*3.3. Macro-Level: The Organization*

At the organization's macro level, the internal and external environmental factors contributing to an employee's well-being and job satisfaction should be well-thought-out. For example, a fallout leading up to the pandemic, coined by Klotz (2021) as The Great Resignation, is a movement cutting across all industries where significant numbers of employees voluntarily resigned from their positions, leaving employers short-staffed [38]. Especially hard hit was the education sector. The National Education Association released a statement in January 2022 that stress and burnout contributed to the great resignation of educators, with a reported 55% of educators likely to resign or retire earlier than planned. For organizations to remain viable and sustainable, they must address the phenomenon of burnout and environmental influences like The Great Resignation at each level within the organization.

Work-from-home options at the micro level would allow flexibility for women, especially single-parent mothers with increased demands on their time who require work–life balance and psychological well-being to reduce stress and burnout [32]. At the mezzo level, managers and leaders must be empowered to enact processes like rotating work schedules, altering work hours, and revising work expectations [6]. At the macro level, the leadership team of the nonprofit organization can review and change workplace policies and procedures to address the unique needs of women. Critical services for the self-care and well-being of its employees are essential. As is providing opportunities for personal and professional development like lunch and learn programs, online homework resources, support benefits like gym memberships, or programs designed to increase employee attendance and retention [36].

While nonprofit organizations struggle to compete with wages in the for-profit sector, they can offer alternatives to help women protect their pay. At the macro level, organizations can revisit policies to align job descriptions and employee wages, return employee pay to pre-COVID-19 rates, and increase employee pay. Companies can show fairness and consideration during crises by readjusting workload instead of cutting pay [36]. Moreover, companies can focus on organizational policies by investing in training for upskilling and family-friendly workplace initiatives with more childcare support. [32,36]. Organizations offering family-friendly policies have a positive impact on the entire community increasing employee diversity, productivity, and job satisfaction [32]. In addition, organizations can provide awareness to all parents on work–life family programs like The Family Security Act 2.0, which accentuates support for working families and resources available in raising and educating their children [39]. Fundamentally, all policy responses to the crisis must embed a gender lens and account for women's unique needs, responsibilities, and perspectives [27].

An organizational climate survey is another approach to help nonprofit leadership reevaluate their workforce. For example, validated instruments such as the model for job role conflict and ambiguity (Netemeyer et al., 1995) can help organizations understand the needs of the employees in developing policies and procedures that contribute to the self-care and well-being of women in the nonprofit sector [40]. Furthermore, documenting the changes that nonprofit workers have experienced is an essential first step toward understanding COVID-19's impact on the sector's workforce for job role conflict and ambiguity [41]. In addition, organizations should consider recruiting women who have left the workplace during the pandemic and implement longer-term strategies for recruiting women returning to the workplace after career breaks. In another arena, the nonprofit community relies heavily on donor support, and allocating resources to help women is critical. "As women remain highly represented in care professions, it is time that nonprofit/NGO working environments, donors, and larger infrastructures look within organizations and help those who have for so long helped others" [30]. Recognizing women in these organizations and discussing implications for self-care at the micro level, psychological safety at the mezzo level, and revised policies and procedures that address the unique needs of women at the macro level is essential to overcome stress and burnout. The following section offers a discussion and implications for post-pandemic work.

#### **4. Discussion and Implications for Post-Pandemic Work**

The purpose of this study was to explore answers to two research questions (1) what does burnout look like in women in the nonprofit sector, and (2) what are the implications for organizational leaders in a post-pandemic work world? Research showed burnout is at epidemic proportions in the nonprofit sector. Until the phenomenon is addressed at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels within an organization, it is likely the sector will experience continued burnout coupled with the quiet resignation of many service provider professionals. Moreover, burnout is a global phenomenon across all classifications of nonprofit organizations registered with accrediting agencies. Furthermore, research showed burnout was more prevalent among women, who comprise a large percentage of the workers in the nonprofit sector. Mothers were more significantly affected as they took on added work with little or no additional remuneration and experienced exhaustion with little accolades and careless abandonment of self-care. Additionally, women reported mental decline, stress, interference with personal lives, family care, anxiety, and depression.

The effects of the COVID-19 epidemic have outlasted the initial waves of the pandemic and have had a significantly negative impact on women in the nonprofit sector. According to UNESCO, at the height of the pandemic worldwide, it was estimated that more than 1.5 billion children were out of school, dramatically increasing the need for childcare. Intensifying the situation was limited care support from grandparents, neighbors, and friends due to the increased risk of contracting COVID-19. In addition, the increased need to care for people with fewer resources contributed to the stress and burnout of employees in the field. In response to COVID-19, nonprofit organizations modified work hours, reduced pay, and changed the delivery of services [41].

According to Maslach & Leiter (2005), two paths to focusing on employee burnout centers on the individual in the organization and the organization itself. We present that addressing factors contributing to the stress and burnout of employees is paramount to the ongoing success and sustainability of the nonprofit sector [42]. Therefore, we argue that a systems thinking design model for managing stress at the organization's micro, mezzo, and macro levels is critical in the post-pandemic environment. As pertinent to this article, systems thinking at the micro level represents the employee. The mezzo level is the leadership, the group or team leaders, and the macro level considers the organization's culture, policies, and procedures. System thinking considers the interconnectedness and interdependence of each component within an organization. Therefore, as the nonprofit community considers how to rebound and rebuild from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, it must consider the micro, mezzo, and macro systems within its organization. The micro level considers the individual, the mezzo level is the group level, and the macro level is the organizational level. Each level is interconnected, whether top-down with policies and procedures that affect the individual and group levels or bottom-up, whereby the individual's intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influences the outcome of group work or the organization's strategic objectives.

A concentrated focus on burnout at the three levels of organizational life better positions an organization to remain resilient as they reinvent, reorganize, or reimagine themselves with a team of dedicated service provider professionals responding to the needs of those they serve. The implications are far-reaching for post-pandemic work as the nonprofit sector considers how to rebuild and rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
