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The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships with Their Jobs
Two pioneering researchers identify key causes of workplace burnout and reveal what managers can do to promote increased productivity and health.
Citing a wealth of research data and drawing on illustrative anecdotes, The Burnout Challenge shows how organizations can change to promote sustainable productivity. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter provide useful tools for identifying the signs of employee burnout, most often exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness. They also advise managers on assembling and interpreting worker self-evaluation surveys, which can reveal workplace problems and potential solutions. And when it comes to implementing change, Maslach and Leiter offer practical, evidence-driven guidance. The key, they argue, is to begin with less-taxing changes that employees nonetheless find meaningful, seeding the ground for more thorough reforms in the future.
Experts estimate that more than $500 billion and 550 million workhours are lost annually to on-the-job stress, much of it caused by dysfunctional work environments. As priorities and policies shift across workplaces, The Burnout Challenge provides pragmatic, creative, and cost-effective solutions to improve employee efficiency, health, and happiness.
Citing a wealth of research data and drawing on illustrative anecdotes, The Burnout Challenge shows how organizations can change to promote sustainable productivity. Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter provide useful tools for identifying the signs of employee burnout, most often exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness. They also advise managers on assembling and interpreting worker self-evaluation surveys, which can reveal workplace problems and potential solutions. And when it comes to implementing change, Maslach and Leiter offer practical, evidence-driven guidance. The key, they argue, is to begin with less-taxing changes that employees nonetheless find meaningful, seeding the ground for more thorough reforms in the future.
Experts estimate that more than $500 billion and 550 million workhours are lost annually to on-the-job stress, much of it caused by dysfunctional work environments. As priorities and policies shift across workplaces, The Burnout Challenge provides pragmatic, creative, and cost-effective solutions to improve employee efficiency, health, and happiness.
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Published November 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 23, 2023
Much of what is out there regarding burnout has to do with self-care. The authors here say that self and self care is not the issue and fix (at least not 100%- and this explains why doing yoga or getting over 8 hours of sleep and taking a week off rarely "works"). They argue that just blaming the self or the worker is not the case. It is the self in the environment and what's in that environment that make or break us. Like a canary in the coal mine, we are canaries and if there are "toxic fumes" present in our work or home, it will show up in the health or demise of us, the canaries.
They speak of mismatches between 6 domains. The first 2 can hurt our capabilities to do our best, and those concern themselves with the work load and control/autonomy. The next 2 harm our sense of community and rewards, under the social domain. Last, the moral domain, which includes fairness and value alignment- carry the most weight...if mismatched, they do most harm to us.
There is an assessment at the back of the book to see where you fall in the engaged to burnout spectrum. BTW: I'm not telling where I landed.
I think it will be hard to take the advice they offer if one is truly burnt-out, which they do acknowledge that cynicism and exhaustion makes it that much harder to do the necessary work to dig out.
There is only one good stage and that is engaged. One little mismatch, and we tumble into ineffective, to over-extended, to disengaged, and then finally burnout.
They speak of mismatches between 6 domains. The first 2 can hurt our capabilities to do our best, and those concern themselves with the work load and control/autonomy. The next 2 harm our sense of community and rewards, under the social domain. Last, the moral domain, which includes fairness and value alignment- carry the most weight...if mismatched, they do most harm to us.
There is an assessment at the back of the book to see where you fall in the engaged to burnout spectrum. BTW: I'm not telling where I landed.
I think it will be hard to take the advice they offer if one is truly burnt-out, which they do acknowledge that cynicism and exhaustion makes it that much harder to do the necessary work to dig out.
There is only one good stage and that is engaged. One little mismatch, and we tumble into ineffective, to over-extended, to disengaged, and then finally burnout.
January 12, 2023
Some interesting nuggets, a lot of fluff and repetition.
January 25, 2023
One of the better burnout books I've read.
April 21, 2023
I enjoyed the first part that talked about different types of work experiences and how burnout is operationalized. As an employee the third section that dealt with solutions wasn’t as helpful since it focused on macro organizational solutions which are important but out of the employees control.
December 20, 2022
Book of the Day – The Burnout Challenge
Today’s Book of the Day is THE BURNOUT CHALLENGE, written by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter in 2022 and published by Harvard University Press.
Christina Maslach is a Professor of Psychology (Emerita) and a core researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the pioneer of research on the definition of job burnout. Her work is the basis for the 2019 decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify burnout as an occupational phenomenon with health consequences. She is also the creator of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the most widely used instrument for measuring job burnout.
Michael P. Leiter is an organizational psychologist and consultant. He has been a professor of Organisational Psychology at Deakin University in Australia and at Acadia University. He has researched and written extensively on job burnout. He developed the SCORE (Strengthening a Culture Of Respect and Engagement) intervention to improve workgroups’ civility and respect.
The Burnout Challenge, by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter
When I read this book, I immediately decided to share my (very positive) impressions about it with my readers.
I could have been literally writing a book as a review to this one, so many are the themes, the knowledge, and the tools that Maslach and Leiter share in it.
Yet, I want to give you just a glimpse of it, hoping to involve you in the reading.
Burnout is without any doubt one of the most significant and impactful hazards that workers face today in their workplaces. Unfortunately, it is also among the most misunderstood ones, as many managers and colleagues tend to see it as a personal issue that employees should try and fix themselves with therapy, relaxation techniques, or even by leaving their jobs to find a new one, less stressful for them.
Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter, who are among the world’s best experts on the matter, show the readers why this is not the case.
Burnout must be managed in the workplace and by the companies.
The book is packed with much research data and brings a number of practical anecdotes and useful examples to show how businesses, companies, and organizations can change their way of working to create, promote, and deliver an idea of productivity that does not harm or stress employees.
Maslach and Leiter provide many effective – yet easy-to-use – tools to help companies and managers identify the signs of burnout in their employees, like as exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness. These tools are meaningful and scientifically proven through the evidence gained by the research made by the authors in their careers.
Managers are given suggestions on how to give and analyze surveys so as to design and implement changes that employees can find trustful, long-lasting, and immediately effective.
Burnout, if you still are not convinced about its negative impact on companies, is responsible for at least $500 billion and 550 million work hours losses per year. And the main causes for this are work environments that are ill-designed.
THE BURNOUT CHALLENGE gives businesses and managers solutions that will help them create workplaces that will promote employees’ sense of belonging, well-being, and happiness.
The root cause of the feelings of stress, exhaustion, and lack of engagement is often associated with businesses that overload workers, give them unclear and unreasonable assignments, do not recognize the efforts made, do not build healthy teams, and do not leave employees enough autonomy.
There are six mismatches that for the authors are the killers of a positive workplace: Workload Overload, Lack of Control, Insufficient Rewards, Breakdown of Community, Absence of Fairness, and Values Conflict.
When these mismatches occur, then one could find in employees what the authors call the burnout triumvirate:
Crushing exhaustion
Feelings of cynicism and alienation
Sense of ineffectiveness
So, I can say that this book proposes not just a deep analysis of what burnout is and how it can be detected, but it also gives effective and sensible approaches to create a permanent change in businesses and organizations that will help eliminate this extremely serious problem.
I recommend you read this book if you are currently working, if you are starting your career, or if you are supporting people in their personal and professional lives.
Today’s Book of the Day is THE BURNOUT CHALLENGE, written by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter in 2022 and published by Harvard University Press.
Christina Maslach is a Professor of Psychology (Emerita) and a core researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the pioneer of research on the definition of job burnout. Her work is the basis for the 2019 decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) to classify burnout as an occupational phenomenon with health consequences. She is also the creator of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the most widely used instrument for measuring job burnout.
Michael P. Leiter is an organizational psychologist and consultant. He has been a professor of Organisational Psychology at Deakin University in Australia and at Acadia University. He has researched and written extensively on job burnout. He developed the SCORE (Strengthening a Culture Of Respect and Engagement) intervention to improve workgroups’ civility and respect.
The Burnout Challenge, by Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter
When I read this book, I immediately decided to share my (very positive) impressions about it with my readers.
I could have been literally writing a book as a review to this one, so many are the themes, the knowledge, and the tools that Maslach and Leiter share in it.
Yet, I want to give you just a glimpse of it, hoping to involve you in the reading.
Burnout is without any doubt one of the most significant and impactful hazards that workers face today in their workplaces. Unfortunately, it is also among the most misunderstood ones, as many managers and colleagues tend to see it as a personal issue that employees should try and fix themselves with therapy, relaxation techniques, or even by leaving their jobs to find a new one, less stressful for them.
Christina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter, who are among the world’s best experts on the matter, show the readers why this is not the case.
Burnout must be managed in the workplace and by the companies.
The book is packed with much research data and brings a number of practical anecdotes and useful examples to show how businesses, companies, and organizations can change their way of working to create, promote, and deliver an idea of productivity that does not harm or stress employees.
Maslach and Leiter provide many effective – yet easy-to-use – tools to help companies and managers identify the signs of burnout in their employees, like as exhaustion, cynicism, and ineffectiveness. These tools are meaningful and scientifically proven through the evidence gained by the research made by the authors in their careers.
Managers are given suggestions on how to give and analyze surveys so as to design and implement changes that employees can find trustful, long-lasting, and immediately effective.
Burnout, if you still are not convinced about its negative impact on companies, is responsible for at least $500 billion and 550 million work hours losses per year. And the main causes for this are work environments that are ill-designed.
THE BURNOUT CHALLENGE gives businesses and managers solutions that will help them create workplaces that will promote employees’ sense of belonging, well-being, and happiness.
The root cause of the feelings of stress, exhaustion, and lack of engagement is often associated with businesses that overload workers, give them unclear and unreasonable assignments, do not recognize the efforts made, do not build healthy teams, and do not leave employees enough autonomy.
There are six mismatches that for the authors are the killers of a positive workplace: Workload Overload, Lack of Control, Insufficient Rewards, Breakdown of Community, Absence of Fairness, and Values Conflict.
When these mismatches occur, then one could find in employees what the authors call the burnout triumvirate:
Crushing exhaustion
Feelings of cynicism and alienation
Sense of ineffectiveness
So, I can say that this book proposes not just a deep analysis of what burnout is and how it can be detected, but it also gives effective and sensible approaches to create a permanent change in businesses and organizations that will help eliminate this extremely serious problem.
I recommend you read this book if you are currently working, if you are starting your career, or if you are supporting people in their personal and professional lives.
January 23, 2023
An interesting in depth look at workplace burnout, an increasingly common occurrence. The authors do a good job peeling back the layers of various types of burnout, how they manifest, what they impact, and examples that may resolve matters. They posit there are 6 primary categories: work overload, lack of control, insufficient rewards, breakdown of community, absence of fairness, and values conflicts. What I liked most was the metaphor of a canary in a coal mine. They emphasized that most often workers are viewed as the issue and must step back, rest, or build resilience if becoming burnt out, but too often we fail to look at the environment stimulating these burnout issues. Yes, workers should develop good coping habits and build resilience, but it’s a two-way street. Workers’ burnout is often a symptom of a larger misalignment in an organization and that symptom can be contagious. Burnout spreads. A good message to keep in mind. The book relied on too many anecdotes and at times tied itself a little too close to the COVID pandemic as an example, losing some timelessness, but the large points still stand. Good for leaders joining a new organization or working through challenges of workplace dysfunctions.
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February 9, 2023“Reheated in a microwave oven” is the best way to describe The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships with Their Jobs. It’s a rehash of Maslach and Leiter’s previous book, The Truth About Burnout. I disagreed with their approach in 2018 when I read it, which was originally released in 2000. I had hoped that their update would address the problems with the previous edition – and in some ways, it did. However, it also doubled down on some of the problems of the previous work. I’ll start with the criticisms and then move to finding some value in the work.
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March 6, 2023
The components of burnout and workplace contributors to burnout are well explored. However, the book is light on practical applications for leaders committed to addressing the six contributory factors. As a researcher, I appreciate the strong theoretical foundation for the six profiles operating along a continuum from engaged to burnout, and the consideration of self-determination theory, psychological safety, and fairness perception. As a business leader, I was hoping for more contextual examples demonstrating how managers addressed the different contributory factors. The first section of each chapter seemed repetitive, often returning back to the canary in the coal mine example and reiterating the need to address the workplace factors versus having the individual learn how to tolerate or adapt to the workplace situation.
March 8, 2023
The Burnout Challenge is a good book. It gives practical advice to businesses and individuals alike on practical ways to fight burnout at work. Personally, it made me realize workplaces are just as much to blame for burnouts than the individual who suffers from it. Burnouts are kind of like heartbreaks: you go crazy for some time, you realize that what you thought was okay, is actually not okay... This book helped me understand what I went through, it developed my thinking and I was able to learn from my experience.
July 4, 2023
Excellent book about burnout and work. Maslach revisits her earlier theories of burnout and draws on past and current research. The book is written in a very accessible way for an academic topic and has a very practical focus. It seems like her imagined/intended audience is HR/workplace folks.
The book gave me great content for thinking about teaching/teachers's work during the pandemic (why I read it) but also how to think about writing academic content for a wider audience.
The book gave me great content for thinking about teaching/teachers's work during the pandemic (why I read it) but also how to think about writing academic content for a wider audience.
February 19, 2023
I'm too burned out to write a review.
March 14, 2023
Reviewed for strategy+business: https://www.strategy-business.com/art...
March 18, 2023
Interesting, but really more for someone in HR than a person dealing with personal burnout
April 15, 2023
A book full off platitudes that plays it safe. The most interesting part was on the different burnout types. The rest of the book lacks depth and context.
August 31, 2023
A book that every executive team should read
September 6, 2023
work made me read it
March 7, 2024
AB. First audiobook i can honestly say i could not concentrate on. The content seemed well studied but i just blanked way too often...
July 20, 2025
3.5 stars
March 5, 2023
I was really expecting more from this book. Although it provides some insight into burnout, it overlooks systemic racism, sexism, classism, etc in hiring and other workplace practices. At one point, the authors note that people no longer discriminate who they hire based on race or gender. This is false and backed by research. It also doesn’t investigate the real issues of capitalism and neoliberalism and continually speaks of a “fit” issue, rather than looking at the overwhelming increase in unfair, unrealistic practices.
December 20, 2022
Very insightful. Lots to digest.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews