Stop Pushing Harder: Why Australian Leaders Must Redesign Work to Beat Burnout

Australian organisations are being urged to redesign work rather than demand longer hours, as rising burnout and weak engagement threaten productivity. A recent Sydney event hosted by Cuppa brought together leaders from Amazon, Deloitte, Medibank, and Xero to debate how systemic changes—not heavier workloads—can boost output.

The Engagement Crisis

Gallup's Managing Director APAC, Claire de Carteret, revealed that employee engagement in Australia and New Zealand stands at just 21%. Fewer than one in four workers feel energised, connected, and productive. Panellists linked this to inadequate frontline management training, noting that only one in four managers feel adequately trained for their expanding role, which now includes performance, wellbeing, psychosocial risk, AI adoption, and change leadership.

System Strain and Complexity

Darren Moglia from EnterpriseWorks shared research showing the average organisation uses about 305 systems, with only 16% centrally managed. Workers spend 45% of the week in meetings, yet fewer than half are seen as meaningful. Additionally, 42% of employees spend significant time on manual reporting, rising to 62% among senior leaders. While 83% of employees understand their organisation's strategy, only 51% believe their daily work connects to it.

AI: Not a Silver Bullet

Panellists warned that introducing AI into disjointed organisations could speed up flawed processes rather than remove friction. Moglia stated, "The biggest risk is not that AI will take our jobs. The biggest risk is that we've lost our capacity for growth, our people are burning out, and we get left behind on the AI opportunity."

Medibank's Work Reinvented Program

Pam Gavan from Medibank outlined their successful Work Reinvented program, which removed low-value approval processes, reorganised teams around customer outcomes, and used employee feedback to identify friction points. The program improved engagement, reduced low-value work, and supported a four-day workweek model in parts of the business.

Practical Steps for Leaders

The panel recommended:

• Ask employees which tasks create frustration or consume time without adding value.
• Clarify the three priorities each employee should focus on daily.
• Replace unnecessary meetings with a clearer operating rhythm.
• Give managers support to hold one meaningful coaching conversation per team member each week.
• Simplify systems before adding more technology.

The Real Issue: Normalised Complexity

Event host Luke Cook noted that the discussion moved past usual productivity talking points. "When you get CEOs and senior leaders speaking candidly... you get to the real issue faster: organisations have normalised complexity that nobody signed up for."