Matthew Owenby
Chief People Officer
Aflac
Episode 84
Beyond burnout: How prioritizing employees unlocks purpose and company success
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJuly 31, 2025 · 14:09
Thesis
“Prioritizing employee well-being and engagement through an "employee-first" culture is the most effective way to prevent burnout, foster purpose, and ensure overall company success.”
Show notes
Aflac's own workforce report found that 59% of its employees feel burned out. That's not a footnote — it's a mandate. And for Matthew Owenby, Aflac's Chief People Officer, it became the organizing framework for an entirely different approach to employee wellbeing.
Owenby's core argument is harder-edged than most wellness talk: a significant portion of burnout is directly controllable by leadership. It's not just a systemic condition or a personal failing — it's a management problem with management solutions. He walks through how Aflac approaches this, from low-cost practical interventions (scheduled movement breaks, relationship-building, in-person connection) to a more strategic use of AI as an enabler of recovery time rather than an accelerant of output pressure.
The conversation also gets into mental health culture — specifically, the trust infrastructure required before employees will actually talk about what's weighing on them. And it ends with a challenge to every leader in the room: do your employees know why their specific role matters? Because if they don't, that's on you.
- Why remote workers ironically tend to work more — and what leaders should do about it
- The low-cost, high-impact burnout interventions Aflac has actually deployed
- How Owenby thinks about AI as a burnout reducer rather than a workload accelerator
- What "building trust" before mental health conversations actually looks like in practice
- Why connecting employees to purpose is a leadership obligation, not a perk
This episode is brought to you by Previ — an employer network that saves employees thousands on the necessities they already pay for, at no cost to the company.
What you'll take away
- 1Leaders significantly control employee burnout through proactive planning, clear communication, and managing work pace.
- 2Remote and hybrid employees must intentionally schedule breaks to counteract the tendency to overwork due to lack of natural interruptions.
- 3Companies must cultivate a trusting environment where employees feel safe discussing mental health issues to destigmatize the topic.
- 4To help employees find purpose, leaders must clearly connect individual work activities to broader corporate objectives and strategy.
- 5Frequent, specific recognition, even starting team meetings with accolades, is crucial for reconnecting employees to their work's impact and success.
What most organizations get wrong
- •The conventional wisdom often places burnout as a systemic or individual problem; Matthew Owenby emphasizes that a significant portion of burnout is directly controllable by leadership through planning and communication.
In Matthew's words
“Our motto is really take care of the employee, they're going to take care of the company.”
This quote encapsulates Aflac's core philosophy of prioritizing employees as a driver of business success.
“A lot of that burnout I think is directly controllable, or a big portion of it, by leadership.”
This highlights a leader's direct responsibility and influence in preventing employee burnout.
“People that work remotely ironically tend to work more because they don't have natural breaks and interruptions in the day.”
This provides a unique insight into a common challenge faced by remote employees.
“We see AI as an enablement of a person, making them more effective, giving them the ability to take some of those breaks during the day to reduce that workload down.”
This offers a positive and human-centric perspective on AI's role in the workplace.
“The first thing they have to do is start with building a relationship of trust where you can open the door to communicating and making it safe to talk about mental issues, mental health issues.”
This emphasizes trust as the foundational element for addressing mental health in the workplace.
“It is your responsibility to make a person's purpose work very clear.”
This places accountability on leaders to articulate how an employee's role contributes to the bigger picture.
The problems this episode addresses
- •High employee burnout rates (e.g., Aflac's report showed 59%).
- •Increased work hours and lack of natural breaks for remote/hybrid employees leading to more burnout.
- •Employee anxiety and fear regarding job displacement due to emerging technologies like AI.
- •Workplace stigma preventing open discussion of mental health issues.
- •Employees lacking clear connection between their daily work and the company's strategic vision.
- •Monotonous work environments that lack engagement and opportunities for fun.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Matt is the president of our printing company. Matt started out in HR recruiting
Built by People: Matt Cox
Aflac's workforce report shows 59% of employees feel burned out
Aflac Working Well: How to Reduce Burnout
Matt, what are some practical low-cost actions employees can take to manage stress
Aflac Wellbeing: How to Manage Stress
With the emergence of AI, how do you see burnout being addressed
How AI Can Help You Manage Burnout
How can companies foster a culture that prioritizes mental health to reduce burnout
Mental Wellbeing: How to Raise Employee Burnout
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
Expand transcript (0 words)
Transcript is not available yet.