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Workplace burnout has become a global concern. In a recent survey, 77 per cent of working people said they had experienced burnout at their current job, while a whopping 91 per cent said unmanageable stress or frustration impacts the quality of their work. Not surprisingly, this has negative implications for employee effectiveness. The author describes his recent research, which reveals that emotional exhaustion usually increases throughout the workday and that these trajectories are influenced by a variety of factors, including previous-night detachment from work and socialization with colleagues. The good news is this: by understanding the variables that relate to growth curves in emotional exhaustion, organizations can design interventions targeting the design of work, social and structural aspects of the environment, and the training of employees on adaptive coping behaviours.

Levels of stress, exhaustion, and burnout have become increasingly problematic for employees and organizations alike. Understanding how employees recover from the demands of work is therefore increasingly important. The author focuses on a little-discussed area of resource renewal: within-workday breaks. He argues that not all work breaks are created equal: an individual's personality and job design determine whether a break will lead to increased productivity or not.