Reducing employee burnout in the context of a global crisis and remote work: focusing on quality of leader–member exchange, trust in leader and organizational identification

Employee burnout has received a considerable amount of attention in the literature. However, recent global events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have led to much higher levels of employee burnout. Hence, in this study, we put the spotlight on employee burnout in the context of a global crisis and unpack the factors that reduce employee burnout in such a challenging time. Drawing mainly from the theoretical tenets of leader–member exchange (LMX), social exchange and social identity, the study explored the roles that leaders and organizations played in reducing employee burnout. Two studies were conducted in the Philippines—a country in Asia that experienced substantial lockdowns and restrictions because of the pandemic. Results in both studies provided support for the serial mediation model demonstrating how the quality of LMX inversely relates to employee burnout. Moreover, trust in leader and organizational identification provided additional explanations on the established mechanisms. These findings offered insights both conceptually and in practice on how to reduce employee burnout in a global crisis, remote work context.