Employees’ Burnout – Pakistan Situation – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #924

Employees’ Burnout – Pakistan Situation – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #924

Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #924 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans  aims to share knowledge and wisdom from Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here.

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Employees Burnout Situation in Pakistan

Pakistan was not included in the study done by McKinsey. However, our local reseachers have published their work in this area.

A study1 done by A. Khalid et al, and published in Frontiers, measured the stress level in employees of banking sector. Data was collected from 1,778 male and female patients. Male employees were more tilted towards rewards, while female employees demanded better working environment. Job burnout was measured on several parameters. The study found emotional exhaustion in about 20%, depersonalization in 19%, and lack of personal accomplishemnt in 22%.

Another study2 was published by Dr. Sohail Zafar and Shamila Khan of Lahore School of Economics, on exploring the causes and consequences of job burnout in Pakistan.

Burnout was measured on three counts: emotional exhaustion (manifested as fear, nervousness, anger, irritability, loss of energy, sense of helplessness, and fatigue); cynicism (manifested as lack of self-esteem, becoming impersonal to co-workers, emotional numbness, and bluntness); and lack of personal efficacy, which is the last stage of burnout involving feeling of failure, 

The final study population of 263 employees comprised of 81% males and 19% females; 46% were married and 54% were unmarried. 72% employees were working in the service sector, while 28% worked in manufacturing organization. 50% were working at mid-level management in the marketing department, production, and finance. 

Results revealed that age was negatively related to exhaustion and cynicism; means as the age increases, feeling of burnout decreases. Unmarried employees were found significantly more exhausted and more cynical. Lower level employees were found to report higher emotional exhaustion and higher cynicism. 

An interesting study3 has been published about job burnout among the faculty members of 21 universities of Lahore; 10 public and 11 private universities. The number of faculty members was 300; 163 males and 137 females. 

Results showed that the most reported burnout dimension was emotional exhaustion. This was followed by lack of personal accomplishment (efficacy), while depersonalization (cynicism) came as the third most reported dimension. 

Another study4 on banking sector employees was conducted on 237 employees; 74% males, 26% females. The resutls identified that workload,  working hours,  technological problems at work, inadequate salary, time for family and job worries at home are significant sources of stress in the  banking sector.  The commonly reported  symptoms  of burnout as revealed by the results are back  pain,  extreme  tiredness,  headache  and  sleep  disturbance.  All  stressors  (organization,  job, relationship  at  work, work  environment and family work  interface) are  significantly correlated to all burnouts (Physical, Psychological  and Organizational). All the stress elements significantly predicted burnout in the banking sector of Pakistan. The changing work  pattern is creating stress for the  bank employees and these stressors are leading to burnout.

There is an important study5 on job burnout among working mothers. The survey sample was diverse; teachers, policewomen, businesswomen, private employees , and students. Age range was 25 – 35 years. All reported various levels of stress and burnout. Factors included disturbed sleep, mood swings, health issues, overtime, hectic routine, frustration, productivity, office politics, motivation, time management issues, lack of supportive family, and overall feeling of burden.

As can be seen from the above that job burnout is quite prevalent in Pakistan. Since large scale surveys are missing, the numbers may not be reported properly. 

From my long working tenure, I can add a few basic factors which lead to severe frustration, stress, and burnout.

Job Design – In most organizations, jobs are poorly designed. The roles are kept ambiguous, apparently, to enable the managers to ask anyone to do anything. Lack of role clarity leads to lack of accomplishment and appreciation. A proper job description is a missing document in most organizations. Over time, this becomes a frustrating factor.

Workload – Another trick up the arm is workload, which is not defined. Workload is derived from the job description. Since that is missing, the workload remains uncertain and mostly high. Heavy workload causes physical strain and mental stress.

Timing – In most private organizations, the time to arrive is fixed, but there is no fixed time to leave. As long as the manager or owner is sitting, they are bound to sit. In many companies, the owners follow the routine of doing their own chores in the morning and coming to office in the afternoon. They would then like to sit late, and the staff is stuck. Constant late-sitting leads to physical ailments and mental health issues.

Career Planning – The employees do not know how they will progress in their careers, if they will. In small businesses, there is no career progression at all, only a nominal increment every year maybe. In larger organization, there are cadres and grades which people can aspire to get over time. However, the criteria is never made public. The uncertainty of future takes a heavy toll.

Office Politics – I have yet to see an office where politics is not there. Most, if not all, senior managers are involved in serious grouping, politics, and turf-wars. They involve their staff in their battles and destroy their careers. The stress of politics is a serious threat to wellbeing of employees. 

Role of HR in Pakistan

There is no doubt that the role of HR has greatly evolved in Pakistan. However, the HR is still largely a tool in the hands of top management to keep employees in line. The HR is doing all of its five cardinal functions, except looking after employee wellbeing. This is a serious omission which needs urgent correction.

Concluded.

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For most blogs, I research from several sources which are open to public. Their links are mentioned under references. There is no intention to infringe upon anyone’s copyrights. If, however, it happens unintentionally, I offer my sincere regrets.

References:

1. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00410/full

2. http://111.68.102.42:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/12369/upload-Article%20Burnout%20Shamila%20Nabi%20Khan%20and%20Sohail%20Zafar.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

3. https://www.mul.edu.pk/crd/assets/downloads/06-Impact-of-Job-Burnout-on-Organizational-Commitment-of-Universities-in-Lahore-Pakistan-by-Zeeshan-Abbas-Aisha-Kanwan-and-Javed-Iqbal.pdf

4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265579525_Occupational_stress_and_burnout_in_Pakistan's_banking_sector

5. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2614&context=tqr