Preventing Burnout at Work: Stories, Strategies and What Works

Preventing Burnout at Work: Stories, Strategies and What Works

This is a very special FREE event for local employers and their employees brought to you by the Leeds Mindful Employer Network.

Date: Thursday 20th November, 2025

Time: 1 - 4pm

Location: The Knowledge Exchange, The Rose Bowl, Leeds, LS1 3HB

Burnout is becoming more common across UK workplaces, and it’s showing up in ways that affect people, teams and organisations quietly at first — through fatigue, withdrawal, presenteeism, rising absence or a drop in engagement.

Over time, those early warning signs can turn into longer periods of sickness, people feeling they have to leave their jobs, work becoming harder to sustain and a gradual and significant loss of confidence or connection at work.

Recent findings from the Mental Health UK Burnout Report 2025 show that:

• 91% of UK adults experienced high or extreme stress in the past year
• 1 in 5 working adults have taken time off due to stress or poor mental health
• Only 32% say their workplace has anything in place to spot or prevent burnout
• Younger workers are the most likely to need time off — and the least likely to tell a manager
• The cost of burnout and stress-related absence continues to run into the tens of billions for UK employers each year

The report also highlights that neurodivergent employees often experience burnout differently — and are more likely to mask stress until they reach crisis point.

This event brings together stories from people with lived experience, practical insight and leadership perspectives to explore how burnout can be prevented with the right awareness, culture and support.

Who the event's for

The event is designed for people who support or lead others at work, including:

• Senior leaders and business owners
• Managers and team leaders
• HR, People and Culture professionals
• Mental Health First Aiders and wellbeing leads

What to expect

The Afternoon's Agenda

Understanding Burnout
Andrea Wallman, Training and Development Lead at Leeds Mind, will deliver a short, myth-busting introduction to what burnout is (and isn’t), how it shows up, and why it’s often missed until it’s gone too far.

Keynote: Beyond Burnout
Kristy Dean and Shaun Walsh from Professional Services Consultancy, Perform Partners will explore how psychological safety, leadership behaviours, communication and the way change is handled all influence burnout risk. Their session looks at what helps teams stay resilient, what pushes people into overwhelm, and how everyday leadership decisions shape whether people cope, hide their challenges or burn out.

Lived Experience Panel
We are joined by individuals who’d like to share their personal encounters with burnout, what made a difference, and what they’d advise workplaces to do differently as a result of their experience.

Our Panel

Andrea Wallman, Training and Development Lead at Leeds Mind

Martin Roberts, Survivor of the Hillsborough Football Disaster and Founder of Keep in Mind

Cat Hardy, Technology Talent Partner at Axiologik

Supporting Neurodivergent Burnout: Lived Insight and Practical Awareness

A lived-experience–led discussion on how burnout can feel different for neurodivergent people, the signs that are often missed, the pressures that contribute to it, and how colleagues, leaders and workplaces can provide the right kind of support. Kate Dean, Founder of Enable Disability and Inclusion Consultants and Dr Jane Lindsay, neurodivergent leader, executive coach, mental health professional will be discussing this important topic together

Mindfulness in Practice

Qualified Mindfulness Teacher and Founder of Untangled, Kirsty Morgan will explain what mindfulness actually is (and what it isn’t), before introducing the three emotional regulation systems and how mindfulness can help balance them by increasing emotional awareness and activating the soothing system. She’ll also share practical ideas for weaving mindfulness into daily life in simple, sustainable ways.

What you’ll take away

• A clearer understanding of how burnout begins and how to spot it sooner
• Insight into the conditions that help prevent i
• Real examples of what has helped others recover or stay well
• Practical ideas to support individuals and teams
• A more compassionate understanding of the pressures people are carrying
• An understanding of what mindfulness is and how it can help us in our daily lives

This isn’t about quick fixes. It’s about listening, learning and creating working environments where people don’t have to reach breaking point before support is in place.

Free event

This Leeds Mindful Employer Network event is FREE and open to all members of the Network and local businesses, organisations and their staff.

About the Leeds Mindful Employer Network

Establishied in 2013, The Leeds Mindful Employer Network brings local employers together across sectors and industries to champion positive mental health at work.

The Network was established in 2013. Unique to Leeds, it's existence puts our city at the forefront of initiatives to promote workplace mental health and wellbeing.

The Network is commissioned by Leeds City Council (Public Health) and led by Leeds Mind in partnership with local employers.

Our membership currently includes over 750 local employers.If you are not yet a member of Leeds Mindful Employer Network please join for free here before you sign up.