A Conceptual and Empirical Investigation of Workplace Burnout in Foodservice Management

Abstract

The authors conducted a study of burnout within the foodservice environments of five major hotel chains. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, a psychometric instrument, was used to measure three dimensions of burnout: • Emotional Exhaustion (EE) • Depersonalization (DP) • Personal Accomplishment (PA). Findings show a significant incidence of high burnout according to Maslach's three domains-especially on the emotional exhaustion (28%) and depersonalization (20%) subscales. We have also unequivocally demonstrated that the Maslach inventory is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring burnout in the food-service industry.