IIDEA Research Spotlight: Professor of Teaching Karun K. Singh

Karun K. Singh is a professor of teaching at Rutgers School of Social Work. His teaching, research, and scholarly interests focus on multidisciplinary nonprofit and public human services management, strategic planning, fundraising and marketing, social entrepreneurship, and microaggressions prevention. He is the co-chair of the New Jersey and the New York City Chapters of the Network for Social Work Management (NSWM). He also serves as an editorial advisory board member of Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership, & Governance, currently the only social work journal focused on improving the capacity and performance of human service and health care organizations worldwide through high-level research. Dr. Singh teaches advanced-level courses in the Management and Policy (MAP) specialization such as Management, Practice, and Theory, Program Development and Strategic Planning, and Fundraising and Marketing, as well as Diversity and Oppression, a foundation-level course. He is a Faculty Affiliate, Center for Leadership and Management.

Tell us about one specific article or dissemination effort that relates to IIDEA (Inclusion, Intersectionality, Diversity, Equity, and Advancement) that you’ve worked on recently.

I co-presented a couple of workshops in June on the topic of burnout prevention. The first was with a MAP graduate student and a MAP alumna mentee of mine at the NASW-NYC Chapter conference in 2023 (Singh, Kapner, & Carrera, 2023). The second was with two MAP alumnae mentees of mine at the NSWM-NYC Chapter event in 2023 (Singh, Matharu, & Kapner, 2023).

Burnout is a pressing concern among social work supervisors and staff. It contributes to the decline of people's well-being and is associated with decreased productivity and increased turnover among staff in human service organizations. Researchers note that it develops gradually through prolonged experience of work-related stress (Gabriel & Aguinis, 2021), and often document levels of burnout by examining levels of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy in workers (Schaufeli et. al., 2009). Individuals may feel dissatisfied with their work, experience problems sleeping, make more mistakes, and can experience adverse mental health effects (Rehder et al., 2021). Additionally, studies have shown that burnout increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, headaches, respiratory problems, gastrointestinal issues, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation (National Academy of Medicine, 2019). The effects of workplace burnout can also create problems at home, producing tension and anger within households, or withdrawal from family and friends (Gabriel & Aguinis, 2021). The quality of care administered by clinicians and client satisfaction levels diminishes when burnout affects staff (National Academy of Medicine, 2019). Burnout can also increase workplace accidents, reduce productivity, create less effective teams, and increase employee turnover, resulting in an estimated loss of $4.6 billion for the US healthcare sector (Rehder et al., 2021).

Why did you do this study/dissemination effort?

I developed these workshops for a couple of reasons. First, I submitted a proposal to do a research-based professional development workshop for the NASW-NYC annual conference on the theme of Social Work & Wellness: Successes and Opportunities in Transcending Chaos. Second, I was invited by the NSWM-NYC Chapter’s committee on event planning to present a modified version of this workshop for alumni, professionals, and students. The committee members have known me for many years as a leader in the MAP specialization at Rutgers School of Social Work.

How does it connect with the principles of IIDEA?

Under the principles of IIDEA, all people working in an organization should be treated equally and should also be given the same or similar opportunities for advancement. However, the evidence concludes that women and people of color disproportionately suffer from the effects of burnout when they are discriminated against due to supervisor bias and/or structural inequities that erect barriers to promotions and increased salaries and benefits (Rieck, 2022). Burnout is not a new phenomenon. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created major long-term and often permanent disruptions to the work environment, furthering opportunities for employees to experience burnout. It has forced many staff members to work from home and altered domestic roles, creating extra pressures on families (Eckart et al., 2021). It also reminds workers of the physical harm they could be exposed to at work, leading to increased psychosocial stress (Lovejoy et al., 2021). It is important to note that not all workers have been affected equally, with African American, Hispanic, and Native American communities suffering excessively high rates of exposure and death from the virus (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022; Tirupathi et al., 2020). This, in turn, has increased role strain among families dealing with an increased burden of role overload.

What are the implications of your work for social policy, practice, or research?

Various theories have been proposed to explain workplace burnout. The Jobs Demands-Resources model spotlights the negative effects of increasing job demands without providing adequate resources to address and reduce the stress of those demands (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). The Conservation of Resources model describes burnout increasing when valued employee resources are threatened (Maslach & Leiter, 2016). Aiming to reduce the potential for burnout, these models point to the importance of decreasing job demands, offering skill development opportunities, and building social support systems (Van den Broeck et al., 2017). The Maslach Burnout Inventory has been identified as the most common and trusted tool to measure a person’s level of burnout (Schaufeli et. al., 2009). Using a 10-item survey, the Mini-Z burnout measure is another tool that was developed for testing clinicians (Wolf et al., 2021). The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale measures employee engagement, which is considered a mitigator of burnout (Schaufeli et. al., 2009). Additionally, an extensive list of practical toolkits was created to enable organizations to respond to structural DEI issues (Tellez, 2021). These tools can help social work managers assess employees and their work environments, helping them to plan for successful interventions.

Interventions can be implemented at both the individual and organizational level. Focusing on increasing physical and mental resilience, individual actions encompass promoting self-care activities and better work-life balance (Kotera et al., 2021; Rehder et al., 2021). Activities include exercise regimens, encouraging healthy eating habits, emphasizing the importance of sleep, and using relaxation techniques (Rutgers University Human Resources, 2022). Organizational actions incorporate strengthening work culture, presenting growth opportunities, encouraging inclusive decision-making, developing peer support systems, and organizing social events with the goal of increasing employee engagement and effectiveness (Rehder et al., 2021). Managers should work to increase job satisfaction and workplace flexibility among workers struggling with family pressure and workplace burnout (Eckart et al., 2021). As a long-term strategy, it is recommended that managers of social workers collaborate with staff to utilize a liberatory consciousness framework (Love, 2018) to implement changes that reduce systemic oppression and enhance equity and social justice, leading to decreased burnout and increased well-being. Taken together, the short and long-term strategies will help to provide solutions for meeting two of the Grand Challenges for Social Work, namely, fostering Family Well-Being and creating a Just Society (American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, 2022).

What is the value of this work? Why is it important?

There are more than 1.8 million nonprofits in the United States (Faulk et al., 2021). Preventing burnout among the staff of the sizable sub-sector of nonprofit human service organizations is critical to accomplishing the mission of these types of service-oriented nonprofits in which most social workers are employed. Social service employees who provide direct services like counseling and case management are primarily female (Faulk et al., 2021; Hasenfeld, 2009). Despite their noble missions, however, many nonprofits do not treat their employees as well as the public might think. Unfortunately, in a hierarchical management system, which is typical of the formal leadership style and structure of most nonprofits, including human service agencies, nonprofit workers typically receive low salaries and inadequate benefits. Moreover, they suffer from a lack of sufficient opportunities in higher level decision-making, as well as in career advancement (Network Depot, 2023; Warwick, 2007). To overcome this historical maltreatment of female and minority staff in nonprofit organizations, the National Council of Nonprofits (2023) started a timely initiative exploring how nonprofits can promote the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in their work, employment practices, board rooms, and communications. This project includes many tips and resources on how to integrate these values throughout the operations and activities of a nonprofit. There are two salient takeaways from this article. First, managers have the most impact on reducing stress and burnout to foster employee well-being, performance, and innovation (Brower, 2023). And second, successful leaders are those who move beyond managing diversity to cultivating equity and inclusion by supporting the growth and contribution of all employees (Hampton, Armstrong, & Parish, as cited in Edwards & Kurzman, 2021). If social work managers have not yet implemented the advice provided by the National Council on Nonprofit’s project, they are strongly encouraged to use National Nonprofit Day (August 17, 2023) as the date to launch transformational change to ameliorate staff burnout within their own agencies.

References

American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. (2022). Grand challenges for social work. https://grandchallengesforsocialwork.org/#the-challenges

Brower, T. (2023). Managers have major impact on mental health: How to lead for wellbeing. Forbes, 1-7. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2023/01/29/managers-have-major-impact-on-mental-health-how-to-lead-for-wellbeing/?sh=63bb8e9b2ec1

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Health equity considerations and racial and ethnic minority groups. Atlanta, GA: CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html

Eckart, E.C., Hermann, M.A., & Neale-McFall, C. (2021). Counselors' experience of work and family roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 43(4), 301-318. https://doi-org.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/10.17744/mehc.43.4.02

Edwards, R.L., & Kurzman, P.A. (Eds.). (2021). Leading and managing nonprofit organizations. Washington, DC: NASW Press.  

Faulk, L., Kim, M., Derrick-Mills, T., Boris, E., Tomasko, L., Hakizimana, N., Chen, T., Kim, M., & Nath, L. (2021). Nonprofit trends and impacts 2021. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/104889/nonprofit-trends-and-impacts-2021_2.pdf

Gabriel, K.P., & Aguinis, H. (2021). How to prevent and combat employee burnout and create healthier workplaces during crises and beyond. Business Horizons, 65(2), 183-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2021.02.037

Hampton, A.C., Armstrong, A.J., & Parish, S.L. (2021). Cultivating a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. In R. Edwards & P. Kurzman (Eds.), Leading and managing nonprofit organizations (pp. 140-162). Washington, DC: NASW Press.

Hasenfeld, Y. (Ed.). (2009). Human services as complex organizations (2nd ed.). CA: Sage Publications.

Kotera, Y., Tsuda-McCaie, F., Edwards, A., Bhandari, D., & Maughan, G. (2021). Self-compassion in Irish social work students: Relationships between resilience, engagement and motivation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(15), 8187. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18158187

Love, B.J. (2018). Developing a liberatory consciousness. In M. Adams (Ed.), Readings for diversity and social justice, pp. 533-540. New York, NY: Routledge.

Lovejoy, M., Kelly, E.L., Kubzansky, L.D., & Berkman, L.F. (2021). Work redesign for the 21st century: Promising strategies for enhancing worker well-being. American Journal of Public Health, 111(10), 1787-1795. https://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306283

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M.P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311

National Academy of Medicine. (2019). Taking action against clinician burnout: A systems approach to professional well-being. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

National Council of Nonprofits. (2023). Why diversity, equity, and inclusion matter for nonprofits. National Council of Nonprofits, 1-8. https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/running-nonprofit/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/why-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-matter

Network Depot. (2023). Interesting nonprofit statistics in 2023. Network Depot, 1-8. https://www.networkdepot.com/interesting-nonprofit-statistics-in-2023/#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%201.7,6%25%20of%20the%20US%20econom

Rehder, K., Adair, K.C., & Sexton, J.B. (2021). The science of health care worker burnout: Assessing and improving health care worker well-being. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 145(9), 1095–1109. https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2020-0557-RA

Rieck, K. (2022). Women and people of color can’t afford to ‘quiet quit’. The Washington Post, 1-3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/women-and-people-of-color-cant-afford-to-quiet-quit/2022/09/05/1707431e-2d28-11ed-bcc6-0874b26ae296_story.html

Rutgers University Human Resources. (2022). Wellness. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University. https://uhr.rutgers.edu/index.php/covid-19-telecommuting/wellness

Schaufeli, W. B., Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2009). Burnout: 35 years of research and practice. Career Development International, 14(3), 204–220. https://doi.org/10.1108/1362043091096640

Singh, K.K, Kapner, E., & Carrera, O. (2023). Burnout prevention solutions for supervisors and staff. Workshop presented on June 7, 2023 at the National Association of Social Workers-New York City Chapter Conference.

Singh, K.K, Matharu, T., & Kapner, E. (2023). Burnout prevention research and practice for managers, supervisees, and students. Workshop presented on June 29, 2023 at the Network for Social Work Management-New York City Chapter Event.

Tellez, T. (2021). Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) organizational assessment tools: A resource guide. Institute for Racial and Economic Equity: Brandeis University. 

Tirupathi, R., Muradova, V., Shekhar, R., Salim, S.A., Al-Tawfiq, J.A., & Palabindala, V. (2020). COVID-19 disparity among racial and ethnic minorities in the US: A cross sectional analysis. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 38, 101904–101904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2020.10190

Van den Broeck, A., Elst, T., Baillien, E., Sercu, M., Schouteden, M., De Witte, H., & Godderis, L. (2017). Job demands, Job resources, burnout, work engagement, and their relationships. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 59(4), 369-376. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000000964

Warwick, M. (2007). Guess who’s socially irresponsible. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 12-13. 

Wolf, C., Schwarz, J., Thurstone, C., & Rylander, M. (2021). Agreement between a single, self-defined burnout item and the ProQOL burnout subscale for behavioural health staff. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 30(1), 326-333. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/inm.12788

This story was created in partnership with Rutgers School of Social Work's Inclusion, Intersectionality, Diversity, Equity, and Advancement (IIDEA) Committee in support of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.