The best remedy for burnout? Avoiding it all together.
Unfortunately, eliminating burnout is easier said than done. Burnout impacted over half of all employees in 2024. With such a widespread and common workplace phenomenon, burnout can happen in any role if a company’s leaders aren’t actively taking steps to protect and support employees.
But we found three employers who are doing just that.
Take the team at Commerce, for example.
“The foundation of sustainable pace isn't about managing hours but it's rather about engineering the right conditions for consistent, predictable delivery,” Kushal Khatri, CTO of Feedonomics, Commerce’s data feed management platform, said. “This means building a team culture where psychological safety is non-negotiable, expectations are clear and processes are deliberately designed to minimize unplanned work and reactive firefighting.”
At ePayPolicy, VP of People Operations Allyson Hoffman points to employees being empowered and trusted to manage their own schedules as a big reason the team is able to avoid burnout. Hoffman added that internal promotions are a good way to measure the success of this work model.
“When team members have the mental bandwidth to not only do their current jobs well but also develop the skills for their next role, I know the pace is healthy,” Hoffman said. “If people are too exhausted or burned out to think about their career growth, we’ve failed them.”
Madi Orndorff, benefits manager at Corporate Tools LLC, noted that she reminds teammates at the B2B service provider to take time off ahead of busy periods and prioritize their lives outside of work.
“When people can maintain performance without feeling overwhelmed, it’s a strong indicator the pace is sustainable,” Orndorff said.
Built In spoke with Orndorff, Hoffman and Khatri to hear more about how they protect their teams from burnout, encourage flexible work arrangements and set the pace for a sustainable work environment.
Commerce is an e-commerce company that creates a platform to help sellers build, innovate and grow their businesses online.
Share your principle for sustainable pace — and the signal that proves it works for your team?
The foundation of sustainable pace isn’t about managing hours but it’s rather about engineering the right conditions for consistent, predictable delivery. This means building a team culture where psychological safety is non-negotiable, expectations are clear and processes are deliberately designed to minimize unplanned work and reactive firefighting.
In practice, this is realized by investing in strong engineering fundamentals like robust on-call rotations, well-maintained runbooks, automated alerting and clear escalation paths, so teams aren't constantly pulled out of flow by noise that could have been eliminated upstream.
The signal that proves it’s working? Predictability without pressure. When a team consistently delivers on commitments without heroics, without burnout spikes after launches and without single-person dependencies creating invisible bottlenecks, that's a sustainable pace made real.
Ultimately, sustainable pace is also a leadership responsibility. When executives model boundaries, protect team capacity from scope creep and treat unplanned work as a system problem rather than an individual failure, the culture internalizes it.
Which policy or norm makes flexible working arrangements succeed — and how do you measure its impact?
Flexible working only works when it’s built on collective accountability and not just individual autonomy. The policy that makes it succeed for my team is a clearly defined set of core hours and a shared commitment to being present for the moments that actually require synchronous collaboration like key ceremonies, design reviews, cross-functional syncs. Outside of that, I trust people to manage their time as professionals.
What I’ve seen is that flexibility, when paired with genuine ownership over team outcomes, actually strengthens culture rather than fragments it. People bring more focus and less resentment to their work. The way I measure the impact is through team health surveys, retention trends and whether delivery quality holds steady or improves over time. If the team is hitting its commitments and people feel trusted, the model is working.
What is flexible work like at Commerce?
“What I've seen is that flexibility, when paired with genuine ownership over team outcomes, actually strengthens culture rather than fragments it. People bring more focus and less resentment to their work.”
— Kushal Khatri, CTO, Feedonomics
Which wellness resource do people actually use — and what improvement have you seen on your team?
The resources that get real traction on my team are the ones that meet real-world needs. Gym memberships and physical wellness stipends work well and more meaningfully, guided mental health sessions and Employee Assistance Programs. EAPs in particular are underrated. I’ve seen them genuinely help people navigate difficult personal circumstances and return to work not just functional, but re-engaged. That kind of support has a compounding effect on team cohesion that's hard to quantify.
What's shifted my thinking is moving away from offering wellness as a checkbox and toward normalizing the conversation around it. When leaders talk openly about using these resources themselves, utilization goes up. I’ve watched team members who were visibly struggling stabilize and grow into some of our strongest contributors after getting the right support. The ROI on investing in people’s whole lives, not just their work output, consistently proves itself.
ePayPolicy enables the independent insurance market to easily accept and send electronic payments.
Share your principle for sustainable pace — and the signal that proves it works for your team?
For us, a sustainable pace isn't about working fewer hours; it’s about working with intentionality and maintaining an openness to change. We believe that speed is only possible when people feel empowered to own their schedules. We don’t micromanage the clock; we focus on the grit required to solve tough problems while ensuring the “optimism” remains intact. The strongest indicator of success is our internal promotion rate. When team members have the mental bandwidth to not only do their current jobs well but also develop the skills for their next role, I know the pace is healthy. If people are too exhausted or burned out to think about their career growth, we’ve failed them. Seeing our people move upward within the company proves they have the energy to stay curious and ambitious.
Which policy or norm makes flexible working arrangements succeed — and how do you measure its impact?
We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all schedule. Our hybrid model succeeds because of a cultural norm of honesty regarding capacity and location. We hire independent thinkers and treat them as such; if you need to be heads-down at home to ship code or in the office to whiteboard with the team, we leave that call to you. The “policy” is simply that communication must be proactive — no one should have to guess where a teammate is or when a project will land. We track cross-functional project velocity and how quickly and smoothly an idea moves from sales to product to the customer. If our teams are collaborating effectively across different environments without bottlenecks or communication silos, we know our flexibility isn’t just a perk — it’s an operational advantage.
What is flexible work like at ePayPolicy?
“We hire independent thinkers and treat them as such; if you need to be heads-down at home to ship code or in the office to whiteboard with the team, we leave that call to you. The “policy” is simply that communication must be proactive — no one should have to guess where a teammate is or when a project will land.”
— Allyson Hoffman, VP, People Operations
Which wellness resource do people actually use — and what improvement have you seen on your team?
While standard health benefits are essential, the resources our team actually raves about are those that reduce the logistical noise of life. For us, that’s a combination of generous parental leave and a fully-stocked, communal office environment. It sounds small, but removing the stress of the daily chore of meal prep allows our team to show up fully. We want the office to be a place of connection and convenience, not just a place with a desk. The most visible improvement has been in team cohesion and morale. By investing in perks that touch on life outside the office, we’ve seen a shift toward more authentic, human interactions. There’s a noticeable sense of ease in the building; people are more willing to help one another across departments because they feel well-supported by the company. It has transformed our culture from one of "just coworkers" to a genuine community of professionals who actually enjoy solving problems together.
Corporate Tools builds the behind-the-scenes tools that keep businesses running: software, LLC filings, registered agent service, website and domain registration, address services, and more.
Share your principle for sustainable pace — and the signal that proves it works for your team?
My principle is consistency over intensity. I encourage teams to set realistic workloads and deadlines. While there are natural busy seasons, I focus on preparing in advance and being intentional about avoiding burnout.
The signal that it’s working is steady performance without a noticeable increase in errors. I also encourage my team to take PTO and prioritize their lives outside of work. When people can maintain performance without feeling overwhelmed, it’s a strong indicator the pace is sustainable.
What is flexible work like at Corporate Tools LLC?
“I also encourage my team to take PTO and prioritize their lives outside of work. When people can maintain performance without feeling overwhelmed, it's a strong indicator the pace is sustainable.”
— Madi Orndorff, Benefits Manager
Which policy or norm makes flexible working arrangements succeed — and how do you measure its impact?
I recognize that work is just one part of an employee’s life, so I focus on setting clear expectations around deliverables and response times rather than availability.
I measure impact through productivity and team wellbeing. When deadlines are consistently met and employees know they have flexibility when life comes up, I see reduced stress and burnout. That balance ultimately leads to stronger, more consistent performance.
Which wellness resource do people actually use — and what improvement have you seen on your team?
The wellness resources employees actually use are those that are easy, accessible and provide immediate value. We offer onsite chiropractic care, health coaching and access to mental health therapists and all of these programs are actively utilized.
As a result, I’ve seen improvements in both morale and overall wellbeing. When employees feel supported physically and mentally, it shows up in better focus, fewer absences and a more positive team environment.
