Running on Empty Navigating the dangers of burnout at work

Three out of five workers across the world say they feel burned out. A 2020 study claims that the figure is in fact three in four. Over the past 24 months, our relationship with work has changed beyond recognition. On one side, employees are now looking for more choice, flexibility and freedom than ever before and statistics show that if they don't get what they want, they are prepared to vote with their feet. On the other, employers across all industries and job roles are currently facing mass resignations, with 3.6 million US workers resigning in May 2021 alone. With such a background, organizations are now being forced to take burnout among their workforce more seriously.

This book offers a story-based exploration of a growing risk and some real and deep practices that seek to improve the human experience of the present-day workforce and make organizations more viable for the future. The authors look at the current burnout situation from a lens of discovering and seeking to heal some of the root causes of workplace despair. The book gives the reader a sense of when burnout is happening or imminent and suggests human and radical inroads for prevention and healing.

Dr Amy Bradley is Professor of Leadership and Management and author of The Human Moment. She recently made it onto the prestigious Thinkers50 Radar of global management thinkers. Amy works as adjunct faculty at several leading business schools and runs her own consulting business. She and her husband Colin live in the UK and have four children between them. Dr Katherine Semler partners with leaders and organizations to help them define and live their purpose. She is a partner at Korn Ferry and adjunct faculty at Ashridge Hult International Business School. She lives in Girona, Spain, where she and her husband hold writing and leadership retreats in a refurbished Catalan farmhouse.