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How to Spot Signs of Burnout Culture Before You Accept a Job

25 points by tomerbd 4y ago

Kranar 4y ago
Right off the bat this article misunderstands the research on which it bases its advice about the six factors that cause burnout: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246546370_Making_a_significant_difference_with_burnout_interventions_Researcher_and_practitioner_collaboration https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246546370_Making_a_... I decided to take some time to read that research and that's not at all what the research says. What the research says is that it needs to first identify what exactly is meant by burnout, how can one know if someone is burned out? The research says that there are six factors that correlate with burnout, but not that those factors cause burnout. A burned out worker will feel overworked, will feel like they're being treated unfairly, like things are unfair, that they aren't being paid enough etc etc... That does not necessarily mean that they are being overworked, that they are being treated unfairly, that they aren't being paid the market rate for their job title. It could mean that, but that's not the purpose of the research cited and it's a gross misunderstanding of it.
- aae42 4y ago
  agree... I feel like burnout is in the eye of the beholder... Some jobs will pressure you into overworking with no incentive, but you can still choose not to overwork yourself. In most cases burnout can be avoided by having a healthy view of work.
- octokatt 4y ago
  As well, the Lifehacker article is largely based on this article from HBR, which is a much better depth read: https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-tell-if-a-potential-employer-has-a-burnout-culture https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-tell-if-a-potential-employer-... It also has specific interviewing questions cast in corp-speak, ready for interviews.
- kelseyfrog 4y ago
  Burnout is a subjective experience which makes operationalization difficult. I'm of the mind that operationalizations, when made, should condition accepting the conclusions made in research. Conversely, implicit operationalization are tantamount to hidden assumptions and don't make for good science in any field.
urbandw311er 4y ago
Annoyingly, the phrase “we are like a family” has now been so spoiled by bad actors that we need to find some other way to describe our team dynamic now because articles like this are red flagging it! We actually do exhibit many of the qualities of a small family (kindness, support, strong positive relationships, etc). Guess we need a new metaphor ;-)

25 points by tomerbd 4y ago

Right off the bat this article misunderstands the research on which it bases its advice about the six factors that cause burnout: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246546370_Making_a_significant_difference_with_burnout_interventions_Researcher_and_practitioner_collaboration https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246546370_Making_a_... I decided to take some time to read that research and that's not at all what the research says. What the research says is that it needs to first identify what exactly is meant by burnout, how can one know if someone is burned out? The research says that there are six factors that correlate with burnout, but not that those factors cause burnout. A burned out worker will feel overworked, will feel like they're being treated unfairly, like things are unfair, that they aren't being paid enough etc etc... That does not necessarily mean that they are being overworked, that they are being treated unfairly, that they aren't being paid the market rate for their job title. It could mean that, but that's not the purpose of the research cited and it's a gross misunderstanding of it.

aae42 4y ago
agree... I feel like burnout is in the eye of the beholder... Some jobs will pressure you into overworking with no incentive, but you can still choose not to overwork yourself. In most cases burnout can be avoided by having a healthy view of work.
octokatt 4y ago
As well, the Lifehacker article is largely based on this article from HBR, which is a much better depth read: https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-tell-if-a-potential-employer-has-a-burnout-culture https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-tell-if-a-potential-employer-... It also has specific interviewing questions cast in corp-speak, ready for interviews.
kelseyfrog 4y ago
Burnout is a subjective experience which makes operationalization difficult. I'm of the mind that operationalizations, when made, should condition accepting the conclusions made in research. Conversely, implicit operationalization are tantamount to hidden assumptions and don't make for good science in any field.

urbandw311er 4y ago

Annoyingly, the phrase “we are like a family” has now been so spoiled by bad actors that we need to find some other way to describe our team dynamic now because articles like this are red flagging it! We actually do exhibit many of the qualities of a small family (kindness, support, strong positive relationships, etc). Guess we need a new metaphor ;-)