Professional Burnout in IT Sector in Canada - Research Proposal Example

Professional Burnout in IT Sector in Canada Professional burnout is a when people feel lack of motivation to work and lose their productivity. It is commonly studies in the sphere which are related to healthcare and education services provision. Expansion of IT industry attracts attention to the impact of professional burnout on employees in this sphere. This study tests how gender, age, ethnic background and job responsibilities influence job burnout in IT professionals. It is predicted that women are expected to suffer from burnout more than men. Diversity is expected to have a great impact on coping strategies used by different employees in IT industry. The results of the study can be applied in IT organizations to develop appropriate company-based interventions to cope with job burnout and make employees more satisfied with their work. Professional Burnout in IT Sector in Canada Professional burnout is one of the issues which hit people on the way of their career development. It can be defined as “a negative, job related psychological state comprising a set of symptoms such as physical fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and loss of motivation” (Hakanen & Schaufeli, 2012). Mental fatigue, negative job-related feelings and loss of productivity are also proved to be burnout signs (Hakanen & Schaufeli, 2012). People who suffer from professional burnout feel depressed at work and demotivate their co-workers as this state can be ‘viral’. Despite the facts that job burnout can appear in all occupations, researches focus on it particular effect on physicians (Shanafelt et al., 2012), nurses (Pereira et al., 2011; Gray-Stanley & Muramatsu, 2011) and teachers (Antoniou, Ploumpi & Ntalla, 2013; Roeser et al., 2013; Coman et al., 2013). Most researchers agree that the causes of burnout are represented by work overload and limited authority of employees in the organization. At the same time, some aspects of burnout are job-specific. Nurses tend to display negative attitude to patients, poorer job performance and loss of motivation (Pereira et al., 2011; Gray-Stanley & Muramatsu, 2011). In case of teachers, extended responsibilities, lack of autonomy, competition with colleagues, conflicts and lack of recognition lead educators to loss of motivation, creativity and depersonalization of their students (Antoniou, Ploumpi & Ntalla, 2013). Defining particular causes of professional burnout, researchers offer effective coping strategies which can be used by professionals in their particular sphere of work. Finding of these studies are extremely useful for both employers and employees because they suggest comprehensive guidelines which can help both parties to cope with the problem. For instance, the study by Pereira et al., (2011) suggests organizing special training for employees to teach them to use active coping strategy and work on their internal beliefs which can give them more strength to deal with daily stress. Roeser et al. (2013) tests the effectiveness of mindfulness training and proves its significance to coping with professional burnout. Social support is another factor which appears as a recommendation for those who want to manage job burnout in their organization (Preira et al., 2011). All researchers stress the importance of employee achievements recognition and staff cooperation in order to reduce negative outcomes of professional burnout. In most cases, gender of employees impacts job burnout development. The study by Antoniou, Ploumpi & Ntalla (2013) lists a number of gender differences in work burnout; for instance, elementary school female teachers experience more stress and less personal accomplishment than their colleagues in secondary school. Overall, the all these studies clearly show that job-burnout needs to be explored in terms of certain occupation because its symptoms and causes are derived from the context. The number of studies related to burnout in other occupations is limited. Many professions which do not involve direct care or communication lack relevant research applicable to their industry. Growing numbers of people employed in IT make it important to research the symptoms and causes of professional burnout in this sphere. Sedentary lifestyle, monotonous work, need for cooperation, deadlines and teamwork create special conditions which are different from education and healthcare industries. As far as coding, quality control and development require much attention and concentration on the task, job burnout might seriously influence employees in IT. Practices and interventions suggested by Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison (2014) are aimed at meeting the needs of people who are involved in education and healthcare sectors; they do not fully meet the needs of IT professionals. Further research is needed to define exact cases of burnout and effective interventions to cope with it in IT sector. One of few recent studies by Singh, Suar & Leiter (2012) examines job burnout in Indian software developers and finds out that it is associated with increased productivity and minimized commitment to the organization and disciplinary issues. The biggest causes of professional burnout are defined to be family-work conflict, noncooperation and work-related stress and pressure. The findings of the study are relevant; however, they are applicable to India only. For instance, social support, cooperation and yoga are considered to be the best coping strategies for people who suffer from burnout. These results are not fully applicable in Western cultures where IT workers are a) more diverse in their age, race and gender and b) they have different cultural traditions and social norms which are not represented in the study by Singh, Suar & Leiter (2012). These limitations motivate the need to examine professional burnout cases in Canadian IT industry in order to define the causes and coping strategies which will be applicable contextually. Cultural diversity, specific work ethic and different social norms might be different from the results of the study by Singh, Suar & Leiter (2012). In this research 70% of respondents are male. The sample is not diverse ethnically and its results are culture specific because suggested intervention will not be accepted in Western cultures. This study is aimed to cover the gaps in burnout research in IT industry testing the hypotheses: H1: Gender, age, ethnic background and job responsibilities will influence the way people experience professional burnout in Canadian IT industry. H2: Gender, age and ethnic background will determine differences in coping strategies used by respondents. Method Participants The sample for this study will consist of 50-100 people. Respondents will be invited to participate via social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook), email and Skype. The sample will include equal number of female and male respondents from different ethnic backgrounds. All participants will have a right not to disclose their ethnicity. All respondents should work in IT at least 3 years at different positions except of administrative jobs, customer care professionals and sales managers. Any information about participants will not be used without their permission. Materials All respondents will receive a questionnaire to test their level of job burnout and check coping strategies they use to deal with their condition (App. 1). Questionnaire will include blocks of questions related to different aspects which are relevant for the research. Additionally to questionnaires, some of the participants will be ask to participate in short interviews via Skype. Procedure Participants will receive a questionnaire via e-mail after they agree to participate in the study. They will have a week to fill in the questionnaires. One week will be given in order to process information in questionnaires and define candidates for interviews. Tine of interviews will be agreed with each respondent separately. All data gathered in the research will be processed using the Grounded Theory methodology (Charmaz, 2014). Names will not be disclosed in order to guarantee confidentiality to all participants. Experimental Design This experimental research will be based on diverse independent and dependent variables. Independent variables will include demographic profile of each respondent (age, gender, ethnicity) and professional information (occupation and years of employment in IT). Dependent variables will include job-related stress, feelings associated with work, motivation, conflicts at work, balance of work and family, productivity, social support, hobby. Interviews with some respondents will clarify some of the aspects which will not be obvious in the questionnaires. References Antoniou, A. S., Ploumpi, A., & Ntalla, M. (2013). Occupational stress and professional burnout in teachers of primary and secondary education: the role of coping strategies. Psychology, 4(03), 349. Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. Sage Publication. Coman, D., Alessandri, M., Gutierrez, A., Novotny, S., Boyd, B., Hume, K. & Odom, S. (2013). Commitment to classroom model philosophy and burnout symptoms among high fidelity teachers implementing preschool programs for children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(2), 345-360. Gray-Stanley, J. A., & Muramatsu, N. (2011). Work stress, burnout, and social and personal resources among direct care workers. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(3), 1065-1074. Hakanen, J. J., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2012). Do burnout and work engagement predict depressive symptoms and life satisfaction? A three-wave seven-year prospective study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 141(2), 415-424. Pereira, S. M., Fonseca, A. M., & Carvalho, A. S. (2011). Burnout in palliative care: a systematic review. Nursing Ethics, 18(3), 317-326. Roeser, R. W., Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Jha, A., Cullen, M., Wallace, L., Wilensky, R., ... & Harrison, J. (2013). Mindfulness training and reductions in teacher stress and burnout: Results from two randomized, waitlist-control field trials. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(3), 787. Shanafelt, T. D., Boone, S., Tan, L., Dyrbye, L. N., Sotile, W., Satele, D., ... & Oreskovich, M. R. (2012). Burnout and satisfaction with work-life balance among US physicians relative to the general US population. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(18), 1377-1385. Singh, P., Suar, D., & Leiter, M. P. (2012). Antecedents, work-related consequences, and buffers of job burnout among Indian software developers. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 19(1), 83-104. Skovholt, T. M., & Trotter-Mathison, M. J. (2014). The resilient practitioner: Burnout prevention and self-care strategies for counselors, therapists, teachers, and health professionals. Routledge. Appendix 1. Job Burnout Questionnaire Note: If you feel uncomfortable answering any of the questions below, you are free to skip them. This information will be used for the research purpose only. Personal details will not be disclosed to third parties. Please, provide your personal information below. 1. Age 2. Gender 3. Ethnicity 4. Job position 5. How long do you work in IT? Job-Related Stress & Conflicts at work Please, provide full answers to the questions below Job-Related Stress & Conflicts at work Do you work under pressure at work? Do you need to meet different deadlines daily? Do you have any conflicts with you Team Lead/Supervisor/Manager or followers? Are you often overloaded with work? Do you work overtime? How often? Do you have normal relationships with your team/ manager/ administration? What do you usually do to come down? Are there any activities which help you to cope with daily stress? Productivity Do you feel that you lack motivation to work? How often do you procrastinate at work? Are you the same productive as you were 1 year ago? Do you work better when you are overloaded with work? How often do you make serious mistakes/do not notice obvious things? Feelings associated with work & Motivation Please, list benefits and drawbacks of your current organization. Do you like what you do every day at work? Do you want to go to work in the morning? How often you mention that you do not like something in what you do? Do you discuss these issues with your colleagues? Do you feel tired when you do relatively small amount of work? Do you feel that you can work overtime? Do you want to change your occupation/profession? Personal life VS Work Can you successfully balance family and work? Do you have enough time to spend with your family? Does your work interfere with your private life? Social Support and Hobby Do you feel that people support you at work? Do you feel that your achievements are recognized and appreciated by others? Do you have friends in your team? Do you have any hobbies? Do other people in your team share your interests? Thank you for participation! Read More