The Impact of Leader Member Exchange (LMX) on Job Burnout

Abstract

Job burnout is a state of exhaustion where one is cynical about the value of his/her occupation and doubtful about his/her ability to perform. At the organizational level burnout has been linked to costly outcomes, including increased absenteeism and turnover, reduced employee performance and productivity, and reductions in job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The economic and human costs associated with these outcomes underscore the importance of effective organizational practices designed to address burnout. Several researches have provided initial evidence that burnout can be highly affected by leader member exchange (LMX) relationship. These initial findings explain that leaders develop separate work relationships with different group members and the quality of a leader-follower dyadic relationship is associated in a predictable fashion with job burnout. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of LMX and job burnout among the employees in garment manufacturing organizations in Sri Lanka. For the research, burnout is consisted of three broad variables of exhaustion, cynicism, and personal accomplishment/performance. The study was conducted on a sample of 200 individuals and data has been gathered through questionnaires. The principal data analysis tools used here were regression analysis and correlation coefficient.The paper’s findings imply that high quality LMX may have positive impact in combating burnout.