Under the current circumstances in which more social welfare workers are leaving their positions, the purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the causes and present data that can be utilized in addressing and improving the causes for leaving ...
Under the current circumstances in which more social welfare workers are leaving their positions, the purpose of this study is to identify and analyze the causes and present data that can be utilized in addressing and improving the causes for leaving their positions.
To this end, empirical analyses have been carried out to assess what kind of influence occupational specific factors and organizational characteristics had on burnouts and the intentions to leave their positions in the course of social welfare workers forming such desires, and also to assess whether such influences depended on the emotional intelligence of the social welfare workers.
As for the research targets of this study, only private social welfare workers employed at social welfare institutions and facilities as well as counseling centers have been subjected. A total of 312 copies of surveys have been collected to be used for analysis in this study. Over the collected data, the t-test, ANOVA, cross analysis, and correlation analysis have been performed. Also, Cronbach's alpha was used for reliability assessment, and the verification of criteria was performed through factor analysis, etc. In verification and analysis of study models and hypotheses, the SPSS 18.0 statistical package and the AMOS program were utilized.
In summary, the results of study model hypotheses and adjustment effect analyses were as follows: First, among occupational specific factors, task requirement attribute had the effect of depleting the emotions of the social workers and lowering personal sense of achievement. Also, the emotional depletion and lowered personal sense of achievement affected by task requirement attribute differed depending on the emotional intelligence levels of the social welfare workers.
Second, among organization-related factors, job instability affected emotional depletion and depersonalization but the emotional depletion and depersonalization not differed on the emotional intelligence levels of the social welfare workers. Third, among organization-related factors, the fairness of promotion reviews affected emotional depletion, depersonalization, and lowering of personal sense of achievements. But such emotional depletion, depersonalization, and lowering of personal sense of achievements experienced due to unfair process of promotional reviews not differed depending on the emotional intelligence levels of the social workers. Fourth, among factors related to the organization, relationships between the social welfare workers and their supervisors were deemed to affect emotional depletion, depersonalization, and lowering of personal sense of achievements. But, this is the same outcome as the fairness of the process of promotional reviews. Likewise, the stress derived from the relationship with supervisors and the lowered personal sense of achievement not depended on the levels of emotional intelligence of the social welfare workers. Fifth, the 3 variables of emotional depletion, depersonalization, and the lowered personal sense of achievement which sub-variables of the burnout influenced the intention to leave their position. However, social welfare worker's turnover intention by burnout not depended on the levels of emotional intelligence. Sixth, emotional intelligence of social welfare workers showed a significant role of protective factors in the course of burnout through occupations and organizational characteristics.
Therefore, the plans to prevent the social welfare workers from leaving their positions based results analysis presented by study are as follows: First, support systems such as education systems, compensation levels, and benefit systems must be improved to the level of social welfare dedicated public officials so that the social welfare workers would not experience burnout from their work environment. Second, in order to provide emotional stability and improve their sense of achievement from performing their tasks, it is important to manage individual workload efficiently. To achieve this, ambiguous assignments should not be assigned, and after severe workloads have been assigned, opportunities for sufficient rest and compensation would need to be provided. Further, the strategy to increase specialized personnel would be needed as well. Third, to provide emotional stability to social welfare workers and prevent leakage from the workers leaving their positions, the personal role of the supervisors in providing expert knowledge and experience as well as offering education through personal discussions and conversations are absolutely necessary. Fourth, in carrying out social welfare tasks, there is a need to assign well-educated experts that can identify programs to enhance personal senses of achievements and offer feedback. Fifth, it is also important to assign more challenging tasks to the employees who are married rather than the employees who were single, and also to those who have experienced position changes rather than those who have not experienced position changes. This is based on the fact that those who have experienced job changes tend to stress less. Sixth, as for the social welfare worker tasks, performance results as well as the sense of achievements were higher for those who had religious faiths in protestant Christianity. Also, with roughly 7 years of experience, greater personal sense of achievement and flexibility about tasks were attained. Seventh, it is important to adjust the workloads so that the workers work for 5 days a week and their average work hours do not exceed 12 hours. Eighth, in order to prevent depersonalization, which is one of the burnout factors for social welfare workers, regular psychological education and appropriate compensations must be offered. Ninth, relevant regulations included in “Social Welfare Business Regulation” must be complemented and improved to enhance the treatments and social statures of social welfare workers. Further, converting the current recommendations over poor working environments, equitable compensation and workers’ wage systems, labor hours, retirement payments, benefit payment systems and promotion systems provided only as guidelines into mandatory requirements may be the most effective method in reducing the intentions of social welfare workers to leave their jobs. It would clearly be a great loss for the nation and the society for the social welfare workers who have high sense of duty and expertise to leave their positions due to poor working conditions or organizational environments.