Q: As a manager working with strict performance metrics, how can I differentiate between an employee experiencing burnout and someone who may be underperforming for another reason, such as a poor role fit?

A: Data from SuperFriend’s 2024 Indicators of a Thriving Workplace (ITW) survey reveals that 52% of insurance professionals reported moderate to severe psychological distress in the past month. That’s just slightly below the national average of 56%. Despite this, only 6% had accessed mental health support through their workplace.

This disconnect signals that many employees may be struggling silently, and performance issues could be masking burnout.

Burnout is not laziness or incompetence. It is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion. It builds gradually through ongoing stress, excessive workload, lack of recognition, and insufficient recovery time.

We know that people can handle a lot of stress for periods of time. Stress can be positive force that motivates, energises and helps us perform better, solve problems and grow from new challenges. So, for example, when there’s a peak like in a natural disaster, there’s an increase in claims, and things are hectic, people can thrive on feeling needed and having purpose.

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