Burnout & Workplace Stress Management Strategies for Employees & Leaders
Last Updated on April 25, 2025 by Prath
Reviewed by April Justice, LICSW
- Published on 25 April 2025
Burnout is more than just feeling exhausted after a long day at work. It’s a state of chronic physical and mental exhaustion, often accompanied by feelings of apathy, cynicism, and detachment from the job.
Today, burnout is no longer a buzzword – it’s an everyday reality for many.
A 2015 survey found that a whopping 77% of respondents experienced burnout at their current job.
Being a systemic issue, the impact of burnout doesn’t stop at the individual level. It can quietly erode team morale, reduce overall employee productivity, increase absenteeism, and ultimately drive high-performing employees out of the workplace.
But the good news is that burnout is preventable and manageable when both leaders and employees come together to take proactive steps.
In this blog, we explore practical steps to spot the signs of burnout and work-related stress early on, understand what causes them, and take meaningful action to prioritise employee mental health in the workplace.
This Article Contains:
Understanding Burnout
The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies burnout as an ‘occupational phenomenon’. It’s a systemic issue, one that stems from prolonged work stress and toxic work environments that haven’t been successfully managed.
Burnout is particularly challenging because it creeps in gradually and often goes unnoticed. You may initially feel a bit off – a little tired, less enthusiastic – but over time, without active intervention, it can start to affect all areas of your life.
Because burnout stems from organisational conditions, it requires systemic awareness and joint effort to address it.
In the sections below, we take a look at common signs of employee burnout and also explore the root causes behind burnout.
Spotting the Red Flags: Signs of Employee Burnout
As we saw in the previous section, burnout rarely makes itself seen quickly. However, the earlier it’s recognised, the easier it is to address.
Here are some common causes of job burnout:
- Chronic fatigue and low energy levels that don’t improve with time or rest
- Emotional detachment or apathy, especially towards work
- Reduced concentration, motivation and productivity
- Increased absenteeism or presenteeism (showing up to work but being unable to function)
- Irritability, mood swings and emotional numbness
- Physical symptoms such as headaches, disrupted sleep and gastrointestinal issues
Exploring the Why: 7 Causes of Job Burnout
Burnout results from persistent stressors in the workplace that slowly wear down an individual’s sense of motivation, job satisfaction, purpose and overall mental and physical well-being.
While the exact causes of job burnout may differ based on various factors, the following are some that show up across industries, job roles and countries:
1) Lack of control
When employees have little say over their tasks, schedules, or workload, it can create a sense of powerlessness.
Without necessary autonomy, employees may start feeling like cogs in a machine, becoming disengaged, dissatisfied and feeling undervalued.
2) Unclear job expectations or shifting priorities
Ambiguity in job roles and responsibilities, lack of process or frequent changes without proper communication may lead to disconnection, frustration, anxiety and eventual burnout.
3) Toxic workplace culture or poor leadership
A work culture that fosters fear, blame, favouritism, or unhealthy competition can quickly become mentally and emotionally draining.
Leadership that lacks empathy and fails to create psychologically safe work environments may push employees towards workplace stress and burnout, making them feel unsupported and expendable.
4) Mismatch in values or company mission
When an employee’s personal values and ethics are at odds with a company’s mission, direction, practices or culture, it creates internal conflict.
Over time, this kind of dissonance can lead to reduced motivation and eventual burnout.
5) Lack of recognition or reward
Feeling undervalued, whether in terms of compensation, recognition or growth opportunities, is a significant contributor to workplace stress and burnout.
6) Poor work-life balance
Long hours, having to work during weekends, blurred boundaries (especially common in remote or hybrid work setups) and ‘always-on’ culture prevent proper balance between professional and work lives.
When work keeps running over and personal time is constantly interrupted, burnout becomes inevitable.
7) Continuous high demands with low support
When workloads run high without adequate resources, processes, staffing or time, employees may be left overwhelmed, anxious and depleted.
6 Strategies for Employees – Managing Workplace Stress & Recovering from Burnout
Managing the numerous physical and mental effects of burnout can be challenging, especially if you don’t have the luxury of taking mental health breaks or quitting your job.
If you’re a working adult wondering how to recover from burnout, remember that you’re not alone and that help is just a click away. With the right organisational support, professional strategies and self-care habits, it’s possible to regain balance, rebuild resilience and create a healthier work environment.
Below are some practical strategies to deal with workplace stress and burnout:
1) Time-Blocking or Prioritisation Tools
When everything is ‘urgent’, the end result is often minimal productivity and maximum overwhelm.
Time-blocking is a useful tool that can help you structure your workday with intention, dedicating specific time slots to different tasks, including breaks, and planning them based on priority.
Other prioritisation tools such as the Eisenhower Matrix and planning apps can help you distinguish between what’s truly important vs what can wait.
2) Setting Clear Work-Life Boundaries
Switching off from work is easier said than done, especially in remote or hybrid work environments. Even those who work in-person roles can often find themselves staying back late to meet deadlines – and when these instances start increasing in frequency, it can lead to blurred work-life boundaries, increased workplace stress and burnout.
Make it a point to set hard stops to your workday to protect your personal time. If this feels impossible to do right off the bat, try this:
Tip
Start by logging off 15-30 minutes earlier each day. So, if you usually work late till 10 PM, log off at 9:30 PM the first few days, 9:00 PM for the next few days and so on, until closing your laptop when working hours end feels doable.
Other strategies to improve work-life balance are:
- Turn off notifications after hours
- Avoid installing work apps like Outlook, Teams or Slack on your mobile phone
- Avoid checking emails after working hours
3) Taking Micro-breaks During the Day
More often than not, regular micro-breaks make a bigger difference than a whole week off work.
Take short pauses to stretch, grab a glass of water, have a cup of coffee, or just step away from your screen. These small but intentional acts can help reset your nervous system, preventing work stress from turning into burnout.
Tip
Set hourly reminders on your mobile or download a dedicated app to make taking breaks easier.
4) Mindfulness and Grounding Techniques
Simple breathing exercises, quick body scans and short meditation sessions throughout the day can help anchor you to the present and reduce mental clutter.
If it feels hard to practise them during the workday, set aside a dedicated time slot after work to unplug and transition out of ‘work mode’.
5) Creating a Healthy Routine
Adequate rest, movement, hydration and nutrition all play a vital role in building resilience against work stress and burnout.
Try to create an easy-to-follow routine with small habits that put your health first, such as:
- Morning stretches, a quick home workout or a short walk
- Post-lunch walks for some fresh air and movement
- Nourishing and balanced meals thrice a day
- At least seven to eight hours of sleep per day
6) Seeking Mental Health Support
If work stress persists and seems to start snowballing into burnout, it may be a good time to speak to a mental health professional.
Therapy offers a safe, confidential and nurturing space to unpack experiences, explore underlying causes and develop personalised coping strategies to support your healing journey.
These days, many employers offer Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), which are employer-sponsored corporate mental health support services. If your workplace offers an EAP, exploring therapy and workplace mental health initiatives proactively can be a great choice.
4 Strategies for Leaders – How Employers Can Reduce Burnout
Sustainable burnout prevention needs to begin at the top. Leaders, decision-makers and managers have the power to create environments where employee mental health is prioritised, and burnout is no longer seen as a badge of honour or an inevitable, normalised part of the job.
The right leadership puts employee mental health first through preventive mechanisms and mental health support initiatives. Additionally, employers should also look out for the warning signs of a stressed-out team and take proactive steps to address them before they escalate into burnout.
In this section, we explore how employers can reduce burnout through actionable strategies and initiatives.
1) Foster a Healthy Work Culture
A healthy work culture is built over time through intentional efforts of the leadership.
When openness, respect and empathy are part of the day-to-day environment and workflows are driven by set processes, clear expectations, doable timelines and proper work-life boundaries, employees are more likely to feel psychologically safe and supported.
If you’re an employer or leader, here are some ways in which you can ensure a healthy work culture:
- Encourage honest conversations around workloads, timelines, work stress and mental health
- Normalise asking for help and vocalising professional boundaries
- Recognise the importance of regular, uninterrupted breaks during the workday
- Define roles and responsibilities clearly
- Promote realistic workloads, expectations and deadlines
- Schedule regular mental health check-ins with employees
- Encourage employees to log out on time
- Conduct team bonding activities and other fun activities regularly
2) Offer Flexible Work Arrangements
When employees have some control over how, when and where they work, stress levels drop and satisfaction and employee morale often rise.
The following are some flexible work options that can help improve employee mental health:
- Remote or hybrid work models
- Compressed work hours
- Flexible start and end times
3) Establish Mental Health Leave Policies
Mental health leaves can be both proactive and reactive. A good leader always encourages employees to take time off before things reach the stage of burnout.
Having clear, compassionate mental health leave policies can make all the difference in your organisation’s employee mental health scenario. This includes outlining:
- How employees can request mental health leave for burnout (try to make the process as easy and accessible as possible)
- How long can they take a break for
- What kind of support is available during their absence
- How their return to work will be managed
Having a robust mental health leave policy shows employees that their mental health is valuable to the company, thus boosting employee morale and loyalty.
4) Provide Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
EAPs are confidential mental health support services that are designed to help employees navigate personal or work-related mental health challenges, including stress, anxiety, self-esteem issues and burnout.
At Talk Your Heart Out (TYHO), we offer the following services as part of our EAP:
- Talk therapy: One-on-one personal talk therapy sessions with an expert Therapist.
- Empathy circles: Small group discussions facilitated by a TYHO Therapist.
- Wellness seminars: Interactive learning sessions on key mental health issues.
- Onsite support: In-person mental health support, including talk therapy and crisis support.
- Workshops: Two-day skill-building sessions that equip employees with practical mental health tools.
Conclusion
Workplace stress and burnout may be on the rise, but so are awareness and empathy.
With the right tools and organisational support, employees and leaders can create a work environment that prioritises mental health and promotes proactive care.
If you’re an employee facing burnout or an employer looking to improve your team’s mental health, explore TYHO’s EAP services today.
Remember that a people-first work culture lays the foundation for improved employee well-being, better productivity and an organisation’s ultimate success.
