November 12, 2025

You probably hear the word “burnout” a lot these days. In fact, the word itself has started to lose meaning. It often is used to describe everything from the day following a bad night’s sleep to a work environment that denies all PTO requests.

It gets tossed around in conversation, tacked onto social posts, and sometimes used as shorthand for “tired.” True burnout goes far deeper than fatigue. It’s a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that builds slowly, until suddenly, even the smallest tasks feel insurmountable.

At GLC Business Services, we know that burnout isn’t just a personal issue, it’s a business one. Our teams serve partners who rightfully expect excellence in every interaction, every deliverable, and every moment of support. That level of excellence can’t exist without care for the people delivering it. Recognizing burnout before it takes hold isn’t just about being kind; it’s about protecting performance, trust, and the well-being of everyone who keeps business moving.

Why It’s Worth Paying Attention to Burnout

An afternoon at the movies won’t fix burnout. Neither will a weekend at the beach, or a week in the mountains. That’s because true burnout is not simply being overworked or needing some time off. Burnout is a chronic condition resulting from prolonged stress that hasn’t been effectively managed. It drains motivation, clouds judgment, and chips away at confidence.

In the workplace, burnout manifests in subtle ways, missed deadlines, increased errors, disengagement, irritability, or even apathy toward once-meaningful work. For leaders, it can look like detachment from team needs or decision fatigue that mars strategic thinking.

At GLC, we must take a hard look at these behaviors and what is driving it because our people are at the heart of our promise. The support we provide allows our partners to focus on their core goals. That mission depends on teams who are alert, confident, and energized. Burnout doesn’t just threaten individuals, it threatens the culture of excellence that we’re known for.

Know the Signs

Recognizing burnout early is critical, but it requires awareness. The symptoms can be easy to dismiss, especially in fast-paced environments where “busy” feels like the norm. Here are a few signs, both for yourself and for your team, to look out for:

Emotional exhaustion: Feeling drained at the start of the day, or struggling to find motivation even for tasks you normally enjoy
Reduced performance: Work quality starts slipping, deadlines feel heavier, and focus becomes harder to maintain.
Cynicism or detachment: Here, you’re watching for a shift in attitude. People begin feeling disengaged, less empathetic, or emotionally removed from coworkers or clients.
Physical symptoms: Frequent headaches, muscle tension, or trouble sleeping are all the body’s way of signaling stress overload.
Declining problem-solving: When burnout creeps in, even routine decisions feel overwhelming.

Sometimes, the signs are subtle: the colleague who’s quieter than usual, the employee who suddenly stops volunteering for projects, or the leader who seems unusually withdrawn. When those moments appear, they deserve attention with compassion.

A Quick Assessment

Whether you’re a team member or a manager, it’s worth pausing for an honest check-in. When performance changes there is a reactionary response to criticise the work or the person. It may be worth pausing. For self-assessment, as the following questions:

Do I feel like I’m constantly behind or struggling to keep up?
When was the last time I fully disconnected from email, from meetings, from mental to-do lists?
Have I been short-tempered or overly critical lately?
Do I feel supported, or am I trying to carry everything myself?

These questions don’t require a score, they require reflection. If your answers make you pause or feel uncomfortable, that’s your cue to take action. Exhaustion takes root in waves and phases. It begins with something as innocuous as thoughts that you’re having a bad week, then you might realize you’ve had that “bad week” for six months. If you’re recognizing it, your team might be ready to look at possibilities for change.

Leadership’s Role

While burnout is often experienced individually, prevention is collective. Leaders have a powerful opportunity to build systems that make well-being part of everyday operations, not an afterthought.

Here are several strategies leaders can put in place to help their teams thrive sustainably:

Normalize support
Create a culture where employees feel safe admitting when they’re struggling. Encourage regular one-on-ones that go beyond performance metrics to include questions like “How are you holding up?” or “What else do you need?” Small check-ins can prevent big breakdowns.
Define “excellence”
At GLC, excellence means commitment, integrity, and teamwork. It means continuous improvement, not perfection. Encourage teams to pursue quality work, with a knowledge that some tasks may need to be prioritized over others. Excellence should inspire people, not exhaust them.
Encourage breaks and boundaries
True rest is productive. Remind employees to take time away from their desks, use their vacation days, and truly unplug when off the clock.
Recognize effort, as well as outcomes
Appreciation fuels engagement. Celebrate milestones, but also the small wins, the late-night problem solved, the collaborative effort that made a project smoother. Recognition helps employees feel seen, valued, and connected.
Build support systems into structure
Provide resources such as wellness programs, mental health support, or even rotating workloads to prevent overreliance on a few “go-to” employees. Leaders who prioritize balance send a clear message: People matter.

Strategic Recovery

So, if a week away won’t do the trick, and it isn’t realistic to step away from work for six months, what is the answer?

Truly, there is no one size fits all answer. The available responses to burnout are as varied and diverse as the people experiencing it, and the unique fit for one person and position will not work for another.

Maybe the answer lies in reallocating work hours to fit a hectic schedule.

Maybe it means training in new office tasks to divide time in a high-deliverable environment.

Maybe it’s worth a discussion of occasional remote work.

Sometimes, just knowing that your manager has your back during a tough time is enough.

The right fit might be temporary, or long term. The circumstances matter. We might expect employees to perform with excellence, but being a family owned business means also recognizing that we are all human.

Keeping Morale at the Center

Even with the best prevention strategies, challenges will come. Deadlines tighten, demands spike, and sometimes teams simply stretch thin. During those times, consistency in communication and empathy can make all the difference.

Managers should check in not just for status updates, but for human connection. Celebrate resilience, remind teams of purpose, and when possible, redistribute workload to lighten the load. When morale dips, inspiration often follows connection.

Remind teams why their work matters. At GLC, every role, from administrative support to HR coordination, directly impacts how our partners function and grow. That shared purpose, helping businesses run smoothly so others can focus on their mission, is a powerful antidote to burnout.

Our commitment to excellence isn’t just about performance metrics. It’s about people, our own and those we serve. Recognizing burnout before it hits is part of how we honor that commitment.

We’ve learned that teams perform their best when they feel supported, trusted, and cared for. That’s why our leaders make it a priority to listen, to adapt, and to protect the balance between productivity and well-being. When our people thrive, so do our partners.

Preventing burnout isn’t about doing less, it’s about doing better. It’s about creating workplaces where excellence and empathy coexist, where people feel valued not just for what they produce, but for who they are.

Sometimes, the best way to deliver excellence tomorrow is to care for the people delivering it today.

Recognizing Burnout Before It Hits