Employees burn out quicker than entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs have lower levels of burnout compared to employees, reveals research by Aalto University School of Business.

The study, conducted by Professor Ewald Kibler, analysed the common beliefs about entrepreneurship and found that entrepreneurial work produces significantly fewer daily work stressors than employed work.

It also offers higher levels of beneficial job autonomy, since entrepreneurs enjoy more freedom to design and execute the work the way they want.

“Entrepreneurs may be better protected from burnout because they experience fewer demands, such as administrative tasks, that are linked to burnout. This contradicts previous research that states entrepreneurs experience stressful work demands,” says Professor Kibler.

He adds that employees have no opportunity to turn strong work engagement in into protection from burnout. The researcher advises organisations to consider more entrepreneurial arrangements for jobs to reduce high burnout risks and stress spirals.

The research also revealed that serial entrepreneurs are not necessarily better equipped to cope with stress than entrepreneurs who are running a business for the first time.

“There are several explanations for this. Every business venture comes with its unique set of challenges and obstacles, regardless of whether the entrepreneur is a novice or a serial entrepreneur. Novice entrepreneurs face difficulties navigating a new industry, building networks, and understanding the regulatory environment, while serial entrepreneurs may face challenges from managing multiple ventures, scaling businesses, and dealing with more complex organizational issues,” says Professor Kibler.

Furthermore, the researcher says that solo entrepreneurs are less stressed than entrepreneurs who employ people. This is because they both have high work engagement levels, but employer entrepreneurs don’t have the same positive demand-resource pattern. As a result, his they are more likely to burn out than solo entrepreneurs.

The research was published in the Journal of Business Venturing.

/ENDS.

For more information, a copy of the research paper, or to speak with Professor Ewald Kibler, contact Jamie Hose at BlueSky Education on jamie@bluesky-pr.com, or call +44 (0)1582 790 706