INST335 – Organizations,
Management, & Teams
Session 25– Stress and Burnout
Susannah B. F. Paletz, Ph.D.
Phil Thompkins
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Agenda
1.
Logistics/Announcements
–
–
2.
3.
4.
5.
Includes tips for the final paper
Teamwork issues
Introduction to Stress
Stressors and Effects of Stress
Burnout & Other Types of Workplace
Stress
Dealing with Stress
Let us know via Piazza if anything is unclear. If you don't find it clear,
someone else won’t either.
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Announcements/
Logistics
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Ø May 1: Stress and Burnout
Ø May 2: Section: Selection and Resume Exercise
Ø May 6: Class Conclusion: Sum up, Entrepreneurship, Fads
in management
Ø May 8: Work on final paper with teams (no lecture)
Ø May 9: No section, work on paper with teams
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1. Outstanding section assignments, quizzes due no later than
11:59 pm May 9 (Thursday) (note some count as 0s, some
missing until you do them)
2. UNIQUE Piazza question also due May 9.
3. Final group paper due 11:59 pm May 12 (Sunday but mother’s
day, can submit early)
Your project team will also be responsible for doing assignments together in section
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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
Course Evaluations
❖ Your opportunity to provide feedback.
❖ Response rate matters!
❖ We/Paletz read every comment.
❖ Influences teaching of later classes.
http://CourseEvalUM.umd.edu
Note that women and people of color are consistently, on average,
rated more harshly than men/Caucasian men for the same
teaching behaviors and effectiveness.
E.g., Adams et al., 2021
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-021-00704-9
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Final Paper Tips
● Read the ENTIRE rubric on ELMS and make sure you cover each
element of it in your paper, content and format.
● Read the draft comments we left for you!
● Do original work; cite any quotes or attributions, and do not
plagiarize or copy things directly from other sources on the web.
● Use quality evidence and sources- appropriate and accurate.
● Make explicit connections between your topic and the course
concepts.
○ Act like you’re explaining it to middle school students.
● 6-9 pages not counting cover page or references.
● Please proofread your work before submitting.
● Ask questions early on Piazza or during office hours!
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Teamwork Issues
Is your team stressing you out? Are people not pulling their weight? Are
you overloaded?
Here are your options:
● Try to work with your group, actively contribute, and hold each
other accountable. Finals season is stressful for everyone, so make
sure you communicate with your groupmates.
● The team can opt to leave someone’s name off any assignment, if
that person isn’t communicating or contributing. (Please make a
good faith effort to communicate with them, though.)
● Take an Incomplete for this course (as a team or as an individual) if
you genuinely cannot do the work right now. If it’s as an individual,
you’ll need to discuss the final paper with Professor Paletz.
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Intro to Stress
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Stress Has Many Causes
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What Is Stress?
Stress: the excitement, feeling of anxiety,
and/or physical tension that occurs when the
demands (or stressors) placed on an individual
are thought to exceed the person’s ability to
cope.
Cooper et al., 2017, p. 219
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What Is Stress?
Stress: the excitement, feeling of anxiety,
and/or physical tension that occurs when the
demands (or stressors) placed on an individual
are thought to exceed the person’s ability to
cope.
Cooper et al., 2017, p. 219
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Stress Involves
Stressors
(demands) from
work, the
environment
Cooper et al., 2017, p. 220
Individual’s
Perceptions of the
stress
Past experiences
Social support
Individual differences
(e.g., Type A,
workaholism,
Negative
Emotionality)
Level of
stress
experienced
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Stressors and
the Effects of Stress
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Examples of Stressors
Work-Related Stressors
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Workload (Overload)
Lack of Autonomy/Control
Uncertainty
Role Conflict/Ambiguity,
Including Work-Work Conflict
Job Conditions (Environment)
Career Development/Growth
Interpersonal Relationships
Workplace Aggression
Work-Life Conflict
Anticipatory Stress
Promotions / Departures
Life-Related Stressors
● Financial Pressures,
Unemployment, Job Insecurity
● Wedding
● Divorce
● Childbirth
●
●
●
●
Death / Grief
Health / Illness
Moving
School
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Cooper et al., 2017; Bauer et al., 2024
Severe Stress & Individuals
● Increased blood pressure
● Anxiety, panic attacks
● Increased heart rate
● Depression
● Heart attacks
● Anger and irritability
● Hot/cold spells
● Difficulty concentrating
● Sweating
● Loss of energy
● Muscle tension/pain
● Low self-esteem
● Breathing difficulties
● Substance use/abuse
● Gastrointestinal issues
● Poor performance in/out of job
● Weakened immune system
● Higher rates of accidents
● Insomnia and sleep issues
● CHRONIC health issues
Cooper et al., 2017
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Severe Stress & Individuals*
● Increased blood pressure
● Anxiety, panic attacks
● Increased heart rate
● Depression
● Heart attacks
● Anger and irritability
AL
C
I
G
LO
O
I
S
● Sweating PHY
● Muscle tension/pain
● Difficulty concentrating
PSY
● Loss of energy EM CH &
OTI
ON
AL
● Low self-esteem
● Breathing difficulties
● Substance use/abuse
● Gastrointestinal issues
● Poor performance in/out of job
● Weakened immune system
● Higher rates of accidents
● Insomnia and sleep issues
● CHRONIC health issues
● Hot/cold spells
Cooper et al., 2017
BEHAVIORAL
*There is a LOT of overlap between these categories.
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Severe Stress & Organizations
● Job dissatisfaction
● Miscommunication
● Resentment of supervision
● Relations with clients/customers
● Unhealthy Competition
● Hinders creativity/innovation
● Employer/employee trust
● Lower productivity
● Employer/employee openness
● Turnover / Departures
● Employer/employee respect
● Increases in leave (overload)
● Inconsistent processes
● Decreases in leave (workaholic)
● Higher rates of accidents
● Absenteeism
● Higher rates of errors
● Overwork
● Micromanagement
Cooper et al., 2017
● Human suffering
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Severe Stress & Organizations
EN
V IR
ON
● Job dissatisfaction
ME
● Resentment of supervision NT
● Miscommunication
● Unhealthy Competition
● Hinders creativity/innovation
● Employer/employee trust
● Lower productivity
● Employer/employee openness
● Turnover / Departures
● Employer/employee respect
● Overwork
● Inconsistent processes
● Increases in leave (overload)
● Higher rates of accidents
● Decreases in leave (workaholic)
● Higher rates of errors
● Absenteeism
● Micromanagement THE WORK
Cooper et al., 2017
● Relations with clients/customers
● Human suffering
TEAMS
INDIVIDUALS
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*There is a LOT of overlap between these categories.
Hebbian version of the Yerkes-Dodson Curve (does not include lack of negative impact
hyperarousal has on simple tasks)
Note: changes for different people (individual differences) and situations
File:HebbianYerkesDodson.svg Wikimedia Commons
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Stress and Performance
Hebbian Yerkes-Dodson curve modeling stress and
performance for difficult tasks
https://pixy.org/1451801/
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Stress and Performance
Hebbian Yerkes-Dodson curve modeling stress and
performance for difficult tasks
https://pixy.org/1451801/
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Flow
Flow: a state in which a person is immersed in a feeling of
energized focus, complete involvement, and enjoyment of
performing an activity, also known as being “in the zone.”
● Ideal balance of ability to perform and stress of activity.
● But flow is still a form of stress.
● If there’s insufficient recovery from stress (including
opportunity and willingness) over a long period of time…
Csikszentmihalyi, 1990.
Aust et al., 2022.
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Zoom Poll
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This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Effects of Extreme Stress
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Burnout
• An important barometer of the
social environment of the
workplace
• Three dimensions:
• Exhaustion vs. Energy
• Depersonalization (cynicism)
vs. Involvement
• Inefficacy (low self efficacy) vs.
Accomplishment
• Lack of engagement, positive
emotions
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(Not to be confused with ‘autistic burnout’, which is different.
Causes of Burnout
Mismatches between ENVIRONMENT and INDIVIDUAL, such as…
CAUSE
EXAMPLES
Workload / Overload
Work intensity, complexity, time needed; meetings all day
Lack of Control /
Autonomy
Micromanaging, changing rules from above
Insufficient Reward
Lack of pay, benefits, recognition, advancement, job
security, intrinsic enjoyment in the job
Community
Breakdown
Competition over teamwork, lack of personal relationships,
lack of commitment or care from orgs to workers
Absence of Fairness Concerns about trust, openness, respect, equity
Conflicting Values
Changing priorities (profit vs customer service, work vs self),
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org values not matching actions (Google’s “don’t be evil”)
Compassion Fatigue
• Deep physical, emotional, and spiritual
exhaustion from excessive work in an
intense caretaking environment
(health/animal care, clergy, school,
hospitality, first responders, etc.), sometimes
called “the cost of caring.”
• Four phases:
○ Zealot: enthusiasm, passion, overwork
○ Irritability: cynicism, under-valued
○ Withdrawal: detachment, bad coping
○ Zombie: disconnect, empty, numb
• Can exist alongside burnout and…
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Moral Injury
● “An injury to an individual's moral conscience and values
resulting from an act of perceived moral transgression on the
part of themselves or others, which produces profound
feelings of guilt or shame.” (Litz et al, 2009)
○ Characterized by feelings of shame, guilt, anxiety,
withdrawal, anger, and institutional betrayal.
○ Inciting incidents cross the individual, organizational,
political, and societal levels (Molendijk, 2018).
■ Life-or-death decisions
● Rationing care in a hospital (pandemic)
● Sacrificing quality for speed (crisis care)
● Soldiers using deadly force and causing death/harm
■ Making decisions where someone always loses.
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Dealing with Stress
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Back to Orgs & Management
● Human Functioning: We spend most of our lives at work.
Unaddressed exposure to toxic and extreme-stress workplaces
can have disastrous effects on individual health and wellness.
● Organizational Functioning: Extreme stress can hinder
productivity, creativity, and client/customer relations. It can
cause problems with absenteeism, errors, accidents, staffing,
turnover, benefits, leave, and healthcare.
● Organizations are hiring people struggling with and/or
recovering from burnout, compassion fatigue, moral injury,
and more.
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So What Can We Do?
As Individuals
Book (Bauer et al., 2024) says:
• Flow and mindfulness; engagement and energy
• Get enough good food, sleep, exercise
• Positive reappraisal, putting into perceptive
• Social support network at work
• Time management
Cooper et al. (2017) suggests:
• Increase personal hardiness, resilience (includes above)
But also - sometimes we can’t change our situations, and:
• Short-term, individual solutions are often not enough
• Psychological detachment – leave work at work
• Change mindset and values (no overtime, “good enough is both good
and enough,” “work your wage”) – increase person-job/industry fit
• Seek ADA accommodations for depression, anxiety, and other
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diagnoses that coexist with extreme stress
So What Can We Do?
As Organizations
Organizations/management focus on:
• Wellness programs, mindfulness
• Training to be better at jobs, competencies
But:
• Flextime, telecommuting can help but not entirely, without rightsizing workload
• Many ignore worker concerns
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So What Can We Do?
As Organizations
Ø Job design for flow: right level of challenge, meaningfulness,
autonomy, use skills
Ø Job and workplace design in general:
CAUSES of Burnout
Workload / Overload
Lack of Control /
Autonomy
Insufficient Reward
Community Breakdown
Absence of Fairness
Conflicting Values
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Bauer et al., 2024;
Maslach & Leiter, 1997
So What Can We Do?
As Organizations
Ø Job design for flow: right level of challenge, meaningfulness,
autonomy, use skills
Ø Job and workplace design in general: right workload and flexible
schedules, autonomy, sufficient reward, community, fairness,
aligned values
Organizations, management, and colleagues:
• Increase transparency, fairness
• Reconnect with desired organizational values, mission
• Increase inclusion, community, social support
• Prioritize employee well-being as part of productivity (see: history of
management)
• Organizational change is often a long-term, complicated, uphill battle
that can invite its own unique stressors
• Can include getting into management, unionization
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Bauer et al., 2024;
• Note cultural differences in workload, responses
Maslach & Leiter, 1997
If All Else Fails
• See: The Great Resignation
• No job is worth sacrificing
your long-term health.
• Your career can suffer by
staying in the wrong job.
• You are not responsible for
fixing your workplace or the
people in it, unless you are
management.
• Job hopping can yield bigger
raises than staying with one
company.
Image: https://twitter.com/dasharez0ne/status/979810839749210112
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v Consider if any of these concepts
are relevant to your paper!
v Section May 2: Resume activity
v Last class: entrepreneurship,
summary, conclusion, etc.
v Office hours May 2: on Zoom and
Hornbake 2117d, 11:30-12:30 pm
https://pixabay.com/photos/rel
axing-calm-meditationresting-1891881/
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Lecture is Over! Go Relax!
https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/concept-open-door-collage_33752512.htm
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Bonus Resource Slides
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Resources to Contact
● 988 Help Line: Open 24 hours, dial 988, or chat at https://988lifeline.org/
○ Nationwide service, free, confidential, and can provide help and support with
anything from exam stress to grief to full-blown crisis.
● UMD Counseling Center: https://www.counseling.umd.edu/ (free, has waitlists)
○ Counselor Office Hours: 8:30am - 7pm Mon-Thu, 8:30am - 4pm Fri
○ After Hours Crisis Phone Line: 301-314-7651
○ Resources for Immediate Help:
https://counseling.umd.edu/cs/immediatehelp
● Accessibility/Disability Services: https://counseling.umd.edu/ads
○ Need medical documentation, can take weeks to months to process.
● Peer Support Center: 301-314-HELP (4357) https://helpcenterumd.org/
○ Evening call and drop-in hours; free, confidential, student counselors
● Health Center’s Behavioral Services: https://health.umd.edu/behavioral-health
● Campus Chaplains: https://thestamp.umd.edu/memorial_chapel/chaplains
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Wellness and Self-Care
● Check out the (free)
Wellness Guide from
the Substance Use and
Mental Health Services
Administration
(SAMHSA)
● About page:
https://store.samhsa.gov/product/C
reating-a-Healthier-Life/SMA164958
● Guide PDF:
https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/defa
ult/files/d7/priv/sma16-4958.pdf
Image: SAMHSA Wellness Guide
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Progressive Muscle
Relaxation Exercise
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=ihO02wUzgkc
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Speaking of Which
https://pixabay.com/photos/relaxing-calm-meditation-resting-1891881/
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