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  • Preventing Burnout: A True Test of Your Leadership

    Preventing Burnout: A True Test of Your Leadership

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    Why protecting your team’s energy is the highest form of leadership

    Your team looks fine at first glance.

    Deadlines are met – barely. Cameras are on in meetings. No one’s complaining.

    But lately, you’ve noticed something: The spark is gone.

    Fewer ideas. Shorter answers. The silence feels heavy somehow.

    You tell yourself, “They’re okay, they’re just busy.”

    But here’s the truth: burnout rarely announces itself.

    It hides behind silence.

    And as a leader, that silence is your early warning signal.

    The Leadership Blind Spot

    According to Gallup, 76% of employees experience burnout on the job at least sometimes, and 21% say they experience it very often or always. If you have a team of ten, that means’ that at least two people are very often or always burned out!

    The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon – not a personal weakness, but a work. It’s a created condition. That means burnout isn’t about personal resilience; it’s about how work is led, managed, and designed.

    And whether you lead a remote, hybrid, or onsite team, you are the front line of prevention.

    The Cost of Ignoring Burnout

    When burnout takes hold, it doesn’t just drain people. It drains performance.

    Engagement plummets. Turnover rises.

    Innovation stalls. And trust erodes in quiet, invisible ways.

    For leaders, it’s not just a business risk. It’s a risk to your own reputation as a leader. It affects your leadership brand and your ability to attract and retain talented people.

    Your ability to manage energy, not just results, is what defines you as a talent steward.

    Preventing burnout is one of the purest expressions of leadership because it’s not about what you achieve, but how your people thrive.

    The Six Alignment Levers

    Research from the Areas of Worklife Model shows that burnout takes root when there’s a mismatch between people and their work in six areas:

    1. Workload – Chronic overextension without recovery time.
      Early sign: Your best people say they’re fine but you notice more mistakes and missed deadlines.  
    2. Control – Lack of autonomy or clarity over priorities.
      Early sign: Teams stop making proactive decisions and start waiting for direction from you.
    3. Recognition – Effort goes unnoticed.
      Early sign: Good performers withdraw from “extra mile” activities like volunteering for new tasks or projects.
    4. Community – Isolation or eroded trust among colleagues.
      Early sign: Silence in meetings, less laughter, more private chats.
    5. Fairness – Uneven workloads or perceived favoritism.
      Early sign: Subtle cynicism or sarcasm, especially from your high performers.
    6. Values – A disconnect between what people care about and what they’re asked to do.
      Early sign: Passion turns into compliance.

    These six levers aren’t abstract. Managing the levers is your daily leadership responsibility.

    How you delegate. How you recognize effort. How you connect.

    Every small action or inaction moves your team toward alignment or away from it.

    Your Fiduciary and Ethical Duty

    As a leader, you are a steward of humans, not just outputs.

    Preventing burnout is both a fiduciary and moral responsibility to the company, and to the people who trust you with their time and energy.

    You don’t have to fix burnout overnight. But you do need to notice it, name it, and act on it before it costs your best people.

    So, this week, take five minutes and ask your team:

    “What’s fueling you and what’s draining you?”

    Then listen. Really listen.

    Then do something about it.

    Because the most powerful burnout prevention strategy isn’t employee self-care.

    It’s your leadership presence and actions.

    If you’re ready to understand where burnout risks live inside your organization, The Burnout Recovery System™ helps leaders measure, prevent, and resolve burnout before it costs their best people.

    Let’s connect to start the conversation. Learn more about The Institute for Burnout Recovery.

    To learn more about how middle manager are at risk, read Middle Managers: The Missing Link in Burnout Recovery or Nine Ways to Spot Early Burnout.

  • Burnout Is Not a Wellness Issue! It’s a Business Risk

    Burnout Is Not a Wellness Issue! It’s a Business Risk

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    When companies talk about solving the burnout problem (statistically, 30% of US team members are burned out), the conversation often drifts to wellness solutions: yoga classes, meditation apps, or resilience training.

    But let’s be clear: Burnout will not be solved by delegating the fix to team members. Placing the responsibility on the individual to resolve it is like asking a fish in a dirty aquarium to clean its tank.

    Burnout is a serious business risk problem. It requires leadership to assess and resolve systemic problems within the organization.

    The Blind Spot at the Top

    Senior leaders review engagement survey scores, may “steady results,” and conclude the workforce is doing fine. They don’t realize that engagement surveys fail to measure systemic issues causing increased turnover, absenteeism, presenteeism, and health care cost.

    If they do think about burnout, they dismiss it assuming it’s a personal weakness and a lack of resilience.

    Here’s the flaw: engagement and burnout are not opposites. A workforce can be highly engaged and simultaneously deeply burned out. In fact, high engagement can accelerate burnout if it’s not paired with sustainable systems.

    The Cost Leaders Don’t See

    Burnout doesn’t only show up in turnover (though that cost is steep enough). It shows up in:

    • Slower execution – deadlines slip, projects stall.
    • Lost innovation – people stop offering new ideas.
    • Eroded culture – trust fractures, collaboration wanes.
    • Weakened strategy – because you don’t execute with agility, your competitive edge weakens.

    And these costs do not appear as a neat line item in the P&L. They accumulate silently, invisibly.

     A Case in Point

    One company I worked with proudly invested in a robust wellness program: gym stipends, meditation rooms, a health app, nutrition classes and even massage.

    But turnover among high performers continued to climb. Innovation pipelines slowed. Team morale declined.

    Why? Because workloads were unsustainable, recognition was scarce, and decision-making bottlenecks kept people stuck. The wellness program was a bandage on a systemic wound.

    The Shift That Matters

    When leaders start treating burnout as a strategic risk, their questions change:

    • Where in our system are expectations misaligned with capacity?
    • Which leadership behaviors are draining, rather than fueling, performance?
    • How do we measure not just engagement, but sustainability of performance?

    This is how you prevent silent erosion. This is how you protect the strategy you’ve invested so much to build.

    Final Thought

    Burnout is not solved by the Benefits Department alone. It’s solved when leaders take it as seriously as any other strategic business risk.

    👉 In upcoming editions of The Burnout Imperative, I’ll share how to identify systemic risk factors, and how to act on them before they cost you your best people and your competitive edge.

    Subscribe to my LinkedIn Newsletter, The Burnout Imperative.

    Learn more about how Company Culture Contributes to Burnout

  • Why High Performers Burn Out First and Quit

    Why High Performers Burn Out First and Quit

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    Your highest performers tell you they are leaving because they’ve been offered more money at another company. But it’s not always true.

    Some leave because they’re exhausted.

    And often, you won’t see it coming.

    In my HR career, I sat in countless Talent Review Meetings. Leaders spent enormous effort identifying high-potential talent – our “Hi-Pos.” We invested heavily in their development, planning for a future ROI.

    But what if they burn out before the return is realized?

    Take “Elena” (not her real name). She was brilliant, articulate, and already seen as a future VP. At the same time, she was a mom, caring for an ill parent, and married to a partner with an equally demanding career. From the outside, she had it all together.

    On the inside, she was running on fumes. Skipped meals. Sleepless nights. Guilt over missed school events. Guilt over leaving work at 5:00. Anxiety that she was “barely enough” at work and home.

    When she finally spoke to me, she was in tears. She was already deep into burnout and seriously considering quitting.

    Her story isn’t rare. It’s a pattern I see often: High-performing women, carrying heavy loads at work and at home, who silently burn out. Then, something breaks.

    Why High Performers Burn Out First

    • They say yes too often. Elena rarely turned down requests, even when she was stretched thin.
    • They self-silence. She didn’t want to appear weak, to others or in her own eyes, so she kept going.
    • They set very high standards. She expected excellence in every domain. No tolerance for “good enough.”
    • They become over-relied on. Her leadership team leaned heavily on her because she always showed up.

    These dynamics don’t just exhaust energy. They erode engagement, focus, and resilience.

    Recent Data on Burnout in High Performers: The Numbers Back It Up

    To show this isn’t just one person’s story, here are some recent findings:

    • A McKinsey/LeanIn survey of ~65,000 U.S. employees found 42% of women report feeling burned out, compared with 35% of men. Constant “always-on” expectations make a difference. (UNLEASH)
    • Deloitte research across 5,000 women in 10 countries showed 53% of women say their stress levels are higher than a year ago, and almost half feel burned out. (Deloitte)
    • According to McKinsey Health Institute, 37% of adult caregivers report high burnout symptoms (emotional, exhaustion, cognitive impairment), compared to lower rates for those caring for children. Caring for ill family members is a serious risk factor. (McKinsey & Company)
    • In a report about “high performers,” 53% of them said they are burnt out; higher than the rate among typical employees. (Modern Health)

    These stats show that burnout isn’t rare; it is widespread. And for high-potential talent, like Elena, the risks are compounded.

    The Leadership Blind Spot – Burnout in High Performers

    Many leaders assume that if someone is delivering, they’re okay. But that assumption is dangerous. High performers, especially those in caregiving roles or with heavy home responsibilities, often:

    • Mask their stress
    • Push through until they don’t have a choice
    • Avoid asking for help to protect their reputation

    This means that by the time the visible signals show up (e.g., a decline in quality, missed deadlines, withdrawal, lost enthusiasm) it’s already very serious.

    What Leaders Can Do About Burnout in High Performers

    Here are practical actions to prevent the burnout of your top people:

    • Redefine what success looks like. Celebrate sustainable performance, not just long hours.
    • Spot subtle signals. Fatigue, irritability, disengagement. If a previously reliable leader becomes quiet, don’t assume it’s just “busyness.”
    • Normalize asking for help. Create real space (not just a policy) for people to speak up when they’re overloaded.
    • Audit workload and responsibility. Distribute critical tasks more evenly; avoid defaulting always to your top people.
    • Support caregivers explicitly. Recognize that caregiving responsibilities (for children or adult parents) are major stressors. Flexibility and benefit plan design matter.

    The Bottom Line

    Elena’s story is painful, but we can learn from it. Burnout doesn’t just cause turnover. It dims innovation, erodes trust, damages reputation, and weakens organizational culture.

    If your high performers are burning out first, then the real risk is not only losing talent, but also momentum, credibility, and the strategy you’re trying to execute.

    I’ve worked with many leaders to identify burnout risk, redesign what’s broken, and protect their people (and culture) from burnout. If you want to be the leader who prevents that from happening, let’s connect.

    Sign-up for my weekly newsletter on LinkedIn.

    Learn more about ways to recognize burnout on your team: Your Team is Burned-Out! Nine Ways to Recognize It

  • Who’s Burning Out the Fastest? 10 Surprising Profiles at Risk

    Who’s Burning Out the Fastest? 10 Surprising Profiles at Risk

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    Burnout hits some, more than others. Certain industries, roles, and even personality types are more in danger of experiencing it.

    Are you, or your employees, on this list?

    Knowing where burnout attacks is the first step you can take to stop losing talent, productivity, and trust.

    Here are the Top 10 Burnout Profiles Every Leader Should Be Watching

    1. Healthcare professionals: From nurses to physicians, the demand never stops, and the stakes are always high.

    2. Teachers and educators: Expectations keep climbing while resources shrink.

    3. Tech and IT professionals: Long hours, constant change, and being “always on” wear people down quickly.

    4. Middle managers: Responsible for delivering results and supporting teams, yet also reporting upward, is often the most difficult job in a company.

    5. Legal professionals: A culture of high stakes, high pressure, and little downtime make this one of the most burnout-prone professions.

    6. Women in leadership: Responsible for achieving results and carrying the weight of the majority of the invisible (home) labor, many feel exhausted and overwhelmed.

    7. Gen Z employees: Ambitious and eager to prove themselves, but often under-supported in how to sustain energy long term.

    8. Introverts in highly social roles: Sales, customer service, HR, and other outward-facing jobs can drain introverts’ energy quickly when recharging time is limited.

    9. High-performing perfectionists: Regardless of industry, those who push hardest for flawless results are at greater risk.

    10. Nonprofit and mission-driven staff: Passion fuels the work, but overextension is common.

    Bottom line? Even if you don’t see yourself or your employees here, burnout is still very likely in your workplace. Depending on the study, 30 to 75 percent of employees report burnout symptoms. That translates into lost productivity, higher turnover, more sick days, and rising healthcare costs.

    Burnout isn’t just personal. It’s systemic. And it’s expensive.

    Leaders, this is your call to stop and think. Some of your people are probably already running on fumes. Without understanding where burnout is happening, you risk underestimating the problem and overestimating the results your team will produce.

    To learn how to recognize burnout on your team, click here.

    Sign up for my newsletter here.

  • Your Team is Burned Out! Nine Ways to Recognize It

    Your Team is Burned Out! Nine Ways to Recognize It

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    As a leader in several world-class global organizations, I quickly learned that managing people well is immensely challenging.

    I remember one technical implementation project where we were under tremendous pressure to deliver results with limited resources. I had to balance performance with the wellbeing of my team.

    At one point, a team member, with dark circles under their eyes, told me: “I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

    It was a wake-up call. I realized that while pushing for results was necessary, recognizing and addressing burnout was just as critical. That moment shaped how I lead to this day.

    Burnout Isn’t a Weakness; It’s a Workplace Risk

    Burnout isn’t your team member’s personal flaw. It’s a workplace risk that:

    • Spreads through teams like wildfire
    • Erodes trust and engagement
    • Harms your department’s results
    • Damages your reputation as a leader

    The Costs of Ignoring Burnout

    • Productivity loss: Exhausted employees make more mistakes, recover slower, and need more oversight.
    • Turnover risk: Burnout is a top predictor of attrition. Replacement costs run 1.5–2x an employee’s salary. And in the meantime, the workload piles up.
    • Engagement decline: Burned-out teams don’t innovate. They do the minimum to survive, and you may never hear their million-dollar idea.
    • Reputation damage: A culture of overwork repels top talent. When word spreads, your best candidate my decline, forcing you to settle for a B or C player.

    Read more about the hidden costs of burnout.

    Nine Early Warning Signs of Burnout

    1. Withdrawal – Once-engaged employees pull back in meetings or socially.
    2. Irritability – Small setbacks spark frustration or cynicism.
    3. Declining performance – Not from lack of skill, but lack of energy and focus.
    4. Disengagement – They show up physically, but their spark is gone.
    5. Absenteeism – They take more sick days or PTO than usual. (Gallup: burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take a sick day.)
    6. Griping – Complaints and negativity about leadership become common.
    7. Physical signs – Tired eyes, low energy, weight gain / loss, and visible exhaustion.
    8. Loss of confidence – Once-bold employees shy away from high-visibility projects.
    9. Negativity – They see roadblocks instead of opportunities.

    What Leaders Can Do

    • Put your own mask on first: You can’t support others if you’re running on empty. Seek support from your manager, mentor, coach, or EAP.
    • Name it out loud: Talking about burnout destigmatizes it and opens space for honesty.
    • Model healthy behavior: Take time off, set boundaries, and don’t send late-night emails unless truly urgent.
    • Clarify workload: Burnout thrives in overload and ambiguity. Revisit priorities, redistribute tasks, and remove unnecessary steps.
    • Invest in recovery: Encourage breaks, PTO, flexible schedules, and use of wellness benefits. (The APA highlights recovery as a driver of wellbeing and performance.)
    • Recognize contributions: Recognition is free but often overlooked. Thank people for what they do and who they are.
    • Address root causes: Burnout isn’t fixed with yoga classes. It’s fixed when leaders address workload, control, fairness, community, recognition, and values alignment.

    Your Move as a Leader in 2025

    Burnout isn’t just a human problem. It’s a leadership imperative with business consequences.

    The sooner you recognize and address it, the stronger, more resilient, and more innovative your team will be.

    I gave you nine ways to spot burnout early.

    In your experience, what’s a tenth sign you’ve noticed – on your team, or even in yourself?

    Let’s build a conversation that helps every leader get better at this.

  • Burnout Doesn’t Send You an Invoice but It’s Already Draining Your Bottom Line

    Burnout Doesn’t Send You an Invoice but It’s Already Draining Your Bottom Line

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    The 5 Hidden Costs of Ignoring Burnout (and Why It’s Hitting Your P&L)

    Most leaders don’t see burnout until it’s too late. It’s only when a key team member resigns, performance drops, engagement surveys decline, or healthcare costs quietly balloon we ask questions.

    But here’s the truth: Burnout isn’t just a human problem; it’s a business problem. And ignoring it is expensive.

    Here are five hidden costs I see HR leaders and executives miss most often. These are costs that show up directly on your P&L.

    1. Lost Productivity and Presenteeism

    An employee may still be at their desk but mentally checked out. This “presenteeism” costs companies 10x more than absenteeism.

    Example: If a $100K employee is functioning at 60%, you’re losing $40K per year on just one person. Multiply that across a team, and the impact is staggering.

    2. Turnover and Replacement Costs

    When burned-out employees leave, the financial hit is steep.

    • Replacing a mid-level employee: 1.5–2x salary
    • Replacing a leader: up to 400% of salary

    Example: If a $150K leader walks out due to burnout, your organization could be absorbing a $600K loss between recruitment, training, lost opportunity and lost knowledge.

    3. Declining Engagement and Innovation

    Burnout crushes creativity. Teams stop asking, “What’s possible?” and instead focus only on survival.

    Example: That’s the million-dollar idea that never gets voiced in the meeting or the process improvement that could have saved your company six figures annually.

    4. Employer Brand Damage

    Glassdoor reviews. LinkedIn posts. Whisper networks. A reputation for burnout spreads quickl

    Example: If your culture is seen as “toxic,” top talent won’t even apply, forcing you into higher recruiting spend or settling for less-than-ideal hires.

    5. Rising Healthcare and Disability Claims

    Burnout shows up in medical bills. Stress-related illnesses drive up premiums and long-term disability costs.

    Example: A 2023 Gallup study estimated that employee burnout costs U.S. companies $322 billion annually in healthcare and turnover costs alone.

    The Solution

    To effectively combat burnout and enhance employee engagement and well-being, leaders can take several proactive steps. Implementing an organizational Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) can help identify the specific areas where burnout is manifesting. Additionally, leveraging AWL Survey (Areas of Work Life) can provide input for scalable solutions. It helps leaders understand where to target efforts; e.g., workload, autonomy, recognition, community, fairness, and/or values.

    The Bottom Line

    When leaders ignore burnout, they’re not avoiding a problem, they’re quietly signing off on an expensive invisible invoice.

    The companies that thrive in the next decade won’t be the ones with the flashiest perks or the longest hours. They’ll be the ones that recognize burnout as the signal it is, and respond with the same urgency and precision they bring to every other business risk.

    Because when you solve burnout, you don’t just protect your people. You protect your business.

  • AI Is Revolutionizing the Workplace, But at What Cost? 

    AI Is Revolutionizing the Workplace, But at What Cost? 

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    How HR Leaders Can Prevent AI-Driven Burnout and Ensure Employee Well-being Using Maslach’s Six Areas of Worklife

    AI is transforming the workplace faster than most organizations can adapt. From automated workflows to AI-driven analytics, employees are being asked to work alongside new coworkers: machines.

    How effectively are we factoring in the human cost of AI? HR leaders are now on the front lines. They are responsible for designing AI adoption in ways that protect engagement, meaning, and psychological safety.

    The Hidden Risk: AI Can Increase Burnout

    Technology should make work easier. But we all know from experience, it can have the opposite effect too:

    • Increased mental strain: Employees are expected to learn how to use new tools, interpret AI outputs, monitor automated processes, or make decisions faster.
    • Loss of control: When AI dictates decisions, tasks, or priorities, employees may feel disempowered. They may fear that AI will replace them.
    • Change fatigue: Continuous adaptation to technology and AI systems can create stress, even for technologically-oriented employees.

    These issues highlight why burnout is not just about workload or hours. It’s about the design of work itself.

    The Solution: Maslach’s Six Areas of Worklife

    Christina Maslach’s research identifies six key areas that determine whether employees thrive or burn out. Using these areas, HR leaders can design AI adoption in a way that safeguards human well-being.

    A Real-World Example

    In one multinational HR department I observed, AI was introduced to support recruitment efficiency. Initially, employees felt disempowered and stressed. There was concern that AI would eliminate their jobs. By applying the Six Areas framework, the director was able to maintain engagement within the team and prevent burnout. How did they do it?

    Applying the Six Areas of Worklife Framework:

    1. Workload: The AI system was used to automate the initial screening of resumes, prioritizing the best-fit candidates. This significantly reduced the time spent on a repetitive task. Leveraging AI allowed staff to focus on more complex and strategic activities like proactive recruitment and relationship-building, interviewing candidates, and developing recruitment strategies.
    2. Control: While the AI provided recommendations on which candidates to shortlist, the final decision-making authority remained with humans. This ensured that they retained control over the recruitment process and could make decisions based on their expertise and judgment. Also critical, the human decisions supported compliance.
    3. Reward: Led by HR, the company updated its recognition and development plans to include AI-related skills. Employees who effectively utilized the AI system and demonstrated proficiency in managing AI-driven processes could be rewarded with recognition, remuneration, and opportunities for further career development.
    4. Community: Prior to the introduction of the new technology, regularly scheduled team meetings and collaborative projects were maintained to ensure that staff continued to build strong interpersonal relationships with one another. Leadership also organized training sessions to help employees understand and adapt to the new AI system, fostering a sense of community and support.
    5. Fairness: The AI system was designed to be transparent, with objective and legally compliant criteria for how resumes were screened and shortlisted. Employees reviewed the AI-generated assessments, using their judgment and discretion. In addition, regular audits were conducted to ensure that the AI’s decisions were fair and unbiased. Employees were trained to understand the AI’s decision-making process and to explain it to candidates when asked.
    6. Values: The introduction of AI was aligned with the company’s objectives to improve recruitment efficiency while maintaining a human-centric approach. The AI system was implemented in a way that supported the company’s values of fairness, transparency, and employee well-being.

    Key Insight: AI adoption doesn’t replace human-centered design. It amplifies the need for it.

    Practical Steps for HR Leaders

    1. Conduct a Burnout Audit: Map current workloads and stress points. Identify where AI tools may help or exacerbate strain.
    2. Communicate Transparently: Employees should understand why AI is being introduced, what will change, and how they’ll be supported.
    3. Redesign Roles Thoughtfully: Marry AI to human judgment. Clarify responsibilities, and make sure employees retain autonomy over decisions that matter.
    4. Train and Upskill: Offer skill-building programs that help employees adapt to AI without feeling overwhelmed.
    5. Measure Engagement and Perceptions of Safety: Track not only results but also psychological safety, workload perception, and satisfaction as AI tools are implemented.

    Why Leaders Must Act Now

    AI adoption is accelerating fast. Executives and HR leaders who ignore the human impact risk disengaged teams, hidden productivity losses, and high turnover. By integrating Maslach’s Six Areas of Worklife into AI implementation strategies, organizations can unlock efficiency without sacrificing well-being.

    Takeaway

    AI will continue to reshape work, but burnout is preventable when leaders focus on human-centered design. Use the Six Areas framework to ensure that technology serves people, not the other way around.

    Call to Action

    For more insights, follow me on LinkedIn. Questions? Contact me.

  • The Power Gap: The Hidden Driver of Middle Manager Burnout

    The Power Gap: The Hidden Driver of Middle Manager Burnout

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    I’ve seen it and I’ve experienced it. There’s a quiet, exhausting truth in corporate life. It rarely makes it into senior leadership conversations. People are held accountable for results without having the authority to create them. It causes burnout.

    Middle managers live here:

    • Responsible for ambitious (impossible?) KPIs.
    • Expected to keep teams engaged and productive.
    • Caught between executive vision and frontline practicalities.

    Yet, their ability to make meaningful decisions is often stripped away.

    I call this the Power Gap.

    It’s not just frustrating; it’s one of the most corrosive, and ironically, most preventable, causes of burnout.

    I spent over two decades in multinational corporations leading global Talent Development functions, training countless middle managers. I saw their commitment… their care for their people… their willingness to go the extra mile.

    And I also saw the toll.

    We invested heavily in management training, but the burnout persisted. Why? Because you can’t train away a structural problem.

    The real causes were clear:

    • Workloads that exceeded human capacity.
    • Teams stretched so thin managers became doers instead of leaders.
    • KPIs set without resources to match.
    • Relentless waves of change with no time to recover.

    These are not gaps in skill. They are gaps in design.

    The solutions require courage at the top:
    • Clarify decision rights so managers know where their “yes” and “no” actually count.
    • Balance staffing and workload to match the expectations being set.
    • Protect focus by pacing change instead of piling it on.

    In my experience, many senior leaders will not implement these decisions. They often see the cost of balancing staffing and workload as a hard cost. They view burnout as a soft cost. But, the long-term impact of burnout has significant financial implications.

    • Burnout leads to higher turnover rates, increased absenteeism, and lower productivity. These are real and measurable costs.
    • Investing in balancing staffing and workload is an investment in the organization’s future. It leads to higher employee retention, reduced absenteeism, and improved performance. The ROI from a healthier, more engaged workforce can far outweigh the initial costs.
    • A culture of burnout erodes trust and morale. By addressing the Power Gap, we foster a positive work environment, attracting top talent and ensuring long-term sustainability. Balancing staffing and workload is essential for creating a resilient organization that can adapt to changes and challenges effectively.

    When middle managers have both accountability and authority, with the resources to back it up, they transform. They stop being bottlenecks. They become bridges, connecting strategy to reality, vision to execution, and people to purpose.

    If we want workplaces where people thrive, we have to close the Power Gap. Not by asking managers to “be more resilient,” but by redesigning the very role they’re asked to carry.

    For more information on burnout and its impact, contact me or follow me on LinkedIn.

  • Middle Managers: The Missing Link in Burnout Recovery

    Middle Managers: The Missing Link in Burnout Recovery

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    Johnny C. Taylor, CEO of SHRM, recently offered practical advice for tackling burnout: spot the warning signs, encourage open dialogue, rebalance workloads, clarify expectations, and connect people with supportive resources like EAPs. These are important. But they’re not enough.

    There’s a blind spot in most corporate conversations around burnout and it carries real business consequences.

    We’re not talking nearly enough about middle managers.

    Middle managers are the connective tissue of every organization. They interpret strategy, drive performance, absorb change, and hold space for their teams, all while trying to meet expectations from above. They’re responsible for culture on the ground. And they’re exhausted.

    This layer of leadership is too often invisible in wellbeing strategies. We focus on frontline engagement or executive leadership development. But we forget the people holding both ends together. That’s a mistake.

    Middle managers are burning out – quietly, constantly, and in plain sight. Nearly half of U.S. middle managers now fear being laid off. Many are pushing themselves beyond what’s sustainable. They show up, stay late, skip recovery time, and carry the emotional weight of others because that’s what they think good leadership requires.

    The cost is staggering. A 2025 study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates burnout costs between $4,000 and $21,000 per employee, per year. For a company of 1,000 that’s a $5 million annual loss. And that doesn’t include the ripple effects: higher turnover, lower morale, slower innovation, and culture decay.

    If we’re serious about employee wellbeing, and profitability,  we need to get serious about supporting the people in the middle.

    Let’s stop asking managers to do more with less. Let’s stop normalizing heroic over-functioning. Let’s build something better – intentionally, and with heart.

    Here’s what that could look like:

    • Wellbeing as a KPI – Track manager wellbeing alongside business outcomes. Make it a metric that matters, not a poster on the wall.
    • Confidential Peer Circles- Create trusted spaces where managers can talk, exhale, and learn from each other without fear of judgment.
    • Genuine Recognition and Real Autonomy – Acknowledge not just results, but emotional labor. Give managers more say in how work gets done.
    • Training That Feels Human – Move beyond compliance. Offer workshops that equip managers with real skills: empathy, boundaries, psychological safety.
    • Reverse Mentoring – Invite two-way conversations between managers and executives. Give middle leaders a voice, and help the C-suite listen.
    • Workload Audits – Regularly review what’s on managers’ plates. Make space by removing the non-essential.
    • Protected Recovery Time – Normalize rest. Not as a perk, but as a performance strategy. Model this from the top.
    • Leadership with Heart – When senior leaders speak openly about their own challenges with burnout, they create permission for others to be honest too.

    Here’s the truth: middle managers are holding up the scaffolding of your culture. If they collapse, everything falls.

    So, here’s my invitation: What’s one bold move your organization can make today to support its “missing middle”?

    Because if we want resilient teams and thriving workplaces, we must start by caring for the people in the middle – thoughtfully, tangibly, and without delay.

  • THIS Is What Burnout Sounds Like

    THIS Is What Burnout Sounds Like

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    Christy Suerth, MS, SPHR, CPC, CHC

    No doubt you’ve had some bad days. Days when you’ve felt drained, overwhelmed, less than great. But burnout isn’t just a bad day or a tough week, or even a difficult month. It’s a deeper, more persistent erosion of physical and mental energy. It erodes your sense of purpose. It affects your connection to your work and to the important people in your life. For career-driven professionals, it often hides in plain sight. High-performance cultures create this. Workplaces that thrive on relentless execution mask it.

    So, what is burnout?

    Psychologist Christina Maslach has done groundbreaking work on burnout. She describes it as a psychological syndrome. It arises from ongoing, unmanaged workplace stress. She highlights three main aspects of burnout in her research. This is what they sound like…. Maybe you recognize yourself in them.

    ➡️ Physical and Emotional Exhaustion: “I’m running on empty. Every morning feels like a heavy weight is crushing me. I drag myself to work, already exhausted before my first meeting. Simple tasks sometimes feel like climbing mountains. My body aches, my mind is foggy, and I just want to go home and sleep. But even sleep doesn’t refresh me anymore.”

    ➡️ Depersonalization: “I used to care about my work and the people I helped. Now everyone feels like a task, a problem to solve, or a meeting to endure. Colleagues are annoyances, clients are burdens, and my passion is gone. I feel like I am just going through the motions, pretending to be invested. My heart just isn’t in this anymore.”

    ➡️ Feelings of Reduced Personal Accomplishment: “I used to be confident in my abilities, proud of my accomplishments. Now every task feels like a struggle, every decision questionable. I doubt my judgment. I wonder if I overthink. I second-guess myself constantly. I wonder if I’m even cut out for this role anymore.”

    According to a Q4 2024 report from Robert Half, 36% of professionals feel burned out at work, with 33% saying they are more burned out now than a year ago.

    If this topic is of interest, stay tuned. I’ll be posting more information soon!

    If you want to talk, I’m here.

    If you want to learn more about what burnout feels like, and what to do about it, fill out the Contact Us form and request my free eBook, Your Personal Guide to Burnout Recovery.

    [email protected]

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