrary, high achieving executives were mostly found to suffer from burnout. Some dimensions, viz., ambiguity; dissatisfaction and powerlessness; inadequacy; and physical exhaustion, which were empirically found vital for executives in the Indian context, were not covered by MBI. With technological advancements, workplaces have undergone drastic changes and many executives work in situations which require very little people contact, implying that the construct of executive burnout is qualitatively different and needs to be evolved for better understanding of this pivotal problem. The author's professional interactions with executives from a variety of industry and a study of mental health professionals in India revealed that the problem of burnout has been acute and on the increase. This study identifies the determinants of burnout among Indian executives and thus evolves an Indian model of executive burnout to help the executives/organizations in taking preventive measures to mitigate this problem. Reliable tools are used on a representative sample of middle level executives from manufacturing and service industry representing both public and private sectors. Basic statistics, Pearson's correlation, factor analysis, t-test, and hierarchical regression test the hypotheses. The analysis of data reveal the following: Emotional intelligence mediates and leads to personal effectiveness which moderates the onset of burnout. Stress personality and personal inadequacy are personality-related predictors. Role expectation conflict, role stagnation, self-role distance, role overload, role erosion, resource inadequacy, inter-role distance, and role ambiguity are role- related predictors of burnout among executives in India. The author (2005) has found that burnout can be prevented with early detection, timely intervention, and enhancement of emotional intelligence.