Beyond Engagement: Why Thriving Employees Still Burn Out

A clear look at why dedicated, energised employees can still burn out, and what this reveals about the limits of engagement alone. This article explains how the OHFB helps organisations and individuals understand depletion, support recovery and build truly sustainable performance.

Graphic depicts an employee who is engaged with distress States (presence of eustress and distress - risk of losing engagement. Employee would find it difficult to sustain engagement behaviour)

Understanding the engaged but depleting paradox and what to do about it

Many organisations are noticing something that appears contradictory: teams are energised, motivated and committed, yet burnout is rising. Leaders look at strong engagement scores and ask, "If people are engaged, why are they struggling?"

Gallup’s research names this clearly. Employees who are engaged but not thriving are 61% more likely to experience frequent burnout than those who are both engaged and thriving.

These are not disengaged employees quietly withdrawing. They are high performers who care about their work, show up consistently and hold responsibility with pride, while quietly running down their reserves.

Burnout in this context does not begin loudly. It often starts with emotional fatigue, reduced resilience, a sense of being always on and an inability to recover between demands. Gallup describes this as quiet cracking: outward stability with a quiet internal strain building over time.

Engagement and Burnout Are Not Opposites

This becomes clear when working with the Organisational Human Factor Benchmark (OHFB). Engagement reflects a person’s motivation and connection to work, which is the will to contribute. Burnout reflects the capacity to sustain that contribution, which is the ability to continue without depleting.

These two processes operate at the same time:

-            The Motivational Process occurs when job resources are strong such as support, clarity, autonomy and growth opportunities. In these conditions, engagement increases.

-            The Health Impairment Process occurs when job demands are high and continuous such as workload, emotional labour, cognitive strain or work–home interference. In these conditions, personal capacity is drained.

A person can be deeply motivated and deeply exhausted at the same time.

This is how engaged employees burn out.

The OHFB Spectrum

The OHFB measures engagement, burnout risk and stress-related ill-health together, placing individuals on a wellbeing and performance spectrum:

     Excelling, where people are highly engaged and have strong psychological capacity

     Thriving, where people are energised and steady

     Languishing, where people are functioning but emotionally flat

     Struggling, where people remain committed but are depleted

     In Crisis, where overwhelm or burnout risk is high and immediate support is required

The key insight is that a person can be highly engaged and still be Struggling or In Crisis if the demands of the role exceed their capacity to recover.

Traditional engagement surveys cannot identify this, because they only measure enthusiasm, not the cost of sustaining it.

What This Means for Organisations

Focusing only on engagement may unintentionally reward the behaviours that lead to burnout. Overcommitment, emotional overwork and boundary collapse often present as dedication, which can be misinterpreted as healthy high performance.

Supporting sustainable performance requires attention to both motivation and recovery. It involves balancing expectations, workload and clarity, and recognising that thriving is not achieved by individual effort alone. It is shaped by work design, culture and support structures.

Thriving is not a personal resilience trait. It is a work environment outcome.

What This Means for Individuals

The experience of being engaged but depleting often begins quietly. It may sound like:

I care about my work, but I am exhausted.
I am performing well, but I do not feel okay.
I do not want to lose momentum, but I cannot sustain the pace I am currently operating at.

There are two pathways for individual support, depending on the context.

OHFB Individual Feedback and Focused Counselling

This occurs within organisational wellbeing initiatives. Each person receives a confidential report indicating where they sit on the wellbeing and performance spectrum. The counselling conversation that follows helps the individual understand this state, identify drivers of strain and develop practical strategies to restore balance and support sustainable performance. This process is structured, time-bound and takes place within an organisational framework.

Workplace Therapy

This is a self-referred support space for individuals seeking clarity in navigating workplace challenges. It is a confidential conversation focused on making sense of situations, understanding emotional and relational dynamics, identifying what is personal and what is structural, and preparing for conversations or decisions with steadiness. Sessions may be once-off or short-term, depending on individual needs.

The Goal

Whether working at an organisational level or one person at a time, the aim is the same: sustainable performance grounded in psychological health rather than depletion.

Thriving becomes possible when motivation and capacity are in balance, and when work environments support both wellbeing and contribution.

If this resonates for your organisation or for yourself, you are welcome to reach out.

Contact Cheryl Bondi to discuss how I can help you identify risks, support employees in crisis, learn from those who thrive, and create conditions for sustainable performance.