{"id":7033291,"date":"2026-08-08T07:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/burnout-isnt-a-workforce-crisis-its-a-leadership-one-graeme-cowan\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:20:22","slug":"burnout-isnt-a-workforce-crisis-its-a-leadership-one-graeme-cowan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7033291","title":{"rendered":"Burnout isn’t a workforce crisis. It’s a leadership one. | Graeme Cowan"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The New South Wales Government recently revealed that the average distress claim now costs $288,000, doubled in just six years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article first appeared in HRD<\/a> on 23 April 2026<\/p>\n

Alarmingly, these workers compensation claims, are only a fraction of total absenteeism costs. But also consider presenteeism \u2013\u00a0people showing up depleted and disengaged \u2013\u00a0costs organisations an estimated four to six times more. The burnout we can measure is only a fraction of what we\u2019re paying.<\/p>\n

And yet most organisations continue to treat burnout as a personal problem. A resilience deficit. Something fixed with fruit bowls, a wellbeing app, a lunchtime yoga session, or a reminder to \u2018practise self-care\u2019. The data tells a different story, as 80% of Australian workers<\/a> are currently experiencing burnout \u2014 making us the most stressed workforce in the Asia-Pacific region. Among HR professionals themselves, 73% are considering leaving the profession entirely, and 72% report being unable to switch off.<\/a> We are burning out the very people responsible for fixing burnout.<\/p>\n

Here is the uncomfortable truth: burnout is not a workforce crisis. It is a leadership one.<\/p>\n

Why leadership is the real variable<\/h3>\n

New psychosocial safety legislation has made this a legal reality, not just a moral one. Employers now have a duty to identify and manage psychosocial hazards \u2013\u00a0including workload, role clarity, and the behaviours of leaders. The regulatory environment has caught up with what good leaders have known for years: the biggest driver of workplace distress isn\u2019t the work. It\u2019s the culture around it.<\/p>\n

The 2025 Gallup Global Workplace Report found that managers account for up to 70%<\/a> of the variance in team engagement and wellbeing. That means the single most powerful determinant of whether your people thrive or burn out is not their workload, their salary, or their commute. It is the person leading them.<\/p>\n

Which raises an urgent question: what are those leaders modelling?<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t pour from an empty cup<\/h3>\n

Melissa Reynolds, CEO of State Trustees Victoria, is one of the most grounded leaders I\u2019ve spoken with. State Trustees serves some of Victoria\u2019s most vulnerable people \u2013\u00a0those unable to manage their own financial affairs due to mental illness or incapacity. Purpose is embedded in the work. But Melissa knows that purpose alone doesn\u2019t protect against burnout.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve realised that if I don\u2019t look after myself, I can\u2019t effectively look after my team or my family,\u2019 she told me on The Caring CEO podcast. Her approach is intentional and unapologetically practical \u2013\u00a0weight training, daily movement, quality sleep, proper nutrition \u2013\u00a0and recently, a home sauna. \u2018Thirty minutes in 65-degree heat, every day or every second day. I can meditate, listen to a podcast, journal, and get away from it all. It\u2019s my own little sanctuary.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is not indulgence. In an always-on culture, Melissa has created a physical space for deliberate disconnection. She has recognised what the research confirms: leaders who model recovery give their teams permission to do the same.<\/p>\n

She has also brought this intentionality into her leadership. A nightly gratitude ritual at the family dinner table \u2013\u00a0started with her daughter, now practised with her executive team. \u2018We go around the room and ask, what are we grateful for? It\u2019s incredible what our people will share \u2013\u00a0not only from a work perspective, but in their lives. It\u2019s a beautiful practice.\u2019<\/p>\n

What Melissa demonstrates is that operating in the \u2018green zone\u2019 \u2013\u00a0the state of positive mood and clear thinking that enables effective leadership \u2013\u00a0is not accidental. It is the result of consistent, deliberate habits.<\/p>\n

What caring leaders do differently<\/h3>\n

Preventing burnout in your team starts with your own practices. When leaders support wellbeing, 91% of employees feel motivated to do their best. When they don\u2019t, that figure drops to 38%. That\u2019s the finding from the APA\u2019s Work and Well-Being Survey<\/a> \u2013\u00a0and it\u2019s a gap no organisation can afford to ignore. Here are four behaviours that separate leaders who sustain their people from those who inadvertently deplete them:<\/p>\n