Recovering From Burnout - Stress Management Techniques from Mind Tools
Recovering From Burnout - Stress Management Techniques from Mind Tools
Since we're going to be moving on and moving away from this place in a few short years, it's time for me to buckle down and figure out my work situation for the next chunk of my life. I took an online quiz to identify whether I am burned out in my job and - surprise, surprise! - I am. This follow-up article aims to help me use burnout as a trigger for personal growth - which is what I desperately need right now. I'm going to use this entry to work through my own feelings and responses as a way to try to identify my next direction.
Understanding Why I Burned Out
Circumstances Before My Involvement:
I started working in the Graduate Studies office in December 2004, but have been working as a clerical worker since 1988 (almost 24 years!). My current burnout has followed the pattern of my last two longish assignments: I start work in a new position, I initiate innovation and establish processes, I train personnel, and then I become bored. The work I'm left with is typically meeting set-ups, travel arrangements, and tasks related to being the "institutional memory" of my office - all tasks I find boring and annoying. I love libraries but hated working at Reed Library when it became clear to me that I wouldn't be allowed to advance or take advantage of the professional growth opportunities available to more educated colleagues.
The Graduate Studies office was very small and a bit discombobulated when I came on board. There was an interim dean who supervised me (Secretary 2 - i.e. Executive Secretary), a part-time Keyboard Specialist (whom I supervised) the Assistant Director of Lifelong Learning (there was no director) and his secretary (whom I supervised). There was no clear vision for graduate studies - at least not one that anyone had the authority to pursue - and I was encouraged by the interim dean to become involved in policy discussions, academic and curriculum discussions, and generally things that were "above my pay grade" (I'm a union worker represented by one of the largest service worker employee unions in the country).
My Workload:
When the first interim dean left, my workload pattern continued; there was a need to send someone to area graduate fairs and I started attending the regional ones, and then expanded to a few outside the region (Brooklyn, DC) when the THIRD interim dean came on board. My status as institutional memory of the office also increased since I had now worked there longer than anyone else (my KBS had left and was not replaced, and Lifelong Learning had been separated from Graduate Studies and moved to another location on campus). I gained a greater voice in Graduate Council (though I was not considered a full member) and many faculty members thought I was a professional with an advanced degree (I always corrected them - I have integrity).
The third interim dean then left and there was an entire summer before the permanent Associate VP came to Fredonia when I was the only employee working in Graduate Studies. At that time, there was no online application, and I was handling a crippling number of paper applications, manually entering them into the student database, following up to application completion, making ALL the copies to distribute for department review, following up on applications out for department review, auditing and signing off for the Graduate Studies dean/AVP once the department had reviewed the applications, preparing/signing/sending decision letters. And that was just the daily work. Desperate for help, I created a written rationale for hiring a graduate assistant, which I sent directly to the VP for Academic Affairs. Once approved, I solicited applicants and interviewed them, and then hired a graduate assistant for the office, which I then had to train. It was an incredible amount of work and I accomplished it. I didn't file a grievance or complain or gossip - I just did it.
I was faced with training new employees almost from the minute the permanent leader of the division (Assoc. VP) started. He was new to the SUNY system, union issues, and New York state government. We were able to hire a temporary KBS, which we recruited from a student worker who had also completed a graduate program at SUNY Fredonia (in teaching). I replaced the graduate assistant when the first finished academic work at the university. I interviewed and hired summer help, and replaced the second GA. I've supervised half a dozen work study students.
My workload changed again when I was finally (after several years of trying) able to get a commitment from the university to purchase online application and recruiting solutions. I did the research, contacted the vendors, set up the demos, wrote up summaries, made recommendations, and shepherded the contract paperwork through our legal department. THEN, I set up the entire application myself, including applicant instructions and form architecture and queries with which to extract data. I am responsible for annual updates and virtually everything relating to the application.
My boss has also relied on me to do more statistical reporting and analysis, and to work with our division's budget. I have been responsible for setting up and executing advertising, including ad copy. I wrote most of the web content for our site and had been solely responsible for creating and editing pages until I delegated that responsibility to my new KBS. And I've taken on an even greater role in Graduate Council. My boss recently told me that he expects me to take on a greater role in directly recruiting applicants.
My Actions:
I am a "classified" employee; I gained my position in state government by passing a civil service test and a typing test (BARELY passed that one - I had no intention of ever becoming a clerical worker so I never took typing in high school). I've earned promotions since then with a combination of promotional civil service tests (required) and interviews. I am an excellent interviewee and professional employee. I've built my reputation on being honest, fair, professional, calm, and by never gossiping. I'm ill-suited for clerical work (because I don't like it), but I am good at it.
The reason I'm in a job for which I'm ill-suited is that I did not finish college. I enjoy middle management-type work - creating new ideas and directions for divisions, empowering people in the tasks they enjoy, taking on higher-level tasks (like graduate fairs and conferences) - but I am technically not allowed to take on the full range of tasks I enjoy for fear of union retaliation. The "out of class work" rule was created to protect classified employees from being taken advantage of. If your boss expected you to do tasks that were out of your job classification, you could file a grievance with the union and conceivably get almost two weeks of enhanced back pay (in addition to your boss getting her/his hand slapped). This is counterproductive for classified staff who want to get ahead - how are you supposed to demonstrate your abilities and initiative? Even if the worker HERSELF chose not to file a grievance, a fellow union member could file a grievance about her work situation.
Here are some actions I've taken to try to prove my worth and solicit support for career mobility:
- Solicited support to upgrade my Reed Library KBS position to a Secretary 1 position: I wrote all the paperwork (my boss had very limited English writing skills) and followed up with additional information. I garnered support from my boss and the library director. My upgrade request was successful.
- Solicited support to upgrade my position further (to Agency Program Aide) when everyone else in my office had retired and was not replaced. I was unofficially in charge of monograph acquisitions for at least a year, if not longer. A new director was in charge of the library by then, and he did not support my request. In fact, he continued to insist that he wanted to find some way to "keep me at the library" but continued to shoot down any idea I had about advancing my own position. Even after he knew I had been offered a job - a promotion - he did nothing to try to retain me.
- Taken several college courses but failed to attain any degree: this has been the biggest failing of my life. My union offers generous tuition benefits, which I've taken advantage of over the years, but I've never attained any college credential, despite being literally 4 credits (which have been mostly earned - I have not completed coursework on my final course) from an Associate's degree. This is entirely my fault and the main reason I haven't attained any career mobility at the university (I might have been able to do it without a college degree in other state agencies).
- Suggested participation in a new union initiative created for employees like me - a management training/trial program. My boss supported it completely but couldn't get any traction with his boss or HR. I suspect my union was against it, too - successful completion of the program and conversion of my title to a management/professional position would have meant a loss of a valuable salary line and promotion opportunity for future clerical workers.
- Participated in other discussions about career possibilities, the conclusion of which suggests that those possibilities could lead to a pay decrease and less job security.
- Participated in mentoring; stuck up for women just starting out in the profession; sought advice from many.
The Actions of Other People:
I feel that the college should have done more for me. I am a valuable employee - intelligent, professional, and loyal - and I've reached out to people over the years, but no one has gone the extra mile to advocate for me or to help me in other ways. Administration is more invested in keeping classified employees in their place and promoting and assisting - hell, VALUING, professional and faculty employees. I understand WHY this is, but it's incredibly harmful for people like me.
My higher-level tasks - all the things I enjoyed doing - have all been curtailed. The first thing to go were the graduate fairs, of which I was just starting to understand and use effectively. This was a loss for the university and was due to my boss worrying about union retaliation (the VPAA's secretary is especially vigilant about me for some reason) and not seeing the value in these activities (due to his inexperience with recruiting and unwillingness to work the fairs himself). All conference attendance was eliminated, even though we have the money to participate, professional development is purportedly a goal of the university, and many budgetary restrictions imposed by horrible budgets have been lifted. I suspect that my boss prefers me to be in the office, period. This was even true when I was INVITED to speak at a conference. I couldn't go unless the VPAA (my boss's boss) did not know I was speaking.
My boss provides no incentive for me to do any work other than basic secretarial work. Conversely, he needs the higher-level work done and I am the only one capable of doing it independently. He also wants all of this to happen with no bother to him. He blows off every meeting the two of us have scheduled (our "standing" meetings), emphasizes only the things he feels are important (e.g. his travel plans, meetings and the like), and ignores the daily work AND the long term viability of graduate studies at Fredonia...or at least he doesn't convey any goals, aspirations, or initiatives to ensure the long term viability of graduate studies at Fredonia to me. He provides me no feedback or encouragement. He failed to give me a performance evaluation after hounding me to complete my part of it.
Situations that Evolved:
Every time I get to this point in a job, I discover anew that I will never be promoted beyond this level. I end up feeling resentful and unmotivated and taken advantage of. I'm paranoid that the specter of union grievances has been overblown to keep me in my place. I know that others know I have aspirations, but they don't want to bother helping me, even though they all agree that I am excellent for the office. I'm starting to become less excellent for the office.
My KBS is valued more highly than I am and she will be getting a promotion to a professional position soon MERELY by dint of her master's degree. EVERYONE is concerned with retaining her and making sure she attains a position that reflects her educational background. I share this aspiration for my KBS, but it further highlights my low status and makes me more angry, resentful, and depressed.
Also, I hate office work. The older I get, the more time I want to be free of constraints and master of my own schedule and work. I want to be outside more. I want to work about 5-6 hours per day, in the morning, and have most of the afternoon and all of the evening free to do as I wish.
Wow, that felt good to get out. It shows me that the main factors in my burnout are:
* Lack of challenging work
* Lack of recognition and reward
* Dislike of the core tasks that make up secretarial work
* Dislike of the hierarchical structure that values credential over skill, experience, and independence.
I don't think I can work for a traditional college anymore, and I'm uncertain whether or not I could work in an office manager capacity. Yet, I must make a decent amount of money at my next position, especially because I can't start drawing my retirement until age 55, even if I leave state service first.
Next Steps:
- Review and Set Life Goals
- Use SWOT Analysis to more fully understand my current position with respect to these goals
- Make an Action Plan for achieving these goals and start work on it