For companies to be successful in this post-pandemic world, burnout needs to be addressed head-on. To address it, though, we need to understand it. Burnout isn’t a mental health illness, but it is a mental health issue and should be approached as such. Offering safe spaces for conversation as well as mental health resources can help the problem somewhat, but that won’t be a cure-all. Prioritization that allows space for mental health to become a priority is needed. This can start with managers. Rather than simply asking an employee how they’re doing and inevitably getting the response of “fine”—even if that’s a lie—managers should instead be asking more probing, open-ended questions. Jennifer Moss, author of the book The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It, suggests asking employees how their week is going—what have been the highs and lows. Managers should be interested in how they can make employees’ jobs easier and asking how they can partner together. This should be made a regular part of meetings. “Simple actions done with repetition equal positive well-being outcomes,” Moss said.