Investing in Your Job: Balance of Dedication and Burnout

How does Workaholics’ self-image affect the degree of dedication to their work? And how does that affect their mental health?

To investigate, Marie Colombe Aforta, a professor at the Department of Labor and Management Relations at the University of Montreal, worked with colleagues from Montreal and France to study 544 graduates of French business schools over eight months.

Findings from three professors, Afota at the University of Toulouse Capitol in France, Christian Vandenbergue of Heck Montreal, and Veronique Robert, have been published in the Frontier of Psychology.

The study was conducted against the backdrop of increasing digitalization in society and against a surge in remote work arrangements during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The spread of smartphones and email has eroded the boundaries between personal and professional life over the past 15 years, and for many, this has led to an increase in working hours,” Afota said.

“When the pandemic broke out, we thought that many remote work would reverse the trend. But the opposite happened. Many teleworkers feel they are always available and obligated to respond to show that they are productive and committed to their work.”

Three types of investment in your work

This study distinguishes between three types of heavy investment in work: toxic overinvestment (or work holism), work involvement, and emotional organizational commitment.

Workaholics are defined as addiction to work, characterized by constant internal pressure and obsessions focusing on work-related tasks, while work involvement is a positive state of mind associated with vitality, enthusiasm and focus. Finally, emotional organizational commitment refers to emotional attachment to the organization itself.

This study found a relationship between these types of investment in work and workers’ self-concept.

“In our study, the tendency to define ourselves in terms of group self, or social group membership, was a predictor of three forms of investment in work,” Aforta said.

In contrast, individualistic self-concepts are correlated only with workaholism.

“Workaholism is primarily motivated by darker, less positive goals, such as the need to prove one’s worth, both for ourselves and others,” Afota said. “The problem is that it never ends and it ends up being destructive.”

The results of this study show that different types of large investments in jobs have contrasting effects.

“It only has a negative effect on workaholism,” Afota said. “The data shows that this leads to increased working hours, work overload, and increased risk of depression and emotional burnout.”

On the other hand, work involvement is not related to work overload, preventing depression and burnout.

“This discovery challenges traditional wisdom that organizations benefit from hiring people who work long hours,” Afota noted. “In fact, that’s not necessarily a good sign.”

There was no statistically significant correlation between emotional organizational commitments and mental health indicators used in the study.

14% are workholic

Some estimates show that around 14% of workers are workholic. Therefore, the distinction between healthy and overinvestment in work is becoming an important public health issue.

“In workplace situations where the boundaries between personal and professional life are becoming increasingly porous, our results call for a rethinking of digital presentism and management practices that value long working hours,” Afota said.

In her view, organizations are wrong to believe that it is in their own interest that employees are always at work or are always available.

“The challenge is particularly keen for professionals who have a wide range of duties and difficult to measure,” she said. “Employers measure the amount, the amount of time spent on work, but it’s a cognitive shortcut to conclude that if people are doing a lot of things, they’re capable.”

This study concludes that it is important for managers to recognize warning signs of workaholicism and learn to promote work involvement as an active form of investment.

“We recommend that organizations adopt management practices that promote work-life balance,” Afota said. “The quality of work engagement is more important than quantity. More than ever, balancing work commitment with personal happiness is a subtle art that needs to be mastered.”