27th October 2025
What HR Leaders are Actually Doing to Prevent Burnout
This guest blog post was written by Laura Cooke, Co-Founder and CEO of Positive Foundry
What HR Leaders Are Doing to Prevent Burnout
And how you can take action without burning yourself out in the process.
Burnout isn’t just an employee problem. It’s a system issue.
Across industries, HR leaders are rethinking what it means to support well-being in ways that are sustainable, visible, and real. The pandemic years left many organizations with depleted teams and exhausted managers. Even now, Gallup reports that only 33% of employees are thriving in their overall well-being, and stress levels remain near record highs.
The takeaway? Well-being can’t be an afterthought—it must be built into the way work actually happens.
Here are five strategies companies are using right now to keep people engaged, energized, and connected. Spoiler: it’s not about yoga mats or Friday pizza parties.
1. Create space for reflection and reconnection
Burnout thrives in busy-ness. The most effective HR leaders are helping teams pause, even briefly, to reset their energy.
Try this: start a meeting with a five-minute check-in, such as “What’s working?” or “What are you proud of this week?” You’ll be surprised how quickly it shifts the room. Reflection helps people feel seen and gives teams a shared sense of momentum. The best part? It costs nothing and builds emotional resilience over time.
2. Empower managers with practical tools
Burnout prevention doesn’t rest solely on HR. According to Gallup, 70% of team engagement is driven by the manager, yet manager engagement itself has fallen to 27%. That means the people most responsible for shaping culture are often running on empty.
