Burnout Prevention in Organisations: The Spotlight Turns to Managers
In today's organisations, professional burnout has become not only an employee well-being issue but also a matter of organisational performance and team stability. The international Positive Workplace project highlights the crucial role managers play in identifying burnout risks early and creating healthier working environments that reduce the likelihood of burnout.
In rapidly growing technology and innovation-driven organisations, professional burnout is increasingly affecting not only employees' well-being but also business performance. Experts point out that constant pressure, tight deadlines, intensive use of technology and the fast pace of change gradually reduce employee engagement, creativity and the ability to make sound decisions. This is particularly relevant within innovation ecosystems, where creativity, risk tolerance and agility are among the key drivers of competitiveness.
Addressing these challenges is the international Positive Workplace project, implemented under the Erasmus+ Programme. The project's objective is to strengthen managers' competencies in recognising the risks of professional burnout and fostering healthier, employee-centred working environments.
The project is coordinated by Centrum Doradztwa Gospodarczego Sp. z o.o. (Poland). Its partners include GESEME 1996 SL (Spain), Formation et Sensibilisation de Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Łukasiewicz Research Network – Institute for Sustainable Technologies (Poland) and Kaunas Science and Technology Park (Lithuania).
A New Role for Managers: From Delivering Results to Supporting People
One of the project's key outcomes is the free Positive Workplace online learning platform, developed on the premise that managers are often the first to recognise the early signs of burnout and are therefore in the best position to prevent it.
The platform combines insights from management, organisational psychology and vocational education. More importantly, it shifts the focus from understanding burnout as a theoretical concept to equipping managers with practical tools they can apply in their everyday leadership.
According to Vaiva Kelmelytė, Director of the Operations Department at Kaunas Science and Technology Park, burnout prevention can no longer be viewed as an optional organisational initiative.
"Preventing professional burnout has become an integral part of modern leadership and innovation culture. The practical outcome of the Positive Workplace project – a free online learning platform – equips managers with concrete tools to recognise the early signs of burnout, strengthen psychological safety within their teams and create healthier working environments. This marks an important step towards ensuring that employee well-being is recognised not as an additional initiative, but as a strategic prerequisite for long-term organisational growth and sustainability," says V. Kelmelytė.
A Practical Tool for Managers Working Under Pressure
The Positive Workplace course is designed primarily for middle and senior managers, particularly in the IT sector, where demanding workloads, tight deadlines and high levels of responsibility often contribute to prolonged stress.
The programme consists of ten learning modules covering both burnout awareness and practical leadership skills. Participants learn how to provide effective feedback, strengthen team motivation, establish healthy boundaries, foster psychological safety and build an open organisational culture. The self-paced course takes approximately 8–10 hours to complete.
From Recognising the Problem to Implementing Practical Solutions
The project's outcomes were presented at the international scientific conference "Professional Burnout in Organisations – Challenges, Consequences, Solutions", held on 26 May 2026 at the Radom Academy of Economics.
During the conference, experts emphasised that professional burnout is increasingly becoming an organisational challenge with a direct impact on employee engagement, productivity and the pace of innovation. Addressing it therefore requires more than isolated initiatives – it calls for a systemic approach that brings together research, management, education and everyday organisational practice.
In this context, the Positive Workplace platform was presented as a practical resource that helps managers better understand the mechanisms behind burnout while providing concrete strategies for preventing it in real workplace settings.
The Positive Workplace platform is available free of charge at elearning.eduroom.edu.pl.