Introduction: Burnout and occupational (im)balance are common companions of stress and are often ignored. Burnout is most often an expression of specific symptoms, such as depression, fatigue from which the individual cannot recover, and a reduced ability to achieve goals. Occupational (im)balance can be imagined as an (im)balance between work and free time, or as an (im)balance between active activities and activities related to rest, or the ratio between the time devoted to certain occupations. Both phenomena can be seen in service professions, which also include bank employees. Purpose: To determine the presence of signs of occupational (im)balance and levels of burnout among bank employees. Work methods: An online survey was conducted among bank employees in Slovenia. Convenience sampling was used. The survey questionnaire consisted of the Maslach Burnout Questionnaire and the Occupational Balance Questionnaire, as well as some demographic questions. 104 bank employees responded to the questionnaire. The results of the survey were edited with a program (Microsoft Excel) and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results: In the dimension of emotional exhaustion, a high level of burnout was reached by about a third of the participants, and in the dimension of depressionalisation, by about half. In the dimension of personal fulfillment, less than half of the respondents achieved a low level of personal fulfillment. The majority of the sample in all dimensions therefore indicates burnout. Regarding occupational balance, when asked about rest, three-quarters of the respondents answered that they do not rest enough, a good two-thirds do not have many different activities, almost two-thirds of the respondents do not adapt well to a change in their health status, and a good half do not adapt well to a change in their professional life. Discussion and conclusion: We note that among the surveyed bank employees, burnout appeared on all three dimensions, and similar results were also found in some other surveys. Some other comparable research, however, showed burnout only on individual dimensions. The results of the occupational balance questionnaire do not indicate many deviations from the occupational balance. However, in some answers, there are problems in this area as well (amount of rest, variety of activities, adaptability to changes in work and to changes in health). From this and similar researches, the occupational therapist can draw knowledge about in which areas and what kind of awareness the general public needs in order to limit health risk factors and improve people's quality of life.
|