The relationship between emotional intelligence and burnout amongst social workers in the north and south regions of the Western Cape

Abstract

There are many difficulties and challenges in the workplace, especially during recent years as the pace of work in organisations has rapidly increased. There are various factors which contributed to this phenomenon occurring today, which could have included changes in the economy, sustaining a competitive edge, changes in organisational structures and technological advances (Nel, Werner, Poist, Sono, Du Plessis & Ngalo, 2011). Organisational stressors could have had a major impact not only on employees but organisations as well. Prolonged stress can develop into burnout, which is a phenomenon which has been on the rise for the past two to three decades (Brotheridge & Grandey, 2002). Findings by Brotheridge and Lee (2003) have increased the interest in the role of emotions in trying to understand how increased interpersonal reactions in a job may have contributed to an employee developing burnout.