Factors contributing to employee burnout among frontline staff working in the business banking department of a South African bank

Abstract

This study suggests that, specifically at their convenience, more awareness on burnout should be created among frontline employees in the South African banking sector. The study contends that employees should be given regular workshops to educate them on burnout, its consequences, and how to avoid it. As part of combating burnout, banking sector employees should be given free annual health checks. This is because burnout has become a serious concern in the banking industry. In that sense, it is critical that organisations be proactive in preventing burnout rather than reactive in dealing with burnout after the fact. Financial services are some of the most stressful sectors globally (Valente et al., 2018). Frontline employees often suffer from burnout due to customer and service demands (Zablahet al., 2012; Ashill, et al., 2009). As a result, burnout among frontline employees poses serious health risks, resulting in a high staff turnover rate for some organisations and a negative impact on performance and productivity This study investigated the factors that contribute to employee burnout among frontline employees at a South African Bank. The study adopted a quantitative research approach. During the study, it was found that job demands, workload, work-life balance, and areas of the work-life - such as control, workload, control, reward, recognition, community, fairness, and values – contributed immensely to employee burnout. The work environment, however, was found not influential in burnout among frontline employees in a South African bank.