6. Engagement & Culture
Job Demands-Resources
The burnout arithmetic
Use when
Burnout signals in a team, or designing any role that keeps growing
Demands
Workload, emotional load, ambiguity, interruptions. Visible in systems: calendar, tickets, after-hours messages.
Resources
Autonomy, feedback, support, tools, recovery time. Mostly invisible in systems, so ask.
Strain path
Demands without resources produce strain, then exhaustion, then burnout.
Motivation path
Resources drive engagement even under high demands.
“Burnout is a job-design problem before it is a resilience problem.”
How to use it
Audit both columns for the affected role, then either cut a demand or fund a resource; be suspicious of any plan that does neither. A wellness app added to an under-resourced role treats the wrong side of the equation. Pairs with the Manager Load Budget as its operating mechanism.
Card details
- Model type
- Grid
- Origin status
- Established
- Content last reviewed
- 28 July 2026
Origin
EstablishedEvangelia Demerouti, Arnold Bakker, Friedhelm Nachreiner and Wilmar Schaufeli, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2001.