Burnout, overwhelmingly linked to work, is the result of continuous unmanaged stress that leads to debilitating emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. Despite years of trying to mitigate burnout, it remains on the rise in workplaces across the world. According to multiple workplace surveys compiled in 2025, over 43% of employees globally report burnout, up from 38% just two years earlier.
As burnout increases, so does its impact on organisations and individuals. The price is high – companies bear the real costs of absenteeism and staff turnover, employee disengagement and low performance. For the individual, progress and success in life and relationships are derailed by the physical and mental health tolls.
Why perks and quick fixes don’t work
As burnout has shifted from a fringe risk to a mainstream workplace challenge, organisations have deployed a range of wellbeing tactics to try to improve support for struggling and at-risk employees. However, these are clearly not working as intended.
“Burnout isn’t caused by a lack of treats or incentives – it’s the result of a chronic mismatch between what’s being asked of people and what they realistically have the capacity to give,” explains Jean Rodrigues, a coach supervisor at Sacap (South African College of Applied Psychology).
She notes that wellness days, spa vouchers, free food or access to wellbeing apps may soften the edges of stress in the moment – but when workloads remain unrealistic, boundaries are vague, or recovery is encouraged in theory but undermined in practice, these perks can feel superficial or even like gaslighting – the message becomes: ‘The problem is your resilience, not the system.’
Burnout is a signal of organisational culture
For Kaylynn Philander, Sacap’s coaching manager, burnout is not an individual failing but a cultural signal – the fire alarm highlighting deeper structural and systemic issues. This perspective is backed by research that shows that cultural and organisational factors such as long hours, unclear role expectations, and poor management practices are powerful predictors of burnout. This has increased the demand for proactive, sustainable burnout prevention solutions such as workload auditing and enforced downtime policies. Recognising the connection between leader behaviour and burnout, some companies are focused on embedding coaching skills in the company culture.
Philander says: “A strong coaching culture creates space for reflection, supportive leadership and sustainable performance. The workplace becomes a place where people feel heard, boundaries are respected and wellbeing is woven into everyday work. Managers and leaders who adopt a coach-like approach help prevent burnout by fostering connection, clarity and psychological safety, particularly in high-demand environments.”
In teams with healthy cultures, leaders check in on energy and capacity, not just outputs. People can express limits without fear of penalty. Reflection is built into work rhythms, not squeezed out by deadlines. Language around performance shifts – worth is not equated with busyness. To achieve this, organisational leaders need basic coaching skills and to intentionally develop themselves as leaders-as-coach.
What a coaching culture feels like
Rodrigues describes a strong coaching culture as one where stress can be held rather than simply endured:
- Leaders regularly check on capacity and energy, not just results.
- People can name limits and reprioritise work without fear of judgement or reprisal.
- Clear communication norms reduce misunderstandings and unnecessary urgency.
- Moments of reflection and micro-recovery are normal parts of the day.
“Coaching cultures help teams metabolise stress rather than silently accumulate it,” Rodrigues says. In such environments, pressure still exists but it’s structured in ways that do not erode psychological safety or agency, and people don’t have to wait for a crisis to get support.
Why leaders make or break the culture
“A leader-as-coach understands that burnout isn’t about using the wrong leadership style – it’s about defaulting to one style under pressure without awareness,” Rodrigues explains.
She describes how adept leaders adapt their style to context:
- Directive leadership is used briefly and transparently in real emergencies, not as default control.
- Pacesetting leadership is balanced with capacity checks and recovery modelling.
- Affiliative leadership combines safety with clear expectations.
- Democratic leadership builds ownership without avoiding tough decisions.
What truly protects people from burnout, Rodrigues says, is leader self-regulation – containing pressure rather than passing it on.
Coaching skills are high leverage
Not every organisation is ready to make every leader a certified coach – and this is not the only way to embed coaching skills in the organisation.
Targeted coaching skills training can deliver profound shifts quickly when it equips leaders to:
- Listen deeply without rushing to fix
- Ask questions that build clarity and capacity
- Have boundary-respecting conversations
- Spot early signals of burnout
- Regulate themselves in difficult moments.
This kind of training reframes leadership from ‘driving harder’ to holding better, and its impact spreads beyond individuals to reshape team norms and expectations – and the company culture.
Burnout prevention doesn’t start with asking people how they would cope better, but with examining what we are asking them to cope with, and why. Philander says: “We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we’re doing it.”
She reminds organisations that stress itself won’t disappear. But when there is enough safety, clarity and agency, most people can manage stress without being consumed by it.
Sacap is hosting the free webinar, Coaching as a Corporate Strategy for leaders and HR professionals on 24 March 2026 from 1pm – 2pm (SAST). Sacap coach experts will provide practical, psychologically grounded strategies so that participants learn how everyday coaching behaviours prevent burnout and strengthen resilience.
Register here.
Learn more about Sacap’s accredited coach practitioner education programmes here.
