Understanding Burnout Culture: 10 Ways Leaders Can Reduce Workplace Stress

1. Build employee commitment by encouraging feedback.

It is essential that all employees understand a company’s future vision and direction. An unknown future can make employees feel very unsafe and insecure. It could also lead them to imagine and predict outcomes that may (or may not) happen.

When this happens, these fears dominate employees’ thoughts about work. However, workers can regain commitment and confidence when their leaders encourage them to give feedback about new goals and strategies. They are also more likely to feel their thoughts are valued. And they will be more likely to commit to achieving new goals.

2. Maintain a zero-tolerance policy for ethical violations.

To start, make sure your company has an updated code of ethics. It should be a dynamic document that influences not only what employees do but also how they do it. Because as stress and demands increase, it becomes more likely that employees will take unethical shortcuts to achieve goals.

For example, workplace bullying may get worse under stress. You need to create a safe space for workers to report bullying without fear of retaliation. Leaders should then follow up by addressing unwanted behaviors quickly and directly.

3. Establish consistent two-way dialogue across departments and locations.

An e-newsletter or a town hall dominated by lectures from senior leaders is not a dialogue. Dialogue is a two-way channel where the intended recipient actually receives the messages that are sent.

When employees feel like they can express their ideas and concerns, leaders have unleashed their employees’ creativity and potential to solve problems. And when talking with employees, leaders should listen and ask questions to ensure they understand.

4. Give employees a manageable workload and schedule.

Research has shown that burnout occurs when people consistently work 60 hours or more per week. But some simple policy changes can do wonders. For example, limit the number of meetings on employees’ calendars. Leaders can also discourage emails or text messages during off hours—and lead by example. And before assigning a project, they should estimate the time needed for each task on an employee’s project list. These changes can all help with work overload.

5. Manage employee performance with balanced metrics that consider context.

Generally, effective performance management requires specific, achievable goals that the leader and employee agree on. By setting these goals, leaders encourage employees to excel and instill the value of strong, purpose-driven work.

Employees also want to be recognized for their contributions, and leaders are uniquely positioned to ensure their team’s contributions are valued and consider these achievements as valuable performance metrics.

Context, too, is a significant contributor to performance management. By considering the context around employee performance, leaders gain a more holistic view of not only what their workers are doing but also how they are doing it.

6. Give employees the resources they want to help them succeed.

Most employees know precisely what they need to perform their best. These include technological, financial, and human resources.

One successful resource to consider is peer learning groups, which can be great for creating accountability, retention, and skill application, especially as companies increasingly rely on self-directed or digital learning. Peer learners are also helpful when employees share similar challenges and can work through them together.

To provide employees with myriad resources, you might also consider a blended learning strategy, which involves a mix of in-person learning, like traditional classroom learning, and online experiences.

7. Create an honest, fair, and equitable culture across all levels.

While your strategy might drive what gets done in your organization, your company culture will decide how. Organizational culture is the intentional decision of what behaviors, procedures, and expectations will connect and guide interactions within your company. According to Glassdoor, employees value a positive organizational culture so much that they would prioritize workplace culture over salary.

While all employees are essential to an organization’s culture, leaders are the ones who maintain the status quo. Their words and actions serve as the blueprint for employees to follow and can promote behaviors like collaboration, teamwork, and innovation. In addition, organizational culture is a key component in increasing engagement and retention (or causing it to suffer).

8. Practice active listening to spot employee concerns before they impact team collaboration.

Disgruntled employees often talk to each other. And this can create a subculture of resistance and poor performance.

However, not all employees are willing to talk about their issues with their leaders, even though these issues may occupy a loud place on the office grapevine. By listening actively and compassionately to employee complaints, leaders can identify potential problems before they affect team collaboration.

9. Interact compassionately and vulnerably.

Empathy is not just a soft skill; it’s a critical leadership capability that drives engagement and productivity. Leaders can create a culture where team members feel valued and appreciated by showing genuine care and understanding. Transparency and vulnerability help build a culture of trust and foster deeper commitment, collaboration, and innovation. When leaders lead with empathy, they signal that they see their people as more than just workers—they see them as humans.

10. Build trust and autonomy.

Autocracy and micromanagement are outdated and ineffective. They are also especially damaging and counterproductive in today’s stressful and uncertain work environment. Effective leaders create a community focused on achieving company goals while embracing the unique needs of each team member.