Public service employees who find their work to be meaningful may be less likely to become emotionally exhausted and burnout, according to new research from the University of Georgia, Ohio State University and Washington University.
Frontline public service workers are often overworked, underpaid and frequently underappreciated for the emotionally draining work they do. Particularly in times of crises, public service fields face high rates of turnover, often due to burnout.
"The idea is that, for the most part, people who work for the government want to do things that help other people and benefit society," said Bradley Wright, lead author the study and a professor in the UGA School of Public and International Affairs. "Our findings suggest that if someone chooses an occupation because they want to help people, they find their work to be very meaningful. And that can help provide some psychological or emotionally buffer to the stresses they face."
COVID-19, protests led to high rates of stress among law enforcement
The study relied on data from more than 650 police officers in two separate surveys administered in 2019 and 2021.
Participants ranked their agreement with statements like "I feel emotionally drained by my work," "the work I do helps to make the community a safer place" and "I am prepared to make enormous sacrifices for the good of society," among others.
The researchers compared data collected from frontline employees before and during the heightened stress and change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and protests for racial justice reform.
"Frontline government employees generally face a fair amount of stress, whether they're teachers, police officers or nurses, because they are given very difficult tasks to perform - often without a great deal of resources or support," Wright said. "When COVID hit, they went from a very stressful situation in their daily lives to one where every encounter on the job could be a dangerous one for them or others."
"Police officers were catching COVID like crazy."
Because of frequent interactions with the public, law enforcement officers were at high risk of contracting the virus during the pandemic.
"Then on top of that, they're enforcing laws that the city or the state has imposed due to COVID, like curfews and other restrictions," Wright continued. "And the citizens didn't always appreciate those laws. And that's on top of the fact that interactions with the police officers are not always the best part of your day anyway depending on the reason why you're interacting."
Public service employees need to feel like they are helping people
Previous studies focused largely on how the desire to help people helped guard against burnout. The present study suggests that public service employees also need to feel like they regularly are helping people to successfully prevent burnout.
"If I want to help people but I'm not feeling like I am, then I'm not going to accrue those psychological benefits that might make me feel less stressed and more rewarded in my job."
Having a supervisor reaffirm the value of an employee's work, especially during times of stress, also helps prevent burnout, the researchers said.
Leaders need to remind people not only the importance of their work but also show them the impact of their work."
-Bradley Wright,
School of Public and International Affairs
This kind of positive feedback can help employees stay more engaged in their work and the people they deal with on a regular basis. In a second study, the researchers found that meaningful work and supervisor support may make employees less likely to quit.
"Leaders need to remind people not only the importance of their work but also show them the impact of their work," Wright said. "Part of the boss's job is to see that big picture and connect it to your specific performances. 'Here are the things you did this week that I think were very valuable. I know this job is very difficult, but you made a difference this week. Here are some specific examples.'
"That will help employees feel better about their job, be more inspired about their job and be more engaged in doing their job well."
Published by Public Administration Review, the study was co-authored by Shahidul Hassan and Darwin A. Baluran.
