Why Sustainable Performance Requires Room to Recover

Rest is part of sustainable performance

When rest is treated as a reward for productivity rather than a basic human need, people can slowly lose the opportunity to recover from the physical, mental, emotional, and relational demands of their work. That matters for individuals. It also matters for organizations.

For people who care deeply about their work, it can be remarkably easy to keep pushing forward, and rest becomes something we promise ourselves once the urgent work is finished. The problem is that the work is rarely finished. There will always be more to do; another email, another meeting, another person who needs an answer. Another deadline, report, client need, staffing challenge, or organizational priority will always call for your attention.

The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by exhaustion, increased mental distance or cynicism toward work (think: quiet quitting), and reduced professional efficacy and performance. That is why effective, long-term burnout prevention can’t rely solely on individual self-care.

Employees certainly have a role in protecting their health, strengthening resilience, and establishing healthy boundaries. But leaders and organizations also model accepted boundaries and shape whether recovery is genuinely possible. This is a critical realization, because rest is part of sustainable performance.

Effective rest requires thoughtful consideration

When we hear the word rest, many people think of sleep or numbing out with social media, podcasts, or Netflix. But effective rest is much more than simply not working. 

While sleep matters enormously, recovery is broader than going to bed earlier or sleeping in late. A person can sleep eight hours and still feel mentally overloaded or emotionally drained. They can take a weekend off, spend the entire time thinking about work, or spend an evening on the couch binge-watching and still feel depleted. 

The right kind of rest is critical to well-being

People need the right kind of rest to restore what is needed. No amount of physical rest will provide the mental, emotional or sensory rest needed to remain healthy, balanced and productive.

In emotionally demanding professions, the need for recovery may be even greater. Compassion fatigue can arise when the ongoing emotional demands of caring for, helping, supporting, or witnessing others’ suffering begin to diminish a person’s capacity.

This can affect nonprofit and social service teams, emergency responders and healthcare workers, Human Resources professionals and educators whose work asks them to give a great deal of themselves. Recovery needs to reflect the whole person, and often, several types of rest are needed at the same time. In this blog, we’ll unpack six types of rest, with simple ideas for fulfilling each one.

Physical rest: supporting the body’s restoration

Physical rest is perhaps the easiest to recognize. Our bodies need adequate sleep, nourishment, movement, and time to recover from exertion, yet we’ve become proficient at ignoring the physical signals that remind us it’s time to rest.

Another cup of coffee can seem easier than stopping to eat a nourishing meal. Finishing one more task can seem more important than leaving work on time. And exercise is often the first thing removed from an overcrowded schedule. These decisions may occasionally be necessary; the concern arises when pushing through becomes the norm. Physical rest is not simply stopping; it is restoring.

Physical rest can include:

• Getting sufficient sleep.

• Taking regular breaks during the workday.

• Walking, exercising, or practicing mind-body movement such as yoga.

• Eating nutritious food to fuel both body and brain.

• Creating periods of physical stillness.

• Allowing adequate recovery after intense periods of work.

The U.S. Surgeon General's Framework for Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being identifies adequate rest as an important workplace consideration. The framework notes that insufficient rest and long working hours can affect workers' physical, emotional, and mental health, and encourages leaders to consider direct reports’ working hours, overtime requirements, and opportunities for offline rest. It also encourages leaders to model and respect clear boundaries for work-life balance.

Mental rest: giving the mind space to think

Many employees finish the workday but never fully leave it behind mentally. Their laptop closes, but their minds keep working on unfinished projects and ruminating on the day's stress.

Rumination happens when you replay conversations, unsolved problems keep resurfacing, tomorrow’s agenda keeps coming up, and the unending to-do list plays on a recurring loop. On top of that, family responsibilities await at home, and news, notifications, and social media compete for your attention.

Mental rest creates space between these demands. It may include:

• Journalling.

• Quiet time without screens.

• Spending time outdoors in nature.

• Limiting social media and digital noise.

• Creating an end-of-workday ritual.

• Not checking email during personal time.

• Mindfulness or prayer.

• Leaving some moments intentionally unfilled.

Healthy boundaries are especially important here. An employee cannot fully disengage from work if they believe they are expected to monitor messages outside work hours. A manager may tell employees to rest, but if they regularly send late-night requests and expect immediate replies, they send a different message about the organizational culture. These unwritten rules send mixed signals and undermine psychological safety.

The behaviour employees observe often carries more weight than wellness messages written in a policy.

Leaders can help by making expectations explicit. For example, what actually requires an after-hours response, what can wait, and when employees are genuinely free to disconnect. 

Emotional rest: creating room to exhale

Emotional exhaustion is distinct from physical tiredness. People can become emotionally depleted by conflict, crisis, difficult client interactions, organizational change, or simply by being the person everyone else turns to for support.

Leaders can find themselves carrying emotional demands from nearly every direction: executive leadership, government directives, employees, colleagues, children, aging parents, partners, friends, and communities.

People experiencing compassion fatigue can carry an additional layer of emotional burden. They may spend their days witnessing distress while remaining calm, capable, empathetic, and professional as they care for others. The toll of vicarious trauma and moral injury is cumulative and requires effective emotional rest.

Emotional rest often requires more than physical time off. It may involve:

• Talking with someone who feels psychologically safe, whether a manager, coach or counsellor.

• Taking breaks in a dedicated recharge room or taking a walk outdoors.

• Laughing and experiencing joy or awe in calming environments.

• Avoiding distressing news or graphic media.

• Spending time in nature and with supportive friends and loved ones.

• Establishing firmer boundaries around emotional labour.

Emotional rest gives employees permission to stop carrying more than they can handle, even temporarily. For leaders, this raises an important question:

Who supports the people who spend their days supporting everyone else?

Sensory rest: lowering the volume

Modern work can create extraordinary amounts of stimulation. Screens, notifications, meetings, messages, video calls, background noise, and multiple open browser tabs. Unchecked, phones travel with us from the workplace to the dinner table and eventually to the bedroom. Unfortunately, trying to rest by listening to loud music or another podcast, or by scrolling social media, can actually deplete us even more.

Sensory rest lowers the volume on our senses. That can involve:

• Turning off unnecessary notifications.

• Putting your phone in another room when at home.

• Taking a screen-free break at work and beyond work.

• Going outside between meetings.

• Walking in nature.

• Driving or commuting without filling the silence.

• Refraining from listening to music or podcasts while working or to decompress.

• Closing unnecessary programs while working.

• Focusing on one sensory experience at a time.

A simple transition ritual can also be powerful. At the end of the workday, close the laptop, put the phone somewhere intentional and go for a quick walk. Take time to mindfully notice your surroundings, take several slow breaths and savour the peace and quiet. Small rituals like these signal to the brain and body that this part of the day is over, allowing for a smoother transition to home life.

Creative rest: not everything has to be productive

Creativity is easy to treat as optional when life becomes busy, yet play, imagination, music, movement, art, cooking, hobbies, and daydreaming can offer an important counterbalance to highly structured or emotionally demanding work.

Research shows that time in nature and experiencing awe in the presence of something bigger than you can be especially nurturing. 

Creative rest may include:

• Listening to joyful, uplifting music.

• Drawing, painting, or crafting.

• Dancing in the kitchen while making dinner.

• Cooking something new and sharing it with others.

• Playing games with family, friends or spending time with a pet.

• Gardening, walking or enjoying the natural beauty of a sunset.

• Trying something new without needing to master it.

There is no performance requirement here; creative rest need not become just another goal. Sometimes the most restorative thing we can do is simply enjoy something with no measurable outcome.

Social rest: choosing restorative relationships

People need connection, but not every interaction is restorative. Social rest comes from relationships where we can feel safe, accepted, understood, and able to be our authentic selves.

This may look like:

• Walking with a friend.

• Sharing dinner with a loved one

• Calling someone you trust for a weekly talk.

• Sitting quietly with someone who understands you.

• Playing a sport with friends or neighbours.

• Spending time with a pet.

• Volunteering for a community project you believe in.

Social rest can also mean reducing challenging interactions when our capacity is low. This is another place where healthy boundaries matter. Resilience includes healthy connection, but maintaining healthy boundaries and not being endlessly available to everyone also builds capacity.

Restorative rest can overlap

The encouraging news is that recovery does not require adding new activities to an already full calendar.

Some ways to experience several types of rest at once include:

• Taking a walk with a friend may offer physical, social, mental, and emotional recovery.

• Playing a non-digital board game with family may provide social, sensory and creative rest.

• Spending time outside without a phone may create sensory, emotional and mental rest.

• Having a walking meeting outdoors can provide physical, social, sensory and mental rest.

• Playing a sport may support physical health, social connection, and emotional release.

Rest does not have to be elaborate, but it does need to be intentional.

Reframing rest as a leadership and culture issue

Individual practices matter, but organizations should be cautious about making recovery entirely an employee responsibility. If workloads remain chronically excessive, vicarious trauma support isn’t provided, after-hours responsiveness is rewarded, staffing is inadequate, or taking vacation creates an impossible backlog, encouraging employees to get more rest will have limited impact.

Research from the American Psychological Association reinforces why culture matters. In its 2023 Work in America survey, only 35% of workers reported that their employer fostered a culture that encouraged breaks, and only 40% said their workplace had a culture that respected time off.

The research continues to highlight workplace stress, workload, psychological safety, and mental health support as key aspects of employees' work experience. This shifts the leadership conversation from: “Are our employees resilient enough?” to: “Have we created conditions where people can work effectively and have room to recover?”

Five ways leaders can make recovery part of the culture

Small leadership behaviours, consistently communicated and modelled, can influence organizational culture norms to support employee well-being.

1. Clarify after-hours boundaries

Communicate with employees what truly requires immediate attention and what can wait, and publicly model the same behaviour wherever possible.

For example, if you send messages outside working hours because it suits your schedule, consider using delayed send or explicitly state that no response is expected until the employee's next working day.

Alternatively, use an out-of-office responder to let employees know when you are available and when you are out of the office. Showing that you take time to rest is a strong motivator for employees.

2. Protect breaks rather than merely permitting them

There is a difference between a policy that allows breaks and a culture where employees feel psychologically safe taking them. Managers can normalize stepping away for lunch, taking time to recover after demanding interactions, and creating short pauses between intense meetings.

Wherever possible, eliminate unnecessary meetings and find ways to connect with direct reports that are restful for both parties, such as walking meetings or a dedicated weekly lunch together.

3. Look at workload before prescribing self-care

When someone is showing signs of exhaustion, ask what is contributing to the strain. Are there competing priorities that leaders can resolve? Are responsibilities clear? Are staffing or resources sufficient? Are resources and training easily accessible? Is unnecessary administrative work consuming capacity?

Burnout prevention is stronger when you address the source of stress and provide professional development and soft-skills training alongside individual strategies.

4. Pay particular attention to emotionally demanding work

Teams exposed to grief, vicarious trauma, crisis, conflict, or human suffering may need specific protection from compassion fatigue. This can include stronger manager support, reasonable caseloads, peer support equipping and resources, reflective debriefing, access to appropriate mental health resources, and opportunities to decompress after difficult experiences.

5. Model rest visible at the leadership level

Leaders shape culture through what they repeatedly model, reward, tolerate, and deliver. Unwritten rules expressed through leaders’ actions can confuse employees trying to learn appropriate workplace boundaries. 

Some ways to do this include taking vacation, protecting personal time, discussing how you balance recovery, and respecting others’ time off. Doing so signals that sustainable performance matters more than performative exhaustion. When you care about the person as much as, or more than, the work, you communicate that the person has value and worth.

A simple reflection for leaders and teams

Consider asking yourself or your leadership team:

• What types of rest are people on our team likely missing?

• What workplace norms make it difficult for employees to recover?

• Where are boundaries becoming blurred?

• Which employees carry significant emotional labour?

• Where might compassion fatigue be developing?

• Do our managers model sustainable working practices?

• Does our definition of resilience include recovery?

• What is one small cultural change we could make this month?

These questions move the conversation beyond individual self-care to sustainable organizational culture that supports human capacity. Rest is not what comes after the work. Recovery is part of how sustainable work gets done.

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References

• 2023 Work in America™ Survey. (n.d.). In https://www.apa.org. https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-in-america/2023-workplace-health-well-being

• 2024 Work in America™ Survey Psychological Safety in the changing Workplace. (2024). In American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-in-america/2024/2024-work-in-america-report.pdf

• General, O. O. T. S. (2026, March 26). Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being. HHS.gov. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/workplace-well-being/index.html

• The U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being. (2022). In https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/workplace-mental-health-well-being.pdf. U.S. Surgeon General. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/workplace-mental-health-well-being.pdf

• Dalton-Smith, S. (2019). Sacred rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity. FaithWords.

• Monroy, M., & Keltner, D. (2022). Awe as a pathway to mental and physical health. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(2), 309–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221094856

• Metzl, E. S., & Morrell, M. A. (2008). The role of Creativity in Models of Resilience: theoretical exploration and practical applications. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 3(3), 303–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401380802385228

• World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is rest important for burnout prevention?

Rest is an important part of burnout prevention because it gives the body, mind and emotions opportunities to recover from ongoing stress. Burnout is associated with chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, so recovery cannot be treated as an occasional reward after intense periods of work. Sustainable workplaces create space for employees to rest, disconnect, restore their energy, and maintain healthy boundaries while also addressing workload, leadership expectations, and overall organizational culture.

What types of rest can support employee health and resilience?

Employee health can benefit from several forms of rest, including physical, mental, emotional, social, creative, and sensory rest. Different types of work create different demands, so recovery needs will vary. Physical rest may involve sleep and movement, while mental rest may involve disconnecting from work or reducing screen time. Emotional and social rest can be especially important for employees working in high-pressure or people-focused environments. Resilience is strengthened when people have regular opportunities to recover rather than being expected to endure stress indefinitely.

How do healthy boundaries help prevent burnout?

Healthy boundaries help prevent burnout by creating clearer limits around emotional load, availability, responsibilities, and recovery time. Examples may include reducing unnecessary after-hours communication, clarifying priorities, and giving employees permission to disconnect from work. Leaders play an important role because employees are more likely to maintain healthy boundaries when those boundaries are supported and modelled by managers and organizational culture.

What is the relationship between compassion fatigue and rest?

Compassion fatigue can develop when people are repeatedly exposed to the emotional demands of witnessing human suffering and supporting others. It is particularly relevant in healthcare, social services, education, nonprofit work, emergency response, and other helping professions. Rest alone may not resolve compassion fatigue, but meaningful emotional recovery, healthy boundaries, manager support, manageable workloads, peer connection, and appropriate workplace resources can all contribute to prevention and recovery.

How can leaders create a workplace culture that supports rest and resilience?

Leaders can support rest and resilience by examining the conditions that influence how people work. This may include setting realistic workloads, clarifying after-hours expectations, protecting breaks and vacation time, providing support after emotionally demanding work, and modelling healthy boundaries themselves. Effective burnout prevention requires both individual employee health strategies and organizational practices that enable sustainable performance. A culture that values recovery helps employees remain engaged, healthy, and able to contribute meaningfully long-term.

About the author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout.

Using the Enneagram for Team Development: A Leadership Tool for Healthier Teams

How Personality Profiling Can Support Professional Development

Healthy teams are built through trust, clarity, self-awareness, and the daily leadership choices that shape culture.

Many leaders today are trying to support employees through rising workloads, rapid change, emotional pressure, and limited resources. In this kind of environment, team development is not a “nice to have.” It is part of building a healthy organizational culture where people can work with clarity, trust, purpose, and sustainable energy.

The Enneagram can be a useful tool in this work when it is used responsibly. It can help leaders and teams better understand patterns of motivation, communication, stress, conflict, and collaboration. It can also create language for conversations that are often difficult to name.

However, the Enneagram should never be used to label employees, limit opportunity, excuse harmful behaviour, or make assumptions about a person’s capacity. Used poorly, any personality framework can become a box people are placed into, leaving them feeling misunderstood or reduced to a type. Used well, it becomes a mirror for self-awareness, empathy, and behaviour change. It can help people grow with greater dignity, honesty, and motivation.

For leaders, this distinction matters. The goal is not to type the team. The goal is to better understand how people work, what they need under pressure, and how leadership can create conditions where the team can thrive while supporting the organization’s mission and vision.

What the Enneagram Offers Team Leaders

The Enneagram describes nine personality patterns, each linked to core motivations, fears, strengths, and stress responses. Unlike frameworks that focus solely on observable behaviours, the Enneagram examines the motivations behind the behaviours.

For team leaders, this can be helpful because workplace challenges are rarely only about tasks. They are often connected to unmet needs, unclear expectations, emotional strain, competing values, or patterns that become amplified under pressure.

For example, a team member who appears controlling may be trying to create a sense of safety through establishing boundaries. A team member who avoids conflict may be trying to protect meaningful connections. A person who pushes hard for results may be seeking value through achievement. Another person who questions decisions may be trying to prevent risk or protect the team from harm.

These patterns are not flaws. They are human strategies developed over time because they helped the person succeed, belong, protect themselves, or contribute meaningfully. At the same time, even useful strategies can become limiting when used automatically rather than consciously.

This is where leadership matters. A leader can help people use their strengths with awareness rather than default reactions. When team members understand their own patterns, they can communicate more clearly, and leaders can support employees with more empathy, precision, and care.

The Enneagram supports team development by deepening self-awareness and peer support.

Using the Enneagram as a Development Tool

Before bringing the Enneagram into a workplace, leaders need a responsible frame.

The Enneagram is not a clinical assessment. It should not be used to publicly typecast employees or to explain away behaviour that requires accountability.

A healthier approach is to use it as a reflective development tool by asking questions such as:

What strengths do I naturally bring to the team?
How do I react under stress, and how can my peers support me?
How can I adjust my communication style to support psychological safety?
What do I need in order to do my best work?
How can I better understand what others may need from me?

These questions keep the focus where it belongs: on awareness, choice, relationship, and culture.

For leaders, this is especially important because what they reward, avoid, tolerate, or model becomes part of the team’s operating system and therefore its culture. A leader who values speed may unintentionally create urgency as a cultural norm. A leader who values connection over speed may unintentionally slow down high achievers who are ready to move. A leader who avoids difficult conversations may allow resentment to grow. A leader who overfunctions may teach the team that boundaries are unsafe.

The Enneagram can help leaders notice these patterns earlier in themselves and in their teams. Once those patterns are visible, leaders can make wiser choices about communication, expectations, workload, accountability, and support.

How Leadership Patterns Shape Team Culture

Every leader has a default way of responding to pressure. Some leaders move faster. Some become more controlling. Some withdraw. Some focus on people and forget structure. Others focus on structure and miss the emotional climate.

A principled leader can create clarity and integrity. A supportive leader can foster belonging. A high-achieving leader can create momentum. A thoughtful leader can foster depth and insight. A loyal leader can create preparedness and reliability. An optimistic leader can vision-cast. A decisive leader can provide protection and direction. A peace-oriented leader can instill calm and steadiness.

With self-awareness, strengths can grow in ways that support the team and protect against overuse or overreaction.

Under pressure, a strength can become rigid. Clarity can turn into criticism. Support can become co-dependent. Overachievement can lead to burnout. Preparedness can stall the team or become a source of fear. Decisiveness can become dominance. Calm can become disengagement.

The Enneagram can help leaders and teams identify the shift from a healthy strength to a stressed pattern and correct it before it affects the culture.

The Link Between Team Development, Psychological Safety & Burnout Prevention

Team development is not only about collaboration; it’s also linked to employee health.

Burnout is widely understood as a response to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is not simply a matter of personal resilience or a lack of self-care. Workload, autonomy, fairness, recognition, values alignment, and community all influence whether people remain engaged and well over time.

These conditions are shaped by leadership decisions and organizational culture norms.

For example, if a team has a high-achievement culture with little recovery, employees may begin to burn out. If a team avoids conflict, small issues may fester into chronic sources of stress. If a team lacks clarity, employees may compensate by underachieving or overworking. If a team cares deeply about its clients and consistently oversteps healthy boundaries, it is more likely to burn out or experience compassion fatigue. If a team does not feel psychologically safe, people may hide mistakes, withhold concerns, or disengage.

The Enneagram can help leaders identify how different people respond when these conditions become strained. One person may work harder while hiding exhaustion. Another may become frustrated and direct. Another may withdraw and grow quiet. Someone else may seek reassurance, while another may overextend themselves to maintain harmony. A leader who recognizes these signals is better equipped to respond before the team reaches a crisis point.

Real-World Scenarios for Team Leaders

Scenario 1: The Results-Driven Team

A high-performing team consistently meets deadlines, responds quickly, and delivers strong outcomes. The leader is proud of the team’s reputation and wants to maintain excellence.

Over time, however, employees begin working longer hours, responding to messages after hours and competing with one another. They hesitate to admit capacity concerns, leading to conflict and resentment.

Through an Enneagram lens, the leader may begin to notice a pattern: achievement has become tied to worth. The team is not only pursuing excellence but also trying to avoid failure, disappointment, or appearing less committed at the detriment of team cohesion and longevity.

A practical shift might include asking this question in weekly meetings:

“What needs to be clarified, paused, delegated, or resourced for this work to remain sustainable?”

This question teaches the team that protecting capacity for the long-term is part of performance.

Scenario 2: The Harmony-Oriented Team

Another team appears kind and cooperative. People get along, meetings are polite, and there is little visible conflict.

Yet decisions take too long, and some team members feel unheard. Frustrations are shared privately rather than openly. Innovation slows, and highly engaged employees resign due to a lack of growth or a sense of achievement.

Through Enneagram-informed conversations, the leader may recognize that harmony has become more important than honesty or results. The team is avoiding discomfort to preserve connection, but at the cost of clarity, trust, and performance.

A practical shift might be to add this question to decision-making conversations:

“What concern have we not said out loud that may be limiting our team?”

This gives the team permission to raise concerns without fear of losing connection or camaraderie.

Scenario 3: The Over-Responsible Leader

A leader deeply cares about their team. They support employees, step in quickly, and try to protect people from pressure.

At first, the team feels well cared for. Over time, however, the leader becomes exhausted and resentful. Employees depend on the leader for too many decisions. Boundaries become unclear, and relationships become volatile. The leader’s care has unintentionally created dependency and a lack of clarity.

The Enneagram can help this leader see how helpfulness, responsibility, or loyalty may be driving overfunctioning.

The leadership lever is to move from rescuing to empowering.

A practical shift might be:

“I can support you with this decision. Please bring me two options and your recommendation.”

This builds capacity while maintaining support.

Scenario 4: The Client-Facing Team Overextending Their Boundaries

A client-facing team takes pride in being responsive, caring, and easy to work with. They respond promptly, solve problems creatively, and often go above and beyond for clients.

At first, this creates strong relationships and positive feedback. Over time, however, the team begins to overextend itself. Employees respond to non-urgent messages after hours. They agree to last-minute requests that disrupt planned work. They absorb clients' stress without setting limits, leading team members to feel guilty when they cannot meet every request immediately.

Overextension may appear to be commitment, but under the surface, people are becoming tired, reactive, and resentful.

Through an Enneagram lens, the leader may notice several patterns at play. Some employees may be seeking approval by being constantly helpful. Others may be trying to prove value by offering clients more than the organization can reasonably deliver. Some may avoid saying no because they fear conflict or disappointment.

A practical shift might include creating shared client-response standards that provide a buffer between empathetic employees and desperate client needs.

This helps the team understand that boundaries are not a lack of care. Boundaries protect the quality, consistency, and sustainability of care.

A Responsible Framework for Using the Enneagram With Teams

1. Start with purpose and context.

Communicate the purpose of using the Enneagram for team development to support engagement and address any concerns. Use an Enneagram provider who works diligently to ensure each person's Enneagram type is accurate. When team members identify with their type, they are more likely to feel supported and motivated, whereas mistyping can lead to feeling misunderstood.

2. Focus on patterns, not labels.

The language should never be used as a label. For example, “This pattern may show up under stress” is far more encouraging and authentic than “That is just how you are.” People are more than their type. Healthy team development fosters exploration and keeps people dynamic, capable, and growing.

3. Connect insight to behaviour.

Awareness is only useful when it motivates people to grow and change in ways that support themselves, their team, and their work, all in a psychologically safe manner. Identify one team challenge you'll work on collectively, and ask each person to identify one practical behaviour they want to strengthen, such as clearer communication or healthier boundaries.

4. Connect Accountability To Culture

The Enneagram can help shift personal responsibility and relationships toward a healthier company culture. Personality types, organizational culture, and change management must be engaged responsibly to support workload design, role clarity, staffing pressures, decision-making, and recovery practices.

5. Use skilled facilitation.

Because the Enneagram explores personality types and team dynamics, it can feel vulnerable. A skilled facilitator can help keep the conversation respectful, practical, and safe while guiding the team toward shared outcomes that support both individual team members and the organization's mission.

Leadership Questions to Use This Week

If you are a team leader, you can begin with a few simple reflective questions before introducing a formal Enneagram process. Ask your team:

• What helps and what hinders us from doing our best work together?

• Where are we succeeding, and where are we challenged to work cohesively when pressures are high?

• Where are we relying on individual efforts rather than improving team function?

• What is one communication challenge we can begin strengthening this month?

These questions are simple, but they can reveal important cultural patterns.

The Strategic Takeaway

The Enneagram helps leaders understand the human personality motivations beneath team behaviours. It gives teams language for stress, support, conflict, and collaboration. It supports more thoughtful leadership decisions and, when paired with evidence-based approaches to employee health and organizational culture, can help teams work with greater trust, clarity, and sustainability.

A simple leadership rhythm can help:

• Notice the pattern.

• Name the impact.

• Adjust the behaviour.

• Strengthen the culture.

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References

Edmondson, A. C. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. Wiley.

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout: A multidimensional perspective. In M. P. Leiter & C. Maslach (Eds.), Burnout at work: A psychological perspective (pp. 33–56). Psychology Press.

Riso, D. R., & Hudson, R. (1999). The wisdom of the Enneagram: The complete guide to psychological and spiritual growth for the nine personality types. Bantam.

World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon: International classification of diseases. World Health Organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Enneagram appropriate for workplace team development?

Yes, the Enneagram can be helpful for workplace team development when used responsibly. It should be used as a reflective tool for self-awareness, communication, and growth and can be highly effective for team collaboration and conflict resolution. It should not be used to label employees, limit opportunity, or excuse harmful behaviour.

How can the Enneagram help leaders build healthier teams?

The Enneagram helps leaders better understand the motivations, stress patterns, and communication needs beneath team behaviour. This can help leaders respond with more clarity, empathy, and accountability. It can also support healthier conversations about workload, conflict, boundaries, and team culture.

Can the Enneagram support psychological safety?

Yes, when conducted by a skilled facilitator, the Enneagram can give teams a shared language for discussing stress, support, communication and working through conflict. This can make it easier for people to speak honestly and understand one another. However, it can harm psychological safety if people feel judged, mistyped, or boxed in. This is one reason it is so important that employees feel confident in their type.

How can we ensure that each person’s Enneagram type is accurate?

Typing errors are a valid concern when using the Enneagram for personal or professional development. The best way to reduce this risk is to work with a skilled Enneagram provider who uses a thoughtful typing process rather than a quick assessment.

An effective process may include a dual-assessment process, guided reflection, discussion, education on all nine types, and space for each person to recognize their own motivations and patterns. When team members feel accurately understood, they are more likely to feel supported, engaged, and open to growth. When someone is mistyped, they may feel misunderstood, boxed in, or disconnected from the process.

At Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development, we work closely with teams to help each person accurately explore and confirm their Enneagram type with dignity and respect.

What are the risks of using the Enneagram at work?

A risk is using the Enneagram as a label rather than a developmental tool. For example, saying “That’s just how you are” can make people feel limited or misunderstood. A better approach is to say, “This pattern may show up under stress.” This keeps the focus on growth and choice.

To mitigate a mistyping risk, use an Enneagram facilitator who works diligently to ensure each person's Enneagram type is accurate through an engaging process rather than a simple test.

How does the Enneagram relate to burnout prevention?

The Enneagram can help leaders and teams notice how different people respond to chronic stress, crisis situations and pressure. Some may overwork, some may withdraw, some may become anxious, and others may overextend themselves to keep harmony. These patterns can help leaders spot early warning signs and address workplace conditions before burnout grows.

Can the Enneagram help nonprofits and client-facing teams set better boundaries?

Yes. Client-facing teams often care deeply and want to be helpful, but without clear boundaries, they can become overextended. The Enneagram can help leaders and teams understand why some employees struggle to say no, overdeliver, or absorb client stress. From there, leaders can create healthier policies, procedures and response standards that protect both clients and employees.

What is the best way to introduce the Enneagram to a team?

Start with your purpose and context. Explain that the Enneagram is being used to support communication, trust, and team development, not to judge anyone. It is also wise to engage a skilled facilitator who can guide the conversation in a respectful, psychologically safe manner.

What is the main benefit of using the Enneagram with teams?

Effective team collaboration is crucial for achieving organizational goals. Developing a deep understanding of team members' personalities, motivations, and communication styles is essential for fostering positive and productive working relationships.

The Enneagram helps teams notice patterns, name their impact, adjust behaviour, and strengthen culture. When used well, it can support greater trust, clearer communication, healthier boundaries, and more sustainable performance.

About the author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout.

The Burnout Risk Hiding in Your Highest Performers

Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. CEO Bonita Eby of Kitchener, Ontario, was interviewed for The Globe And Mail. This article is based on that interview.

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Burnout Doesn’t Always Begin With Disengagement

In many organizations, burnout often begins with the employee everyone trusts and admires. This is the person who supports colleagues, solves problems, protects the mission, and consistently delivers under pressure.

These employees are often described as resilient, committed and dependable. They may also be the people most at risk of burnout or compassion fatigue.

In a recent The Globe and Mail article on preventing top performers from burning out, I shared that high performers often carry unique burnout risk because they are the ones who “put in extra hours, push a little harder, don’t give up” and are often given more work as a result.

That pattern matters for executive leaders. What begins with short-term dedication can lead to exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced effectiveness over time, resulting in leaves of absence and employee turnover.

Burnout prevention and mitigation are not merely employee wellness issues. They are issues of leadership, workload design, and organizational culture.

Burnout Is More Than Feeling Tired

The World Health Organization defines burnout as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance or cynicism related to work, and reduced professional efficacy.

This definition is important because it moves burnout out of the realm of personal weakness or failure. Burnout is not a character flaw, nor is it a lack of gratitude, motivation, or toughness. It is a predictable human response when demands are consistently high while recovery, resources, autonomy, or support remain insufficient.

For leaders, this distinction is essential. If burnout is misunderstood as only an individual resilience problem, organizations may respond with surface-level solutions or time off. They may encourage employees to practise self-care while leaving the underlying organizational culture unchanged.

Self-care and personal resilience matter, but they cannot compensate indefinitely for a workplace system that depends on chronic overextension of key high performers.

Why High Performers Are Often At Risk

High performers are often deeply values-driven. They care about quality, want to be useful and often have strong internal standards of responsibility.

Those strengths help organizations thrive. But without thoughtful leadership support, the same strengths can become risk factors.

High performers may be more likely to:

• Take on extra work because they want to help.

• Struggle to say no because they fear doing so may prevent future promotion.

• Absorb workload complexity before asking for support.

• Hide stress because they are accustomed to being seen as capable.

• Receive more delegated work because leaders trust them to deliver effectively and efficiently.

This can inadvertently create a cycle that may lead to burnout. The employee performs well, so additional responsibilities are assigned. They continue to perform, so leaders assume they are fine. Their capacity begins to erode, though the signs are subtle. Eventually, the organization may lose its most valuable employees. The paradox is that the highest performers give it their all, and sometimes it’s too much.

The Signs Of Burnout Leaders May Miss

The symptoms of burnout are not always clear or obvious. A high performer may not walk into a manager’s office to share they are feeling exhausted, feeling negatively toward their team or clients, and unable to keep up. More often than not, leaders notice changes in behaviour.

In The Globe and Mail article, I explained that when someone is exhausted, they may take more sick days, arrive late to work or leave early, snap at others or stop engaging. Cynicism may manifest as negativity toward team members, managers, clients, or the organization. 

The key is noticing change. When dedicated, high-performing employees seem to have lost their passion and dedication, it’s likely not a commitment issue. A useful leadership question is: What might this behaviour be signalling? It’s likely a sign that something has changed, and time for their manager to have a compassionate, psychologically safe conversation to understand the underlying issues.

Burnout prevention requires leaders to look beyond performance shifts and ask what is happening in the employee's environment. Has the workload increased? Has the team been understaffed? Has the person been carrying emotional labour, mentoring others who are not direct reports, solving problems above their responsibility grade or absorbing change fatigue without recognition or recovery?

Why Millennials & Gen Z Are Burning Out

Interestingly, Millennials and Gen Z workers may be burned out not because they are high performers or less capable, but because of personal and societal changes.

Many Gen Z and Millennial employees entered or developed their careers during years of disruption, isolation, uncertainty, economic pressure, digital acceleration and blurred boundaries between work and life. They are navigating high expectations, reduced financial security, and greater organizational instability, all while seeking different types of support than previous generations.

In a research article published in the National Library of Medicine, titled "Millennials in the Workplace: A Communication Perspective on Millennials’ Organizational Relationships and Performance," work is less significant to their personal identities. Instead, work is important in that it supports their desired lifestyle. Therefore, work-life balance is at the forefront of Millennials’ workplace values. Additionally, Millennials expect access and open communication with their managers, even in matters typically reserved for senior employees.

According to the SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, Gen Z workers prioritize work-life balance and a work environment that supports personal well-being equally with professional growth. In contrast, previous generations have valued job security and traditional benefits packages more highly than Gen Z.

Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey found that fewer than six in 10 Gen Zs and Millennials rated their mental well-being as good or very good, while 40% of Gen Zs and 34% of Millennials said they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time.

Gallup has also reported that younger employees experience higher levels of stress and work-related burnout than older generations, with Gen Z and younger Millennials reporting significant stress. 

For executive leaders, the takeaway is not to stereotype generations. It is to contextualize support.

Millennial and Gen Z employees are asking different questions about work:

• Does this organization genuinely care about its people?

• Can I build a meaningful career without compromising my health and work-life balance?

• Do leaders live their stated values authentically?

• Will I have opportunities to work in teams that make the work more enjoyable and reduce personal risk?

• Are there psychologically safe spaces for honest conversation and idea sharing without fear of penalty?

Gen Z and Millennial employees have watched burnout affect parents, colleagues, health care workers, educators, nonprofit teams, leaders, and peers. Many are less willing to normalize chronic overwork as the price of success.

Burnout Is Shaped By Culture

Burnout is a predictable outcome of overwhelming stress in high-demand or high-emotion environments with insufficient resources. Therefore, leadership responses and organizational culture are primary levers for prevention.

While managers influence the day-to-day experience of workers, executive leaders shape the conditions under which managers lead. Culture is not only what is written in a values statement. It’s what employees learn they must do to be safe, valued and successful.

• If leaders praise constant availability, employees learn that boundaries are risky.

• If leaders reward the person who always rescues the team, overextension becomes the norm.

• If leaders treat wellness initiatives as secondary and overload employees without meaningful support, trust erodes.

• If leaders fail to train managers in psychologically safe conversations, burnout remains hidden until it becomes a retention, performance or health issue.

Practical Leadership Principles To Prevent Burnout

Burnout prevention does not require leaders to remove all pressure and expectations. Many organizations serve complex missions with real constraints. The goal is to create a healthier workplace culture where people engage in meaningful work without sacrificing their health, values or connection.

1. Audit where extra work is delegated.

Look at who consistently receives urgent, complex or emotionally demanding work. High performers often become the default solution. That may seem efficient, but it can create hidden risk.

Ask: Are we distributing work based on role and capacity, or on who has demonstrated the ability to handle crisis or complexity without reward?

2. Recognize mistaking silence for sustainability.

High performers may not ask for help until they are already depleted. Build regular check-ins that include workload, energy, barriers and support.

Ask: What aspects of your work do you find more challenging? What would help you right now and in the future?

These questions create space for prevention rather than depending on reactive responses.

3. Train managers to recognize the signs of burnout.

Managers require more than role-specific competence. They need the confidence and language to have psychologically safe conversations with direct reports, enabling authentic connection and support.

This includes noticing behavioural changes, asking thoughtful questions and knowing when to provide workload resources, clarify priorities or connect employees with additional internal or external support.

4. Model sustainable leadership.

Employees watch what leaders do more than what they say. When senior leaders set healthy boundaries, communicate the value of leaving work on time and praise character alongside performance, they create more authentic workplaces where people can thrive.

When leaders chronically overextend themselves and praise overextension, employees often conclude that burnout is the hidden requirement for advancement.

5. Clarify expectations clearly.

Burnout often increases when everything is treated as urgent. Leaders can reduce pressure by identifying what matters most, what can wait and what no longer needs to be done.

Clarity is a wellness strategy. While some people will inevitably slack off, high performers tend to overextend themselves if clear expectations are not explicitly stated.

Clarity protects energy, reduces confusion and helps employees focus their effort where it matters most.

6. Build psychological safety into performance conversations.

Employees need to be able to say, “This work is not sustainable,” before they reach a crisis point. Unpacking the underlying reasons why workload is a challenge is a sustainable approach to preventing burnout.

Psychological safety creates conditions in which employees can speak honestly about risks, mistakes, capacity, and needs without fear of punishment or dismissal. Psychological safety increases supportive accountability.

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References

Deloitte. (2025). 2025 Gen Z and millennial survey. Deloitte Insights. https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/talent/2025-gen-z-millennial-survey.html

Gallup. (2022). Generation disconnected: Data on Gen Z in the workplace. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/404693/generation-disconnected-data-gen-workplace.aspx

Lindzon, J. (2026). How managers can help prevent top performers from burning out. The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/careers/talent/article-how-managers-can-help-prevent-top-performers-from-burning-out/

World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/standards/classifications/frequently-asked-questions/burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon

Myers, K. K., & Sadaghiani, K. (2010). Millennials in the Workplace: A communication perspective on millennials’ organizational relationships and performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 25(2), 225–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9172-7

Zahra, Y., Handoyo, S., & Fajrianthi, F. (2025, March 14). A comprehensive overview of Generation Z in the workplace: Insights from a scoping review. Zahra | SA Journal of Industrial Psychology. https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/2263/4293

FAQ: Burnout, High Performers and Leadership Responsibility

What is burnout?

Burnout is a workplace-related condition that results from chronic stress that has not been successfully managed. It is often marked by three key signs: exhaustion, cynicism or mental distance from work, and reduced effectiveness. Burnout is not a personal failure. It is usually a sign that workplace demands, support, recovery, resources or expectations are out of balance.

Why are high performers at risk of burnout?

High performers are often at risk because they tend to take on more responsibility, work longer hours, push through pressure and hesitate to ask for help. High performers are often trusted with the hardest work because they are reliable. They may take on extra tasks, hide stress, or avoid saying no because they want to help or grow in their careers. Over time, this can lead to overload.

How can leaders recognize burnout in high performers?

Leaders may notice changes in attendance, engagement, communication, mood or performance. A high performer who is burning out may take more sick days, arrive late, leave early, become less patient, withdraw from the team or show more negativity toward colleagues, clients or the organization. These changes should not be treated as character flaws. They are often signs that the employee’s capacity is being stretched too far.

Why are Gen Z and Millennials experiencing burnout?

Gen Z and Millennial employees are navigating work amid economic pressure, digital overload, isolation, blurred work-life boundaries, rapid change, and high uncertainty. Many are also more willing to name mental health and sustainability concerns than previous generations were. Burnout often reflects the combined pressure of heavy workloads, limited career security, financial stress, and constant digital connectivity. They often place a high value on work-life balance, mental well-being, open communication, and meaningful work.

Is burnout just an employee wellness issue?

No. Burnout is also a leadership and culture issue. Workload, staffing, support, autonomy, recovery time, and psychological safety all shape whether employees can do good work sustainably.

What role does organizational culture play in burnout?

Organizational culture shapes what employees believe is expected, rewarded and safe. Leaders influence culture through their decisions, communication, modelling and expectations. Sustainable performance requires a culture in which healthy boundaries, realistic workloads, and psychological safety are part of how work gets done.

How can executive leaders prevent burnout?

Executive leaders can help prevent burnout by looking beyond individual resilience and examining the systems that create chronic stress. This includes reviewing workload distribution, staffing levels, manager training in safe conversations with direct reports, communication norms, modelling healthy boundaries, performance expectations, and clarifying prioritization and psychological safety. Leaders should ask where work consistently exceeds capacity and whether high performers are being used as the default solution for systemic gaps.

What questions should managers ask to prevent burnout?

Managers can ask practical, supportive questions such as: “What aspects of your work feel most challenging right now?” “What support or training would help you?” “What would have made this project more manageable?” “What have you learned from this work?” and “What self-care or recovery practices are you using inside and outside of work?” These questions create space for early support before burnout becomes a crisis.

Is burnout the employee’s responsibility or the organization’s responsibility?

Burnout prevention is a shared responsibility, but organizations have significant influence because they design the conditions in which people work. Employees can practice healthy boundaries and self-care, but those efforts are limited when workloads, a lack of autonomy, expectations or conflicting values remain unsustainable. Leaders are responsible for creating workplace systems that support employee health, sustainable performance and meaningful work.

Why does burnout prevention affect employee performance?

Burnout affects retention, productivity, engagement, absenteeism, morale and organizational trust. When high performers burn out, organizations may lose critical knowledge, leadership potential and team stability. Preventing burnout is not separate from performance. It protects the people who protect the mission.

What should a leader do if they notice burnout signs in a high performer?

Start with curiosity, not blame. Ask what may have changed in their workload, support, energy, or environment. A compassionate conversation can help uncover the real issue before it becomes a health, performance, or retention problem.

About the author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout.

Mental Health Resources Toolkit

Download a PDF copy of the Mental Health Resources Toolkit

Supporting employee well-being with practical strategies & resources.

Prioritizing employee well-being through mental health support is essential. A healthy, happy team is more productive, engaged, and resilient and less likely to suffer from workplace stress, burnout or compassion fatigue. This guide provides mental health resources for

• Organizational leaders, managers, employees and frontline staff;

• Military, RCMP, police and first responders;

• Caregivers and those who may experience vicarious trauma on the job.

Scroll down for the Mental Health Resources Toolkit.

Practical strategies to cultivate a supportive & thriving workplace.

1. Encourage Open Conversations

Cultivate a workplace environment that encourages open conversations about mental health.

• Lead by Example: Share appropriate personal stories to normalize conversations about mental health, occupational stress, burnout, vicarious trauma, moral injury and compassion fatigue.

• Demonstrate Empathy: Listen attentively to understand employees' challenges and offer links to company-provided workflows, benefits, employee assistance programs and workplace wellness resources.

• Ensure Privacy: Protect employees’ confidentiality to foster psychological safety, trust and openness.

2. Promote Work-Life Balance

Enable employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance via workplace and extracurricular resources.

• Flexible Work Arrangements: Provide employee-driven options for remote work or flexible hours where feasible, while maintaining connection for collaboration and innovation.

• Encourage Breaks: Ensure employees take regular breaks during work hours to rejuvenate. Consider providing stress-management exercises, wellness rooms, and outdoor spaces where staff can walk or eat lunch in nature.

• Discourage Overwork: Establish and model boundaries to prevent excessive working hours by implementing disconnecting-from-work policies and best practices.

3. Provide Mental Health Resources

Ensure that employees have access to the resources they need to support their mental health and prevent burnout, compassion fatigue and occupational stress.

• Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs): Offer confidential counselling, benefits packages and support.

• Mental Health Training: Host training workshops to educate and equip workers with strategies for mental health and well-being. Some topics include stress management, burnout prevention, mitigating vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, resilience, self-care and healthy boundaries.

• Mental Health Resources: Refer to the following resource toolkit for a variety of useful links.

4. Recognize and Reward Efforts

Acknowledge and value the excellent and innovative work of both individual employees and teams.

• Verbal Recognition: Consistently offer verbal praise during team meetings for exceptional work. Create environments that celebrate team efforts during group coffee breaks, lunchtime gatherings, or professional development days.

• Written Acknowledgments: Send thank-you notes or emails to individuals that highlight specific achievements. Additionally, provide employees with consistent feedback on their performance and thank them for even a routine job well done.

• Incentive Programs: Establish reward programs to honour exceptional performance. While monetary incentives are always appreciated, small recognitions, such as gift certificates for food and beverages or fitness memberships, go a long way to creating a positive work environment where staff feel valued.

5. Foster Social Connections

Create opportunities for employees to connect and build relationships both inside and outside of work.

• Team-building activities: Organize regular team-building activities to foster employees’ connection and collaboration company-wide, within teams, or departments. Consider utilizing personality profiling resources, such as the Enneagram, for teams to foster cohesion, mitigate conflict, and enhance communication.

• Social events: Host gatherings to give employees opportunities to connect outside of work. This is especially important for community-minded millennials and Gen Z employees.

• Mentorship programs: Establish mentorship programs that connect employees with experienced colleagues, enabling them to develop the skills needed to excel in their roles while fostering meaningful relationships.

6. Educate and Train Leaders

Provide leaders and managers with the essential knowledge and skills to enhance their team’s mental health and well-being.

• Mental Health Awareness Training: Equip leaders to recognize signs of distress, burnout, and compassion fatigue through practical, sector-specific workshops and training.

• Communication Skills Training: Develop leaders' proficiency in effective communication and active listening, enabling them to ask intelligent, empathetic questions that foster a psychologically safe environment.

• Healthy Boundary Training: Implement onboarding training for new leaders and managers to equip them in their relationships with direct reports. Provide workshops that enable senior staff to maintain healthy boundaries, understand why they may inadvertently cross those boundaries when helping others, and know what to do when direct reports act in ways that are detrimental to themselves, their coworkers, clients, or stakeholders.

Implementing these mental health strategies can foster an organizational culture that values, supports, and empowers employees. Prioritizing employee well-being boosts productivity, reduces absenteeism, and fosters engagement, ultimately benefiting both your employees' lives and your organization's success.

“Happy, healthy employees create healthy organizations that thrive.”

-Bonita Eby, CEO, Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc.

Mental Health Resources Toolkit

Download a PDF copy of the Mental Health Resources Toolkit

Mental Health Resources for Burnout, Compassion Fatigue & Workplace Stress

• Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development

  Resources for burnout prevention and mental health services for both organizations and individuals via workshops, training, consulting, coaching and assessments.

• Traumatic Stress Institute of Klingberg Family Centers

  Trauma-informed measurement and implementation resources.

• The Mental Health Continuum Model (MHCM)

  A tool provided by the Government of Canada in collaboration with the United States Marine Corps to monitor and manage mental health.

• Centre of Expertise on Mental Health in the Workplace

  Mental health in the workplace resources for organizations, managers and employees.

• Compassion Fatigue Assessment

  Professional Quality of Life complimentary compassion fatigue assessment.

• Burnout Assessment

  Free burnout assessment, including both professional and personal profiles.

Mental Health Resources for First Responders, Military and Veterans

• Peer support for military and RCMP personnel

  Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS) and Support for Operational Stress Injury (SOSI) programs for the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

• Veterans Affairs Canada

  Services for current or former members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) or RCMP, or a family member.

• PSPNET

  Mental health and well-being resources for first responders.

• PTSD Coach Canada

  A mobile app to learn about and manage symptoms of PTSD.

• RCMP National Reintegration Program

  Resources for officers returning to work after experiencing trauma.

• Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment

  CIPSRT provides public safety wellness for public safety personnel.

• Homewood Health Centre

  Residential Mental health and addictions centre. Programs for first responders, military and veterans.

• Wounded Warriors

  Mental health services for trauma-exposed professionals.

• Gift From Within

  PTSD Insights and Support for Survivors and Caregivers.

• SHIFT Wellness

  Resources and support for those involved in sensitive investigations and their families.

General Mental Health Resources

• Canadian Mental Health Association

  330 community locations across Canada offering mental health supports, including many free options. Find your local CMHA

• ConnexOntario

  Free information on health services for mental health, addictions and problem gambling.

• 211 Ontario

  Information and referrals to community and social services in Ontario in 150 languages.

• BounceBack

  Free self-help programs for those experiencing anxiety and depression.

• Abiliti CBT

  Free internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program for mental health.

• 9-8-8: Suicide Crisis Helpline

  Bilingual support for those with concerns about suicide.

• Strongest Families Institute

  Tools and resources for families and youth.

• Kids Help Phone

  Mental health support for youth.

• The Family Caregiver Toolbox

  Resources for caregivers around specific challenges such as depression and bereavement, with articles, videos and directories.

• eMentalHealth

  Self-screening assessments for many mental health concerns.

Mental Health Resources in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge & Guelph

• Homewood Health Centre

  Residential mental health and addictions centre. Programs for first responders, military and veterans.

• Grand River Hospital Mental Health and Addictions

  Mental health and addictions programs support for children, youth and adults.

• Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council

  Education, training and support to reduce suicide and its impact.

• Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development

  Resources for burnout prevention and mental health services for both organizations and individuals via workshops, training, consulting, coaching and assessments.

Your Trusted Partner in Employee Health

About the author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout.

Improving Employee Experience For Productivity & Retention

Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. CEO Bonita Eby of Kitchener, Ontario, was interviewed for The Globe And Mail. This article is based on that interview. Find the full article here.

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Employee Burnout & Organizational Culture

Dayforce, Inc.’s 15th Annual Pulse of Talent report indicates that burnout and stress continue to impact employee productivity and longevity. The following stats come from the report surveying 9,500 executives, HR leaders, managers, and workers across organizations with at least 100 employees globally:

• Burnout: 78% experienced burnout in the past year, similar to the previous three years, with 69% indicating that they may choose to look for a different job.

• Culture matters: 48% said they have quit a job because of a bad company culture. 75% of workers under age 34 said they would reject a job opportunity because of a poor culture fit.

Burnout can affect individuals physically by impacting their immune system and can even lead to heart disease and stroke. It is more often recognized by the mental health effects such as anxiety, trouble sleeping, reduced resilience and an inability to cope.

But burnout isn’t just an individual problem that can be mitigated through only self-care. While mindfulness, work-life balance and stress management are essential, burnout and compassion fatigue are related to organizational culture. To address the root causes, companies must evaluate their culture and provide documented strategies that support workers. Systemic solutions are needed for systemic challenges, and only leaders and managers can implement them.

How can companies evaluate employee burnout risk?

The symptoms of burnout listed below are important signs to watch for.

• Exhaustion: Employees may complain of being physically, mentally, or emotionally exhausted, which may be evident by the number of sick days and mental health days they take. When exhausted, employees may become more irritable and less able to handle conflict. Often, burnt-out people experience brain fog and cannot accomplish tasks requiring executive functioning and problem-solving.

• Reduced engagement: Quiet quitting often indicates burnout or compassion fatigue, as employees can no longer give their full selves to their work. This may lead to reduced productivity, collaboration and innovation. Further evidence is lower-quality work and missed deadlines, often leading to deep shame and guilt.

• Attitude: A change in attitude often indicates burnout, as employees’ stress triggers a fight, flight, or freeze response, reducing their ability to manage conflict or engage in relationships at work. Employees may find it more difficult to maintain healthy boundaries and need clarity and support.

• Absenteeism: When an employee starts taking more sick days, it's crucial to pay attention. Without appropriate intervention and support, sick days can lead to leaves of absence and, ultimately, resignations. This situation affects individuals who might feel embarrassed and guilty about letting their team down. When a team loses a member, everyone remaining must manage an increased workload, and burnout can spread throughout the team. In the end, absenteeism lets clients or stakeholders down, as well as the organization itself, resulting in lost revenue and a tarnished reputation.

• Assessment: Managers can implement an evidence-based Burnout Assessment to evaluate employees' risk of burnout. Then, companies can plan personalized, company-wide initiatives based on measurable, objective data.

How to effectively evaluate employee burnout risk across your organization.

How can leaders & managers support employee well-being?

Leaders and managers must receive soft skills training to cultivate an empathetic company culture, which is essential for employee retention and reducing turnover. Managers and their teams build trust through relationships and modelling behaviours. Every employee is an individual who needs personalized support. Implementing policies that promote work-life balance and establish workplace boundaries empowers employees at all levels to thrive.

Equipping employees with job-specific skills training and burnout-prevention strategies, while addressing vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, boosts employee engagement. Offering flexible work environments and regularly surveying employee experiences leads to greater retention.

How to improve employee productivity & retention.

The 14th Annual Pulse of Talent: Canada report surveyed 1,400 Canadian workers and offers some helpful guidance on supporting burnt-out employees:

• Tech innovation: 66% said tech upgrades improved productivity and retention.

• Leader empathy: 87% said empathy from their organization’s leadership would enhance job satisfaction, retention, performance, and productivity.

• Skill training: Providing job-specific and soft skills training throughout their employment increases productivity.

• Flexible work: Flexibility and fairness remain key to employee engagement, particularly by reducing managers' administrative workload.

• Leader training: Targeted training to help managers understand how to lead with emotional intelligence to create a psychologically safe work environment for staff.

• Culture surveys: Regularly surveying employees to understand their experiences and align their values with company goals can lead to better results.

Burnout can be prevented and overcome through individual self-care practices and organizational culture changes that prioritize employee well-being. On a personal level, employees can manage stress by establishing boundaries, practicing mindfulness, taking regular breaks, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. However, sustainable solutions require systemic support from organizations, including promoting realistic workloads, fostering a culture of open communication, and providing resources for mental health and professional development. When companies actively cultivate an environment that values employee well-being, they not only help prevent burnout but also enhance job satisfaction and retention, leading to a healthier and more engaged workforce.

About the author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout. Get your free Burnout Assessment today.

We’re your trusted partner in employee health.

Connect with us about bringing our workshops to your organization.

Manager Burnout

Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc. CEO Bonita Eby of Kitchener, Ontario, was interviewed for Business Insider magazine by Diamond Naga Siu. This article is based on that interview. Find the full article here.

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In today’s workforce, we’re seeing manager burnout come to the forefront. While employee engagement, staff burnout and frontline worker compassion fatigue have made headlines, what happens if your manager is burnt out?

How manager burnout impacts engagement and employee experience.

When managers and supervisors experience burnout, they have less capacity to address the challenges raised by their direct reports. They may not have the energy to engage with empathy or the skill to manage critical dilemmas.

Long-term chronic stress at work affects one’s ability to navigate problem-solving, executive functioning, or higher thinking to the same extent. Under stress, the brain’s amygdala triggers a cascade of reactions, including an outpouring of cortisol and adrenaline from the adrenal glands. The amygdala also inhibits the immediate use of the frontal cortex, where higher-level thinking and problem-solving occur.

Diamond quoted in the Business Insider article, “This leaves their direct reports in a lurch, since managers have such a large impact on someone's role: workflows, productivity, support, growth, and more. Bonita Eby, a burnout prevention consultant, told me that's why it's important to remove the taboo — including for managers — of saying "I need help.”

What can managers do if they're feeling burned out?

1. Recognize the symptoms.

The first step is to recognize if you might be experiencing the signs and symptoms of burnout. The free Burnout Assessment provides essential questions across six organizational culture factors that affect burnout. Managers can use the assessment independently or as part of a company-wide strategy for mitigating employee burnout.

You can learn the evidence-based symptoms of burnout and the signs of compassion fatigue in the linked articles.

Business Insider reporter Diamond Naga Siu spoke with several experts about the signs of manager burnout. While burnout cannot be accurately assessed by others subjectively, the Burnout Assessment provides objective data to monitor burnout risk.

Signs Diamond quoted me as saying:

• Fear: "We often see that when people are going through burnout, they become fearful, because they're experiencing such vast amounts of stress," Eby said. “Fear, stress, and anxiety all go through the same nervous (system) pathway, she said, so a burnt-out manager could be working in survival mode.”

• Creating conflict: “When people are experiencing burn out, Eby told me they can begin to create conflicts. In a manager, this can look like inappropriate language or off-colored jokes, which can put employees in a scary and uncomfortable position.” 

2. Reconnect with your values.

Chronic stress and challenging life events can interfere with valued living when managers focus entirely on problem-solving and regaining a sense of control, losing track of what matters most.

Losing touch with one's values at work is characterized by an excessive emphasis on controlling the negative rather than living out the positive. However, research reveals a strong correlation between living out one's values and resilience to stressful events.

Managers can cultivate resilience by engaging in behaviours aligned with their personal and professional values. Values are one's beliefs, ethics and deeply held convictions. When managers reconnect with the organization's values that mean the most to them, it can serve as a buffer against burnout and provide impetus to regain passion and strength.

What can leaders do to support burnt-out managers?

1. Re-create autonomy.

Managers and employees alike are facing challenges as they transition from remote work to a hybrid model or, in some cases, a fully in-office arrangement.

Managers need the flexibility to work at their optimal level; sometimes that means working from home or a remote location. Organizations that provide workers with autonomy over where and when they work tend to have higher employee engagement and satisfaction. Giving managers more freedom to make choices that support their work-life balance gives them a greater chance to regain and increase their productivity.

2. Reassess support.

Regularly reassess the supports offered to managers and employees. Provide consistent check-ins to monitor how managers cope and have authentic conversations about their needs. 

Promote benefits packages and employee assistance programs every month, emphasizing what is available and encouraging usage. Stressed-out managers may be aware of only some of what is available to them to help them deal with stress and exhaustion. 

Meaningful, open conversations in a psychologically safe environment can help leaders support managers in thriving, not just surviving.

About the author

Bonita Eby is a Burnout Prevention & Organizational Culture Consultant, Executive Coach, and owner of Breakthrough Personal & Professional Development Inc., specializing in burnout prevention and wellness for organizations and individuals. Bonita is on a mission to end burnout. Get your free Burnout Assessment today.

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