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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1460724
This article is part of the Research Topic New Approaches for Improving Equity in Mental Health Research, Treatment, and Policy View all 18 articles

The job performance and job burnout relationship: A panel data comparison of four groups of academics' job performance

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng, Jiangsu, China
  • 2 Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 3 Kebbi State University of Science and Technology Aliero, Aliero, Nigeria

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: This present study investigates whether performance can influence job burnout, and it further examines whether there is a meaningful difference in the association between job burnout and job performance in universities. Provided here are applicable strategies aimed at preventing and maximizing job burnout crises before the job is taken and during its execution. Methodology: To answer the research questions quantitatively, group regression analysis utilizing panel data from 2020 to 2023 was employed. The instruments include the KPI and mental health records to evaluate the level of job performance and job burnout. Likewise, a total of 9 universities were purposively and randomly selected, and 1113 academics were sampled for the study. The KPI scores and frequency of burnout counselling was collected from the human resource department and the medical health centers. Findings: The results showed that academics’ job burnout is influenced by their job performance (β=-0.014, P<0.001). Academics’ superior performance was notably linked to lower job burnout and the need for psychological counselling. Furthermore, academics’ job burnout was significantly moderated by psychological counselling (β=-0.006, P<0.05), and neither did it regulate their job performance. Conclusion: Academics with high performance levels exhibit low levels of burnout. Meanwhile, academics who demonstrate low or poor performance indicate high burnout levels. Psychological counselling can moderate the level of job burnout but does not cure burnout. This study suggests that competency is the basic bedrock for strong performance and less burnout experienced by staff. Consequently, all universities should employ their staff based on assessing their competency and ability to handle stressful situations to prevent job burnout crises from occurring. Implications: This paper makes a contribution to the existing literature on job performance and job burnout by utilizing a distinctive measurement path approach. In this context, universities need to use pre-measurement mechanisms to prevent burnout instead of post-measurement techniques through proactive recruitment strategies based on the popular adage that “prevention is better than cure”.

    Keywords: China, Job burnout, competence, Measures, university academics, psychological counselling, job performance

    Received: 06 Jul 2024; Accepted: 11 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 LEI, Alam and Bashir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gazi Mahabubul Alam, Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.