Revisiting the job performance – burnout relationship

Abstract

ABSTRACTEmployee burnout has been commonly acknowledged to influence job performance. Drawing on the conservation of resources and expectancy of motivation theories, the current study reinterprets this relationship and proposes that employee job performance is a precursor of burnout. The employee commitment concept is incorporated into the job performance – burnout relationship. The present study opted for sampling frontline employees working in the hospitality sector in the U.S.A. Customer-contact employees from several hotel resorts were approached to participate in the study, with permission from hotel management and assistance from respective human resource managers. Results support the study hypotheses and confirm that job performance is related to burnout, and employee commitment significantly mediates the performance burnout relationship. This is the first study that challenges the performance – burnout relationship and introduces employee commitment in this analysis.