The Relationship between Recruiter Burnout, Work Engagement and Turnover Intention: Evidence from Serbia

Abstract

Contemporary research on disorders in modern-day work environment marks burnout among employees in different professions as an important disorder with serious consequences. Practice has shown that recruiters are one of the professions frequently facing burnout. The relationship between burnout, work engagement and turnover intention has often been investigated in the literature. However, even though scholars are increasingly interested in these relationships in other professions, there is a growing need for studies evaluating the relationship between the three concepts among human resource (HR) professionals, particularly recruiters. Having this in mind, the aim of this study is to identify, understand and examine the relationship between burnout, engagement and turnover intention of recruiters in Serbia. The data was collected using an online questionnaire within a sample of 100 recruiters in Serbia. Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used for measuring burnout, UWES-9 for measuring work engagement and TIS-6 for measuring turnover intention. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used for evaluating the relationships between burnout, turnover intention and work engagement. The results of the research showed that work engagement has a negative impact on burnout and that burnout has a positive impact on turnover intention, while the relationship between work engagement and turnover intention was not confirmed. The correlation analysis confirmed all three examined relationships. The results largely support the findings from the literature for other professions confirming that employees who suffer from a high degree of burnout are more likely to have a turnover intention. Finally, the implications of these results and recommendations for organizations and recruiters themselves to prevent and decrease burnout are discussed. The findings of this study can make a contribution to the specific academic literature on burnout among recruiters and initiate further research on this topic of high interest.

The Validity and Reliability of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory for Examination of Burnout among Preschool Teachers in Serbia

“…In Serbia, burnout was examined among recruiters in human resource services of different companies [ 44 ], students of the University of Belgrade [ 45 , 46 , 47 ], special education professionals [ 48 , 49 ], social workers [ 50 ], pharmacists [ 51 ], professionals in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and marketing [ 52 , 53 ], underground coal miners [ 54 ], formal caregivers of children with cerebral palsy [ 55 ], workers in the food industry [ 56 ], and the most common among healthcare professionals [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ]. The majority of these studies examined burnout using the Maslach Burnout Inventory.…”

Burnout and Engagement’s Relationship to Drug Abuse in Lawyers and Law Professionals

“…The independent inversely related relationships of burnout and engagement with drug abuse suggest that actively increasing engagement may lower burnout and may have a synergistic effect on reducing drug abuse. This differs from Ivanovic et al 14 that burnout and engagement are considered two opposite sides of the same coin. This study more closely aligns with what was stated by Taris et al 27 , “burnout and engagement to a large degree overlapping concepts and that their conceptual and empirical differences should not be overestimated,” which was a study that sought to address, to what extent are burnout and engagement separate constructs, and how the four central dimensions of burnout and engagement differently related to job demands and job resources 27 …”

“…Looking at support staff only, PHQ9 minimal depression versus mild (OR = 2.31, 95% CI 2.27-2.35), moderate versus mild (OR = 4.18, 95% CI 4.05-4.32), moderately severe versus mild (OR = 8.77, 95% CI 8.54-9.10), marital status divorced versus married (OR = 2.11 95% CI 2.05-2.17), other versus married (OR = 0.47 95% CI 0.45-0.50), single versus married (OR = 0.64 95% CI 0.62-0.66), law setting private firm (2-6) versus private firm (16-50) (OR = 2.63 95% CI 2.33-2.96), private firm (51-99) versus private firm (16-50) (OR = 1.21 95% CI 1.19-1.23), private firm (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) versus private firm (16-50) (OR = 5.93 95% CI 5.43-6.47), and law practice family law versus litigation (civil) (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.03-1.22), other versus litigation (civil) (OR = 0.32, 95% CI 0.31-0.32), transactional versus litigation (civil) (OR = 0.28, 95% CI 0.26-0.30), were statistically significant. All other subcategories were not statically significant ( P < 0.05).…”

“…The national lawyer study showed that lawyers have a high prevalence in various adverse psychosocial outcomes, such as depression (28%), anxiety (19%), problem alcohol usage (24–35%), drug abuse (11%), and burnout (14%) 1,13 . Also, according to the literature, both burnout and engagement are related to employee well-being and organizational performance 14,15 …”

The Predominant Factors Affecting Frontline Employees’ Engagement: Case of the Lebanese Service Sector

“…In addition, Alarcon and Edwards (2011) explained that engaged employees usually find difficulty leaving his job given the great investment they have put in their organization. On the other hand, Ivanovic et al (2020) highlighted the indirect relation linking work engagement to intention to leave as they explain that work engagement negatively affect employee burnout which once reduced has a positive effect on turnover intention. Consequently, the eighth research question is proposed herein,…”