Personal development of university teachers as a factor in preventing professional burnout in the perspective of staff management

Purpose: the article focuses on activities implemented as part of the Regional Initiative of Excellence (RID, Regionalna Inicjatywa Doskonałości) project for supporting academic staff development in one of the universities in southern Poland. One of the project goals is to identify the needs of university staff members, especially their self-realization needs in the context of supporting their well-being and satisfaction from work and personal life. Design/methodology/approach: the goal of the article is to present assumptions and implementation of one of the tasks within the RID project, namely, innovative activities to strengthen the human potential by completing specific tasks designed as a response to the staff members’ individual needs. Findings: the main findings derived from the analysis concern the following issues: (1) Recognition of Personal Development Needs; (2) Burnout Prevention through Self-Care; (3) Correlation between Personal and Professional Development; (4) Sustained Organizational Impact; (5) Innovative Practices and Future Plans. Originality/value: both individually targeted activities and system solutions introduced to the university structure, involving support, development and psychological assistance in crises, are presented.