Employee burnout is becoming increasingly common in workplaces across the globe, with New Zealand being no exception.
The unprecedented stress of the past few years has taken a toll on mental health. As we’ve adjusted to our new rhythms of working life, we’ve seen mental fatigue, overwhelm, and disengagement become more deeply rooted in the employee experience.
There’s no quick fix, and any long-term remedy for burnout will need to be systemic. But organisations have a responsibility (and an opportunity) to create cultures that support psychological safety, workload balance, and everyday wellbeing.
The good news? When done right, prioritising employee wellbeing can pay dividends in reduced costs and improved performance.
Here’s what great workplaces are doing to help their employees build resilience and find balance, as they work towards addressing employee burnout.
What are the signs of burnout?
Burnout doesn’t usually appear overnight. It builds gradually, often showing up as fatigue, disengagement, or declining performance.
According to recent research out of Massey Business School, 57% of New Zealand employees fall into the high burnout risk category; double the rate from a year prior.
Meanwhile, the 2024–25 Aflac WorkForces Report recorded 38% of employees experiencing high stress or burnout, with Millennials the most impacted at 66%.
Why should this have employers worried? Workers who suffer from burnout are up to 16.5 times more likely to seriously consider leaving their job, and 28.5 times more likely to exhibit poor work behaviours like disengagement or reduced effort.
These trends point to a workforce under strain, often silently. Burnout may manifest as:
• Declining engagement, motivation, or focus
• Increased absenteeism, presenteeism, and even attrition
• Emotional irritability, detachment, or exhaustion
• Withdrawal from colleagues or team activities
By the time these behaviours are visible, your people may already be running on empty. Recognising these signs early gives you an opportunity to act before the drop in performance truly sets in.
5 ways to address employee burnout
Burnout is complex. But with the right culture, tools, and leadership support you can be part of the solution.
Here are five meaningful steps your organisation can take:
1. Make self-care the norm, not the exception
For many employees, taking care of their mental and emotional wellbeing still feels like something they have to do outside of work hours. Or worse, something they don’t feel they’re allowed to prioritise at all.
Organisations can help shift this narrative.
• Encourage small, regular wellbeing habits amongst your employees
• Highlight self-care in team rituals, planning conversations, and employee recognition
• Leverage moments like International Self-Care Day (24 July), or Mental Health Day (10 October) to make wellbeing visible and celebrated
It’s about removing taboo and making rest, reflection, and recovery a shared responsibility.
2. Train managers to recognise and respond
Managers are often the first to notice when someone isn’t doing well. But many still lack the confidence or tools to respond effectively.
Burnout isn’t always easy to spot. It can show up as withdrawal, irritability, or missed deadlines. Managers need support to:
• Know what signs to look for
• Have supportive 1:1 conversations
• Escalate or adjust workloads when needed
Empowering people leaders to act early and empathetically is one of the most powerful levers in preventing burnout before it spirals.
3. Create safe spaces for honest conversations
Psychological safety is the foundation of wellbeing. Employees need to feel safe being honest about how they’re doing, without fear of judgement or consequence.
Whether it’s a trusted relationship with a manager or access to an external EAP service, the key is ensuring people don’t suffer in silence.
Regular check-ins, anonymous pulse surveys, and feedback channels all play a role in surfacing unspoken challenges.
4. Revisit your workload norms
Burnout often stems from unrelenting pace or unclear workload expectations. If high performance is consistently rewarded without boundaries, employees may feel pressure to keep pushing. Even at the cost of their health.
Instead, look at the bigger picture:
• Are workloads realistically scoped and resourced?
• Do teams have permission to say no or reprioritise?
• Are breaks and boundaries being modelled from the top?
International research supports these changes. A four-day workweek trial led by Boston College in 2025 found:
• a 67% reduction in burnout
• a 41% improvement in mental health
• 52% of employees reporting feeling more productive
When done right, work-life balance moves from an employee perk to becoming a measurable business performance strategy.
5. Embed wellbeing into your culture
Addressing burnout isn’t about one-off wellness initiatives. It’s about creating a culture that values wellbeing just as much as performance.
That means:
• Aligning wellbeing with your organisational values
• Involving employees in designing support systems
• Recognising and rewarding healthy work practices
• Tracking progress through engagement and trust metrics
When wellbeing becomes part of how you lead and succeed, everyone benefits.
Final thoughts
Burnout is a real and rising challenge, but it’s not insurmountable. And organisations that proactively support wellbeing are seeing the benefits in retention, engagement, and performance.
Take a moment to ask:
What are we doing to support the wellbeing of our people?
If the answer feels unclear or reactive, it might be time to rethink your approach. Because thriving teams don’t just happen, they’re built through care, clarity, and culture.
Worried about burnout in your workforce? Use Great Place To Work Certification™ to get unmatched data on how employees feel about their work.
