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Working a job is a necessity in today's world. But with a job comes a set of responsibilities and workload, which brings along stress, often referred to as workplace stress. Amid the hustle-bustle of work and life, employees tend to feel heavily pressurized, ultimately leading to burnout.
In this podcast, Teany and Debbie talk further about how to address the issue of workplace stress and prevent it.
Key Takeaways
- Stress and burnout are not the same thing. Teany's frame: small doses of stress are protective, but prolonged stress tips into burnout and disease. Treating them as synonyms leads managers to miss the escalation.
- Five signs of burnout to watch for. Excessive fatigue (when your morning coffee stops working), unhealthy escapes, sensitivity and mood swings, numbness or disconnection, and loss of spark — where an employee does the minimum and disengages from purpose.
- America is in "survival mode." Debbie cites the APA's 2022 Stress in America survey — 87% of US adults feel overwhelmed by the constant crisis, 80% report negative emotions. Whatever stress employees carried into the pandemic came back out amplified.
- Working-from-home collapsed the hard start and hard stop. The remote blur — kitchen desks, no commute, constant availability — is itself a stressor. Teany's fix: segment. Close the laptop, put it away, transition deliberately.
- Schedule instability is a direct health hit. Debbie recalls nurses moved between shifts — that's not a simple ask; it ripples into childcare, family, sleep. Known schedules are a wellbeing lever HR underestimates.
- HR can detect burnout via data, not just vibes. Rising sick days, ED visits, antidepressant and anxiety prescription spikes in pharmacy reports all show up in claims dashboards. Combine that with behavioural red flags — snappiness, missed deadlines, late log-ins — and managers have a real signal.
- Reset wellness programs from scratch post-pandemic. Debbie is emphatic that pre-pandemic programs don't fit anymore. Less is more — 5-minute chair yoga, walk-and-talk meetings, 10-minute mindful breaks — and managers must visibly participate for anyone else to.
In Teany's and Debbie's Words
On stress vs burnout (Teany)
Stress in small increments can actually protect you — adrenaline boosts. When we do that over a prolonged period, that's what causes disease. Burnout is stress over time.
If your cup of joe isn't working for you in the mornings and you're still exhausted, you've crossed the line from normal stress into long-term fatigue.
On the signs of burnout (Teany)
The five signs — excessive fatigue, seeking unhealthy escapes, sensitivity and mood flopping, numbness or disconnection, and loss of spark. Once you've lost your interest in work and the things you love, that's when things are really going downhill.
On the remote-work stressor (Teany)
There's been a blurred line between starting work and ending work. Is it in the kitchen? Do you have an office? Segment it. Hard start, hard stop. When I'm done, I close the laptop, I put my stuff away, I don't think about it.
On the data signals HR should watch (Debbie)
As a team leader, I own the responsibility of looking for behavioural change — snappiness, coming in late to meetings, no-shows, PTO days climbing. At a clinical level, pharmacy reports and ED visits reveal what employees won't say out loud.
The APA's Stress in America survey this week deemed the nation in survival mode. Eighty-seven percent of US adults feel overwhelmed by the constant crisis of the last two years.
On rebuilding workplace wellness
A complete reset is needed. I don't think half of what I did prior to the pandemic would work anymore. Create employee resource groups, safe spaces to share needs — when employees' needs are met, stress goes down. (Debbie)
Less is more. Five minutes of meditation, five minutes of chair yoga, a walk-and-talk meeting instead of a conference room. These have huge impact. (Debbie)
The future is adding things to meetings that managers actually participate in and promote. If people see them doing it, they're likely to do it too. We've had programs before — they didn't land because no one walked the talk. (Teany)
On the three pillars to combat burnout (Teany)
Simplify — cut the things out of your lifestyle that add stress without value. Amplify — bring back peace, joy, high-energy rituals: water, meditation, 10-minute breaks between meetings, fresh air. Fortify — build community, bring in practitioners who resonate with your values.
On self-responsibility
Nothing happens unless you start speaking and asking for what you desire. That's where it begins — at the management level, but also personally. (Teany)
It's never too late to begin. Five minutes of walking, breathing, outdoor time, drink your water — baby steps can be huge. (Debbie)
About the Speaker
Teany Hidalgo is a Burnout and Purpose coach with 12+ years of running her private wellness practice. Her 22 years of background in Corporate America with leadership roles, hiring, and training staff, plus her own major pivot points, helped her understand the burnout struggles of the working class. Joining her degree in medical massage with coaching, she grew a deep desire to support employees and entrepreneurs own their power and come alive with purpose.
Debbie Bellenger is working full-time as the solopreneur of Body By Definition, providing Advisory Services to individuals and organizations who wish to add wellness programming to their menu of services and offerings. In addition, Debbie has extensive medical wellness experience both in programming and center operations. In her role as the Director of Employee Health, Occupational Medicine and Wellness at CaroMont she oversaw four business units which included:
13,000 Medical Wellness Centers,
Employee Wellness Program for CaroMont,
Discover You Interactive Learning Center and
Community and Employer Wellness Service line, which generated $0.5 million dollars in revenue.
Connect with Debbie and Teany on Linkedin.
Show Notes
(01:05) Tell me your journey in the area of wellness.
(07:06) Are physical and mental wellbeing correlated?
(07:53) What is workplace stress?
(09:56) What are the signs of stress in the workplace?
(14:33) What are five causes of stress in the workplace?
(21:06) What are the various types of work stress?
(26:43) How is burnout linked to workplace stress?
(28:14) What are the various ways to combat burnout and stress? And how do employers identify when their employees are suffering from stress?
(36:08) What are the ways introverts can open up about stress?
(38:25) Do corporate wellness programs have the ability to help with stress? What is your opinion on them?
(40:52) What kind of wellness programs are useful to prevent stress?
(45:24) Would you like to share some valuable suggestions with our listeners?
