Breaking the burnout cycle: How workplace communication predicts employee well-being

Abstract

Orientation: Burnout, psychological safety and contextual performance are essential to employee well-being and organisational success. Although workplace communication is often treated as secondary to leadership behaviour, its direct role in these outcomes remains underexplored, particularly in the high-pressure Indian information technology sector.
Research purpose: This study examined whether workplace communication independently predicts burnout, psychological safety and contextual performance, and compared its influence with supervisor and coworker support.
Motivation for the study: Prior research has largely treated communication as part of hierarchical support systems. This study instead models communication as a standalone variable in a demanding, innovation-driven work setting.
Research approach/design and method: A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted among 344 full-time Indian information technology professionals using a 21-item Likert-scale questionnaire. Multiple linear regression assessed the predictive strength of workplace communication while controlling for supervisor and coworker support.
Main findings: Workplace communication emerged as the strongest predictor across all three outcomes. It was negatively associated with burnout and positively associated with psychological safety and contextual performance. Coworker support was also significant across all three models, while supervisor support was positively associated with psychological safety and contextual performance, but not burnout.
Practical/managerial implications: These findings identify communication as an important organisational resource linked to employee well-being and performance.
Contribution/value-add: By modelling communication as an independent predictor, this study offers theoretical and practical insight into how everyday interactions shape workplace outcomes in high-demand sectors.