Prevent employee burnout
Employee burnout is becoming a bigger issue across all industries and roles. In the modern, fast-paced work environment, employees often face high expectations with tight deadlines and long working hours. This constant pressure can lead to exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced productivity—all signs of burnout. Use the strategies below to help prevent employee burnout at your workplace.
A 2025 survey from Robert Half shows just how widespread it is; 47% of professionals in Canada feel burnt out, and 31% feel more burnt out than last year. It’s a problem we can’t ignore. Addressing burnout starts with understanding its effects so we can create real, lasting solutions that work for both employees and businesses.
What is employee burnout?
Burnout is a state of exhaustion, depletion, and negativity caused by prolonged workplace stress, and it can cause severe harm to organizations. While workers have limited control over their work environment, employers hold the power to implement meaningful changes to prevent employee burnout broadly. Without intervention, burnout leads to more errors, reduced productivity, increased absenteeism, poorer service quality, and higher turnover rates.
Burnout is a costly challenge for employers and employees, significantly affecting workers’ personal and professional wellbeing. Since it stems from ongoing workplace stressors, common remedies like vacations or time off often fall short. These measures may temporarily alleviate the symptoms of burnout, but they fail to address its root causes. Even the most rejuvenating break won’t provide lasting relief if the workplace conditions that caused the burnout remain unchanged upon the employee’s return.
To address workplace burnout in a lasting and meaningful way, we must first identify its root causes and then resolve it at those sources.
Understand the true costs of employee burnout
Burnout often manifests subtly. Employees may continue meeting deadlines, but the quality of their work suffers, they take more time off, or they stop taking on additional work because they’re quietly battling exhaustion or disengagement. This subtlety happens partly due to the lingering stigma around mental health or the misconception that burnout is a personal failure rather than a workplace issue. However, burnout is a serious concern with tangible consequences, such as increased sick days, presenteeism, higher turnover rates, and diminished enthusiasm. Burnt-out employees are less likely to take initiative or exceed their core responsibilities. Addressing burnout early is essential for fostering a healthier, more engaged, and productive workplace.
Any efforts to reduce burnout will have ripple effects throughout the organization. To understand why those efforts are worthwhile, start by assessing the harm burnout is causing. Burnout is a major contributor to higher turnover rates and increased absenteeism, which come with significant costs. It can also contribute to worse health and safety outcomes, lead to more accommodation claims, and reduce the quality of service for customers. By calculating the expenses related to these effects, organizations can better understand the financial damage burnout does to their workforce.
Recognize the signs of burnout
Unchecked workplace stress can lead to employee burnout—something no one is immune to, regardless of their role or resilience. Every job comes with its own challenges, and each employee responds individually and uniquely to stress. Even roles perceived as less demanding can result in burnout if stress isn’t properly addressed. One effective way to gauge your team’s wellbeing is through employee surveys. These tools provide valuable insights into workload perceptions and stress levels, letting you take meaningful steps to support your employees and foster a healthier work environment.
What do your employees actually do?
Managing stress is important for employees, but it shouldn’t be their responsibility alone. Just like physical hazards in the workplace, employers need to identify and address mental health risks like burnout. Leadership training is a great way to give managers the tools to understand and support employees dealing with mental health challenges.
It’s also important to remember that an employee’s role can evolve over time. For those who’ve been in the same position for a while, extra responsibilities may have piled up, making their workload much heavier than originally intended. Regularly reviewing roles and responsibilities can help create a healthier, more balanced workload for teams and individuals.
Prevent burnout by example, starting with leadership
Leadership is essential for shaping an organization’s culture. Leaders set the tone through their actions, which employees often mirror. Prioritizing mental health and setting a positive example is essential for fostering a healthy and productive workplace. This includes demonstrating the importance of taking breaks and maintaining work–life balance.
It’s an adage that employees leave managers, not companies, highlighting the significant effect that managers have on their teams. Effective managers work as buffers against burnout by providing support and fostering resilience. Conversely, poor management exacerbates stress and burnout, leading to disengagement and higher turnover rates. By understanding the profound influence leadership has, organizations can take meaningful steps to empower managers to create environments where employees feel supported, engaged, and motivated to succeed.
Examine external factors
Employee burnout poses a serious challenge across many industries, especially in public-facing roles that demand constant emotional labour. While it may not always be possible to completely eliminate the root causes of burnout, organizations can take strategic, proactive measures to minimize its effects.
By taking intentional steps to prevent burnout, organizations demonstrate a genuine commitment to employee wellbeing and operational success. Through thoughtful, evidence-based strategies, businesses can cultivate a healthier, more engaged workforce, strengthening productivity, enhancing workplace culture, and establishing themselves as employers of choice and leaders in their industry.
Addressing only the symptoms of burnout won’t make a difference over the long term. And without thoughtful intervention at the root cause, burnout will recur. Efforts to reduce burnout in the workplace must be holistic and may require significant changes to how work is organized and performed if they are to succeed, but the cost of inaction is much greater. Burnout is becoming the defining occupational health crisis of our time, making it more crucial than ever for organizations to adopt proactive measures to address it.
Get support for your employees’ total wellbeing with a team of HR experts at your side
Preventing employee burnout requires effort, expertise, and the right toolkit. At Citation Canada, we provide HR professionals and business leaders with the resources to make their workplaces healthier, happier, and more productive.
Our services and support include:
- HR software that streamlines workflows and reduces time spent on administration tasks.
- User-friendly HRIS and employee management tools designed to support staff with actionable feedback, immersive training, and user-friendly resources.
- Employer-led webinars that provide practical advice on the latest trends in health and safety and HR.
When you partner with us, you gain access to trusted solutions tailored for Canadian organizations, helping you build proactive strategies that make burnout a thing of the past.