Empirical evaluation and corporate assessment of burnout in the financial sector

Benedikt Frank, M.Sc.

Doctoral thesis

Abstract:

A world that is becoming ever faster, driven by globalisation and digital networking, creates a feeling of being overwhelmed for many people. The financial industries seem closely interwoven with a high workload, which can end in burnout. So, the present work aims to enable a more detailed interpretation of the effects of burnout through data. Therefore, this thesis should give concrete insights into the topic of burnout by companies as well as employees from the financial sector with a focus on Germany. Through quantitative questionnaires, 129 financial institutions, most of which have a German registered office, answered whether they collect data on the burnout of their employees, what influence they assume it has on their company performance and whether countermeasures are prevalent. In addition, qualitative interviews with 16 employees from the financial sector provide concrete insights into overwhelming situations and the corresponding reasons and countermeasures of the individuals. The results showed that only a fraction of the companies surveyed recorded costs concerning burnout illnesses of their personnel, but that burnout is perceived as a cost driver. In addition, the banking sector, in particular, seems to have installed appropriate countermeasures. Furthermore, a heavy workload, lack of staff, and tight deadlines are particularly responsible for employees feeling overwhelmed. As a method, the interviewees often use a solution-oriented way of working and corresponding measures to get distance to the situation or the job, such as relaxation, sports or listening to music. In the future, it would be recommended to reduce the workload of the individual, ease deadlines, and create a supportive and respectful working atmosphere in the financial sector. Moreover, it is essential to install further measures in companies to counteract burnout in the best possible way, to raise awareness and minimise the costs from long-term sickness-related absences of diseased employees ─ possibly based on the firm's own data. Concluding, a clear recognition and naming of the existing triggers seems to be an element that can be used in the future to initiate concrete countermeasures and prevent an illness in advance.

Keywords

Financial sector, burnout, economic costs, work and organisation performance, human resource management, work-life balance, working time flexibility, stress, transformational change, burnout countermeasures

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 7. 11. 2023

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 5. 12. 2023
• Supervisor: doc. Mgr. Ing. Petr Wawrosz, Ph.D.
• Reader: doc. Ing. Jan Mertl, Ph.D., doc. Ing. Otakar Němec, CSc., prof. Ing. PhDr. Lucie Severová, Ph.D.

University of Finance and Administration

Doctoral programme / field:
Finance / Finance