The ‘virus’ of corporate burnout

Tired. Fatigued. Listless. Sick. Still. Zombie. Irritable. Restless. Dumb. Stuck. Jammed. These are some words that I hear from majority of the professionals I meet these days. They say, “the pressure is too much”, “I feel irritable most of the time”, “I try to focus but my mind goes blank”, “I feel my energy levels are nose diving”, “Everything feels like a grind”.These statements are made at all levels. While we are talking about Gen Z complaining about stress, the middle and top management are talking about burnout. It is almost like a virus that is affecting people on an alarming scale. This is not just in Pakistan but across the world.The Development Dimension International Leadership forecast 2025 study highlights some stark realities. Stress among leaders is surging, with 71 percent reporting a significant increase in their stress levels since stepping into their current role. This marks a sharp escalation from 63 percent in 2022.The new entrants are suffering from anxiety. The middle management is struggling to deal with a rebellious lot under them and a pressurizing lot over them. Senior leaders are crashing under the burden of doing more with less.According to the DDI report, leaders are on the verge of a burnout. Of the 71 percent of stressed leaders, 54 percent feel they will burnout. This is a psychological state characterized by emotional exhaustion, disengagement, and reduced professional productivity.To make matters worse, 40 percent have considered abandoning leadership roles entirely as a result, compared to just 20 percent of less-stressed leaders. This may be due to the recent spate of news on sudden heart failures and other illnesses of relatively young C-Suite leaders.Just imagine if senior leaders are feeling detached and unwell, what impact it is going to have on people working with them. Their burnout will burn others out. It is therefore necessary to take it as corporate health shock that needs to be confronted and dealt with. This is one of the prime reasons for productivity losses that companies can ill afford. Just like organizations have checks on the productivity of machines, they need to keep an eye on the emotional health of their employees. Some key steps to be taken are:Step#1— The cultural pulse- In my coaching practice, many people come for professional coaching but end up wanting emotional help. Their company has identified a competence they need to develop. When we start our sessions the coachee inevitably also wants to discuss their challenges. One recurring comment I hear these days is “the stress is too much”. They talk about the atmosphere in the department, the environment in the meetings and the culture in the office. They start shakily. They want to share yet not share. They ultimately do share. It seems that most companies are going through psychological safety issues. Employees are afraid to talk. They feel unsafe and watched. They have seen the consequences of speak up sessions. They would rather keep it to themselves. This keeping to themselves then becomes an emotional strangulation that keeps affecting their performance. Mind you, I am not talking about just local companies; I am talking about multinationals too. This emotional build-up then results in frustration, edginess and conflicts leading to a culture that is called toxic.Solution#1- The organisations need to have cultural assessment done quarterly to track the emotional health of the organization. This survey is not the same as the organization engagement survey. This is a pulse tester. Questions are restricted to psychological safety, stress levels, emotional help etc. This can be digital and anonymous. The results of this survey will help companies assess what is the emotional health of the company. Various scores will indicate whether it is normal stress, tension, or burnout level.Step#2- The People Connect- The organisations need to ensure that the results of these survey are taken seriously. Emotional strains, if left untreated, turn into ulcers that bleed productivity. Line managers need to see their team and understand the department emotional hazards. In-depth interviews need to be moderated to see how line managers react to the findings of the survey. The disconnect between various leadership levels and their people needs to be analyzed to ascertain leadership effectiveness or ineffectiveness.Solution#2- A Leader- People connect matrix needs to be developed on which leaders need to be placed. The connect gap can then be filled in with a combination of targeted coaching and other development initiatives.Step#3- Create emotional health accountability-Sometimes numbers hide the reality. Many a time departments that are toxic can show excellent performance. Due to these results nobody cares about how much pressure was created to get these results. In many such companies and divisions the emotional lava eventually erupts. Key people resign. A major client is botched up. A crucial supplier defaults. These disasters then become the downfall of not just the department but the company itself.Solution#3- The company needs to develop a balanced system of appraisal. Performance gets weightage. So should the culture of the department. Divisional heads need to know that even if they perform well, their people connect and emotional health may disqualify them for the extra rewards.Step#4- Develop system and facilities-Employee well-being is a great slogan. But the slogan has to become a system to make a difference. Companies give health insurance and have counselling facilities in house. This is not enough. With widespread mental issues the practice of just sending employees for some open conversations will not solve the problem.Solution#4- Companies need to now have internal systems of detecting and then linking people who need mental and emotional help. There should be professional psychologists and therapists on the company panel. Employees need to be encouraged to seek help from them. Sending them to stress management courses is fine. However, mental and emotional issues need longer term intervention. Linking these courses with post-course consultation with therapists, etc., would be much more effective.The above steps may seem cumbersome and costly. Just compare them to the cost of letting the stress turn into burnout. Burned-out employees are 63 percent more likely to take a sick day and 13 percent less confident in their performance. They are also 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job, leading to high recruitment and training costs. This can lead to millions of dollars losses to the bottomline. As they say burnout is not just a personal failure, it is an organisational failure.Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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