Burnout Prevention
Review

Maslach Burnout Inventory

Recognized as the leading measure of burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory™ (MBI) is validated by the extensive research that has been conducted in the more than 35 years since its initial publication.

MBI-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS): The MBI-HSS is the original and most widely used version of the MBI. Designed for professionals in the human services, it is appropriate for respondents working in a diverse array of occupations, including nurses, physicians, health aides, social workers, health counsellors, therapists, police, correctional officers, clergy, and other fields focused on helping people live better lives by offering guidance, preventing harm, and ameliorating physical, emotional or cognitive problems. The MBI-HSS (MP), adapted for Medical Personnel, is available.

The MBI-HSS addresses three scales:

  • Emotional Exhaustion measures feelings of being emotionally overextended and exhausted by one’s work.
  • Depersonalization measures an unfeeling and impersonal response toward recipients of one’s service, care treatment, or instruction.
  • Personal Accomplishment measures feelings of competence and successful achievement in one’s work.

*Note: If you’d like to take the burnout prevention assessment to see where you are in relation to burnout, email me directly so I can first get you set up.

Take the assessment

Individual Burnout Prevention

Collective Burnout Prevention

Individual & Collective Burnout Prevention connection

Attribution Theory and Bias

The idea of misattributing negative behaviors in others, situations, events to the wrong thing or uncontrollable factor. This influences how we think, how we behave (i.e. how we respond to undesired situations), our overall motivation, and how we interact. Attribution theory and awareness of the potential biases tells us to focus on what we can control – our effort (i.e. What can I do in a particular situation? What should I ask the person that hasn’t been performing well recently to mitigate the biases?)

Growth Mindset

Beliefs and focus are the two main components of growth mindset. Can impact where and how we attribute setbacks/failures/undesirable situations or what we observe in others.Subcomponents of Effort, Challenges, Mistakes, and Feedback. Mindset affects how we approach these 4. How is one perceiving and responding to these subcomponents and how are those perceptions and responses nurtured by others whether productive or unproductive?

Growth Mindset Focused Feedback

A big connection to communication, this is the type of feedback we provide to others in an effort to collectively develop and sustain a growth mindset culture throughout the organization. This helps to establish a collaborative relationship with our co-workers that targets engagement rather than bias/disengagement. Through engagement, we increase perceptions of social support and solidarity as well as contribute to creating a sense of belonging. GMFF starts with your own GM. The main component is focusing on effort (process, decisions, thought processes, work/time invested) and learning/growth.

Motivation (Optimal)

Increasing self-determination to do what you do. Facilitated by effective communication which targets primarily autonomy as well as relatedness and competence (growth mindset in terms of if not competent, can get competent through efficient and appropriate effort). Sense of belonging can increase self-determination (i.e. shared purpose → relatedness; vulnerability when reciprocated → relatedness; safety -> promotes autonomy when others trust you)

Coping Strategies

Supported by the appropriate work culture which facilitates adaptive strategies due to increased perceptions of social support (link to the How of work culture). Coping properly because you realize you are not alone in dealing with stress (sense of belonging). In addition, with a growth mindset, you more likely try to constructively productively approach/adapt to the problem/thoughts/emotions. You are also more motivated to “figure it out”.

Communication

Helps to create a sense of belonging through developing safety (by building trust), vulnerability (by sharing risk), and common purpose. This helps to engage appropriate (adaptive) coping during stressful situations by increasing perceptions of social support and solidarity. Also, an approach method for problem focused coping.

Work Culture

Fosters the creation and contribution to sense of belonging through supporting recovery efforts (link back to resilience), through embracing fun, encouraging leadership (which is a big part of effective communication and creating sense of autonomy for optimal motivation), and creating an atmosphere of admitting, accepting and supporting (helps to facilitate growth mindset within the organization). Work culture is an umbrella of all collective efforts mentioned above (meaning that those components resulting in a sense of belonging are a norm in the workplace). Then the collective creates a healthy, productive work culture in which individuals, even when experiencing setbacks, respond effectively. As a result, the stress and undesired situations don’t pile up and don’t lead to burnout.