Burnout and work engagement: Job Demands, resources and organizational outputs in Social Action organizations

Abstract

This research analyzes two opposite, coexisting and interrelated processes, one of them the deterioration of the employee's health process (burnout), and the other one, a motivator process (work engagement). From the approach of the Job Demand Resources Model, labor demands, as antecedents of burnout, are analyzed, and how its negative effects can be modulated, thanks to the empowerment of resources (job and personal). This is made possible, in part, by organizations implementing high-performance human resource practices. These resources, in turn, are antecedents of the employee's work engagement, which positively influences the organization's results. A combination of methods, both quantitative, such as the UWES-9 scale and the MBI-GS, as well as qualitative, based on direct observation, focus group, interviews and STAR survey, has been applied. The study of a Social Action organization, which serves the group of people with intellectual disabilities, has confirmed the existence of negative correlations between work engagement and the burnout dimensions, and identified that the professionals of this entity, as key informants (employees, managers), perceive that work engagement positively impacts organizational positive results and how highperformance work systems can act by reducing job demands and empowering employees' resources, both professional and personal. These findings highlight the need to pay special attention, in particular, to the selection, training, and participation in the system of human resource practices in Social Action organizations, given its impact on both the well-being of employees and the organizational and social results.