Your Team Isn’t Burnt Out Yet. But Are You Measuring the Warning Signs?
Burnout rarely arrives with a flashing warning light. It builds quietly through sustained pressure, unclear priorities, poor support, low control and small signals that are too easy to dismiss when the business is moving fast.
That is why workplace wellbeing can no longer sit on the edge of business strategy. It belongs inside the operating system of every organisation that wants to protect its people and perform consistently.
On this episode of Hear Me ROAR, Simon Kearney, co-founder of Readiness, joins the conversation to explore how leaders can identify psychosocial risks earlier, respond with better information and create workplaces where wellbeing and performance strengthen each other.
From elite sport to workplace wellbeing
Simon’s perspective was forged across more than 20 years in elite sport. In that environment, performance is never judged by the final score alone. Coaches and performance teams monitor the inputs: workload, recovery, sleep, physical condition, mental state and readiness to perform.
The lesson for business is simple. Waiting for a person to burn out before acting is like waiting for an athlete to break down before checking their training load. By then, the organisation is already playing from behind.
Readiness was built to make mental safety and employee wellbeing more practical and measurable. Its approach combines wellbeing and performance expertise with technology to help organisations identify risks, understand patterns and act before small issues become serious problems.
Why the warning signs are easy to miss
Most workplaces measure revenue, occupancy, sales activity, customer satisfaction and productivity. Far fewer consistently measure the conditions affecting whether their people can sustain that performance.
The warning signs may look ordinary in isolation:
A consistently overloaded team that is still hitting its numbers.
A high performer who becomes quieter, less engaged or unusually reactive.
Unclear roles and shifting priorities during rapid growth or organisational change.
Managers who care about their people but lack useful information or a clear response process.
A culture that celebrates endurance while quietly normalising exhaustion.
One signal may not tell the full story. The real risk often sits in the pattern. Effective workplace wellbeing gives leaders a clearer view of that pattern and a better opportunity to intervene constructively.
Psychosocial safety is now a leadership issue
Psychosocial hazards are aspects of work that may cause psychological harm. They can arise from the design or management of work, the working environment and workplace behaviours. Common examples include high job demands, low job control, poor support, lack of role clarity, bullying, harassment, violence and poor organisational change management.
Across Australia, the direction is clear: psychological health must be managed with the same seriousness as physical health and safety. Safe Work Australia’s model guidance requires businesses covered by WHS laws to eliminate psychosocial risks where reasonably practicable, or minimise them as far as reasonably practicable. Jurisdictional requirements still matter.
In Victoria, the Occupational Health and Safety (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 commenced on 1 December 2025. Employers now have specific duties to identify psychosocial hazards, control associated risks and review those controls in prescribed circumstances.
Compliance matters, but the leadership opportunity is bigger than compliance. Organisations that understand the conditions affecting their people can make smarter decisions about workload, role design, support, communication and change.
Wellbeing cannot be reduced to perks
Fruit bowls, yoga classes and a well-timed motivational email may be positive additions, but they do not fix excessive demands, poor management practices or a lack of psychological safety. A surface-level benefit cannot compensate for a structural problem.
A credible workplace wellbeing strategy should help an organisation:
Identify the hazards and workplace conditions that may cause harm.
Listen to employees consistently, not only after a major event.
Recognise patterns across teams while protecting individual privacy.
Equip leaders with practical information and clear escalation pathways.
Implement controls that address the source of risk.
Review whether those controls are genuinely working.
This moves workplace wellbeing from a calendar of activities to a disciplined leadership system.
The business case for proactive wellbeing
Healthy performance is sustainable performance. When people have clarity, appropriate support and a reasonable level of control, they are better positioned to focus, collaborate and make sound decisions.
That does not mean eliminating pressure. Elite sport provides the better analogy: pressure can sharpen performance when it is supported by preparation, recovery, feedback and trust. Pressure without those foundations eventually becomes damage.
The strongest leaders do not confuse resilience with endless capacity. They build environments that allow people to stretch, recover and return ready to perform again.
Five questions every leader should ask
1. What are we measuring?
If the organisation only measures outputs, it may miss the conditions driving them. Add consistent, meaningful indicators of employee wellbeing and psychosocial risk.
2. Are people safe to tell us the truth?
Data is only useful when people trust the process. Leaders need credible confidentiality, visible follow-through and communication that proves feedback leads to action.
3. Are we treating causes or symptoms?
Support services matter, but leaders must also examine workload, role clarity, management practices, workplace behaviour and the design of work.
4. Do managers know what to do next?
Awareness without action creates frustration. Managers need practical tools, defined responsibilities and appropriate professional support.
5. Are our controls improving the environment?
Review what changed and whether it reduced the risk. Workplace wellbeing is a continuous performance cycle, not a one-off campaign.
A better definition of high performance
High performance is not extracting the maximum from people for the shortest possible period. It is creating the conditions for capable people to deliver meaningful work repeatedly, without sacrificing their health to do it.
Simon Kearney’s message is timely: organisations need to get ahead of the warning signs. By applying the discipline of elite sport to workplace wellbeing, leaders can move from reactive support to proactive prevention and from assumption to informed action.
The scoreboard still matters. But the smartest leaders also watch the players, the conditions and the signals that determine whether strong performance can continue.
Listen to Simon Kearney on Hear Me ROAR
Hear the full conversation with Simon Kearney, co-founder of Readiness, as we explore workplace mental health, psychosocial safety, leadership accountability and what it takes to build a healthier, higher-performing organisation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is workplace wellbeing?
Workplace wellbeing is the overall physical, psychological and social health of people at work. A strong approach considers both individual support and the way work is designed, managed and experienced.
What is a psychosocial hazard?
A psychosocial hazard is anything arising from work that may cause psychological harm. Examples include high job demands, low control, poor support, unclear roles, bullying, harassment, violence and poorly managed organisational change.
How can leaders identify employee burnout early?
Leaders can look for patterns such as sustained overload, declining engagement, behavioural change, absence, conflict and reduced recovery. Regular consultation and trusted wellbeing measurement can reveal risks earlier than performance results alone.
Is an employee assistance program enough?
An EAP can provide valuable support, but it does not replace an organisation’s duty to identify and control psychosocial risks at their source. Prevention, work design, leadership practices and ongoing review are also essential.
How does workplace wellbeing improve performance?
When people have clarity, support, trust and manageable demands, they are better able to focus, collaborate and perform consistently. The goal is sustainable performance rather than short-term output at any cost.
Who is Simon Kearney?
Simon Kearney is the co-founder of Readiness and an exercise scientist with more than 20 years of experience in elite sport. He applies performance and wellbeing principles from sport to help organisations create safer, healthier and higher-performing workplaces.
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