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Mini-Research Proposal
OBHR 4360 Advanced Organizational Behavior
5 March 2014

Burnout in Volunteer Organizations

Introduction
Volunteer organizations are very peculiar organizations in a sense that its members are
not motivated by extrinsic values but by intrinsic values. By this fact, it becomes difficult for
these organizations to find volunteers to assist with the organizational functions. With the rarity
of volunteers, it is important to retain all current volunteers. One important factor of retaining
volunteers is to consider the motivational factors for volunteers as a group and as an individual to
help prevent burnout and potential departure from the organization.
Statement of Problem
One of the many reasons why this is important is because of burnout and absence, work
productivity becomes inefficient and ineffective. When volunteers suffer burnout, they are more
likely to engage in counterproductive activities such as absenteeism which includes showing up
late or leaving early. Certain tasks in organizations require certain knowledge or certain amount
of manpower they may be needed to complete the task. With this absence, tasks would take
longer to complete unexpectedly. Based on an article from the Journal of Economic Psychology,
it is linked that that with increased work hours, burnout and absenteeism is positively related due
to emotional and mental exhaustion (Yaniv 297).
Another reason why this topic is important is low staffing. Similar to absenteeism, if that
problem isnt solved then, the absenteeism becomes worse and eventual departure from the
organization. Most importantly, if the volunteer has had organizational tenure, their absence
would equal a loss of an asset to the organization. According to a study about organizational
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tenure and job performance, they found that longer tenured employees have greater in-role
performance and citizenship performance (Ng 1220). These asset losses would become a big
concern and difficult to replace.
More importantly, this study of burnout affects job satisfaction. The initial reason why
volunteers are part of the organization is that they are intrinsically motivated. But after time,
mental and emotional exhaustion can skew that former motivation and the perceived benefit of
volunteering was not a great turnout as it was once thought to be. Volunteers will then reevaluate
their efforts to see if it is productive and equitable. Based upon a study from the Social
Psychology of Education, burnout and job satisfaction is negatively related and burnout and
motivation to quit was positively related (Federici 295).
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this narrative research study is to understand burnout behaviors that exist
in volunteer organizations and to develop a method to reduce burnout at a local north Texas
volunteer organization. At this stage in the research, the burnout behaviors will be generally
defined as unproductive work behaviors and behaviors that lead to absenteeism.
Research questions. There are three possible research questions that can come from the
study:
- If volunteers are engaged in planning committees or the board, they are less likely to
suffer from burnout due to organizational commitment.
- If volunteers become a mentors for the newly join volunteers, they are more likely to
engage citizenship behavior and burnout will less likely happen.
In general, these research questions help motivate volunteers by shaping their perceived
efforts into an idea that they have a direct impact on the organizational strategy and planning.
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Methodology
For this study, a qualitative research method would be used upon a local youth group and its
former volunteers that have left the organization. A narrative research would be most suitable to
discover the reasons why they have left the organization. The narrative research can help find
trending topics among the participants and pinpoint the root.

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References
Yaniv, Gideon (1994, December). Burnout, absenteeism, and the overtime decision. Journal of
Economic Psychology, 16, 297-309.
Ng, Thomas W. H. (2010 February). Organizational Tenure and Job Performance. Journal of
Management, 36, 1220-1250.
Federici, Roger. (2012 March). Principal self-efficacy: relations with burnout job satisfaction and
motivation to quit. Social Psychology of Education, 15, 295-320.