Psychological determinants and prevention of burnout of civil servants in modern conditions

Abstract

In the conditions of large-scale socio-political transformations and martial law in Ukraine, the effectiveness of the public administration system is undergoing serious tests. The key resource for ensuring the stability of state institutions is the human resource potential, which today operates in a mode of extremely high psycho-emotional stress. Professional burnout of civil servants ceases to be a personal problem and is transformed into a threat to national security, as it leads to a decrease in the quality of administrative services, an increase in errors in management decisions and an increase in corruption risks. In view of this, the purpose of the article is to carry out a comprehensive theoretical and methodological analysis of the phenomenon of professional burnout in the civil service system, to identify specific determinants of its occurrence in conditions of crisis challenges, as well as to substantiate and systematize effective psychological technologies for the prevention of this condition. The methodological basis of the work is made up of general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, comparative analysis and a systems approach, and the empirical basis is the results of research by leading domestic and foreign scientists, which allowed comparing the psychological mechanisms of burnout in the management, production and social spheres. The article analyzes the essence of professional burnout as a polydetermined syndrome that develops according to the scheme "emotional exhaustion - depersonalization - reduction of personal achievements". It is determined that the specificity of the civil service is the "double determination" of stress: societal pressure (high expectations) and system pressure (bureaucratism). It is proven that the key mechanism of exhaustion is emotional dissonance caused by the need to perform "emotional work" during communication with citizens in crisis situations. Based on the analysis of best practices, a comprehensive three-level prevention model is proposed, which provides for: at the organizational level - optimization of work processes, introduction of clear KPIs and creation of sensory rooms; at the group level - introduction of the institute of supervision and Balint groups; at the individual level - training of employees in self-regulation and cognitive reframing methods. Based on the results of the study, a conclusion is made about the need to change the management paradigm, where the preservation of the mental health of personnel is considered a strategic imperative, and adapted recommendations are proposed for implementation in government bodies.