Keep on truckin'

The current job market and poor economy overall will equal stressful times for Employment Specialists working directly with frustrated job seekers. In addition to the hard work of motivating and counseling job seekers as the job search stretches onward, Employment Specialists face the burden of feeling like their efforts are not yielding results. All of these factors put Employment Specialists at risk of burning out.

I did some searching and found information on burnout in jobs such as human services, teaching, and counseling. I also found tips for avoiding burnout.

The Addiction Technology Transfer Center (established by SAMHSA in 1993) dedicates part of their website to Burnout and Compassion Fatigue, including definitions, signs/symptoms, and self-care. The site also provides management tips for keeping staff content and productive.

Social Work Burnout provides an overview and links to resources provided by an MSW with firsthand and research knowledge of burnout.

Fried Social Worker is less formal in design but has serious content. It also has lots of self care, humor, and relaxation content.

There is also an interesting journal article (and likely many more) from the Journal of Counseling & Development. Here is the abstract:

The Relationship of Work Environment and Client Contact to Burnout in Mental Health Professionals.
Explored the relationship of the work environment and client contact to scores of mental health professionals on the Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, and Depersonalization subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Work environments associated with low levels of general burnout were those in which workers were strongly committed to work, coworker relationships were encouraged, and supervisory relationships were supportive.

Journal access is required to read the article. I went through the ERIC database via my Multnomah County Library membership. Haven't visited a library in a while? In addition to saving money vs. buying books, many now provide services such as online journal access and streaming movies and audio.

The findings in this article about commitment to work, coworker relationships and supervisory relationships remind me of an organizational assessment from Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in Breaking All the Rules.

Questions they ask are:
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I recieved recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?