A Job Demands and Resources Worksheet

What job demands and job resources mean here

Job demands are features of work that require effort: the volume and timing of tasks, interruptions, difficult interactions, or incompatible instructions. Job resources are things that help you carry out the work, such as usable information, suitable tools, agreed help, training and influence over how a task is done.

The 2001 job demands–resources paper groups working conditions into these two broad categories. Its PubMed abstract describes different relationships between demands, resources and dimensions measured in that study. [5] That research framing helps organise questions; it does not validate the original worksheet on this page or let a personal task list diagnose burnout.

HSE’s Management Standards give practical questions about achievable demands within agreed hours, influence over work, access to support and clarity of responsibilities. [1] [2] [3] [4] Use those questions to identify a work condition that can be discussed. Do not turn every difficult task into evidence of illness.

A resource must match a need. A helpful team cannot supply a missing system permission unless someone has authority to arrange it. Training next month does not answer a task’s need this week. Record the connection between the demand, the resource and the relevant time.

Choose a work window and describe the actual demands

Choose a shift, week or project stage that answers your current question. Use a convenient boundary, not a prescribed tracking period. A whole career is too broad for a useful first record; a real upcoming handover or a recurring morning queue is easier to describe.

For each task, name the expected result, when it is needed and who can confirm what counts as done. Include known effort estimates or ranges with their assumptions. If interruptions or input delays are unknown, say so. Do not invent precise hours to make the table look complete.

Separate the demands within a task. “Reconcile the records” may involve completing checks, waiting for an export and responding to additional requests. Those conditions may need different decisions. Mark conflicting instructions explicitly rather than deciding privately which required instruction to ignore.

Write what you can actually influence: perhaps sequence, a permitted work method or when to request clarification. Write separately what requires someone else’s authority, such as a deadline, access permission or staffing decision. HSE treats control as having a say in work and role clarity as understanding compatible requirements. [2] [4] A record should expose missing authority rather than imply that you can fix every condition yourself.

Check whether each resource is usable when needed

HSE’s support standard includes knowing what support is available and how and when to access it, as well as accessing required resources. [3] “My workplace offers support” is therefore only a starting description. Ask what help applies to this task and whether it is usable in its working window.

These categories are original record conventions, not HSE assessment bands. Keep the evidence next to the status: an agreed slot, an accessible document, an unanswered permission request or a dated training invitation. Access can be limited: viewing records may be available while exporting them remains unknown.

Keep promised support and confirmed arrangements distinct. A named person may know the answer without being able to approve the change. Record who can confirm access, who can change the arrangement and what remains unresolved.

A worked task, time, control and support matrix

The following three tasks and arrangements are fictional. They demonstrate how to use the record; they are not reader data, a tested workplace intervention or a recommended staffing level.

In the queue row, the response guide is usable while buddy cover still depends on an agreed slot. The reconciliation row separates confirmed viewing access from unknown export access. The handover row keeps Monday training visible without pretending it supports Friday’s deadline.

No overall “supported” label captures those distinctions. Nor would three helpful things minus three demands mean the work is balanced: an unrelated resource cannot remove a specific bottleneck. Identify the unsolved condition and the person who can answer it.

If a task needs several resources, repeat the resource entry in the downloadable sheet. Keep each resource’s evidence, condition and status separate. This is more precise than marking the entire workplace supportive or unsupportive from one experience.

Turn an unresolved condition into a specific request

Choose a question another person can answer. “I need more support” may describe a real problem, but “Who can confirm export permission before the reconciliation begins?” identifies the resource, time and decision owner.

• Access: “Can the access owner confirm whether my role has the required permission, and arrange the approved route if it does not?”
• Cover: “Which period is buddy cover actually agreed for, and who handles incoming work during that period?”
• Timing: “The training is after the handover. Can we confirm earlier qualified help or revise the handover arrangement?”
• Responsibilities: “These two instructions conflict. Who can confirm the required sequence or resolve the conflict?”

These are fictional wording examples to adapt, not messages being sent for you. Include the task and observed condition without assigning motives, disclosing customer records or adding private health information. If needed, use generic task labels in a shared summary.

Record a proposal as a proposal until the relevant owner confirms it. A colleague’s suggestion is not automatically approval to alter a deadline, remove a required check or use an unapproved workaround. For a capacity calculation and meeting decision log, use the separate workload priorities conversation worksheet. This inventory identifies conditions and usable resources; that worksheet compares hours and priority choices.

Review what changed in practice

Set a review date or event that fits the decision: after the permission response, before the next affected shift or when the handover arrangement is confirmed. The page sets no clinically meaningful interval. Keep the original dated record and add what was actually agreed.

Check whether the resource became usable in the needed window. “Request submitted” can still mean access is unknown. “Cover agreed for Tuesday morning” does not establish cover every morning. Update the particular entry and retain its limits.

Include new work created by an adjustment. A handover to a helper may require explanation, coordination or review. Record who does that work; do not assume help adds capacity without any preparation.

Observe the task outcome in plain terms: the missing export arrived, the protected slot was interrupted, or the conflicting instruction still lacks an owner. Those observations can support the next question. A smoother shift does not prove burnout has resolved, and an unchanged task does not establish a diagnosis.

Keep health concerns separate and download the record

WHO describes burnout in ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition, and confines the concept to the occupational context. [6] This work inventory cannot distinguish burnout from depression, anxiety, sleep problems or other health conditions. It does not measure severity, determine whether you deserve support or select treatment.

HSE’s work-stress overview describes discussing concerns with a manager or other workplace channels and seeking GP or occupational-health help when appropriate. [7] Use suitable local support for persistent health concerns, unsafe conditions or issues involving employment rights. Seek urgent or emergency help when the situation requires it. You do not need to finish a worksheet or reach a numerical threshold first.

HSE guidance is written for the UK. Its UK legal statements are not a worldwide account of employer duties; questions about rights, accommodations or formal procedures need advice appropriate to your location and circumstances.

Download the editable job demands and resources record (TXT). It contains the work window, demand row, repeatable resource entry, evidence, status, actual authority, requested decision and dated review. It uses no score. Keep the file somewhere appropriate for the information you record; do not include passwords, confidential documents or unnecessary personal details.

Six cases for checking a resource entry

Use these original fictional cases to check access assumptions, conditional help, timing, mixed statuses, false score totals and when to seek support.