The Surprising Antidote to Workplace Exhaustion
I hesitated to share this story. There’s no shortage of discouraging headlines right now, and the last thing any of us needs is more despair. But what Dorthea told me over coffee one Friday morning was too important to keep to myself. It reveals not just how much strain we’re under—but also where the cracks of possibility are emerging. And maybe this is the perfect time, before the fall rush, to pause and ask: how do we want to move forward?
“We are not all right,” Dorthea said quietly as she sat down across from me for Friday morning breakfast.
Dorthea is the Chief Human Resources Officer of a large educational institution—steady, seasoned, and not prone to drama. But today, her voice carried the weight of something deeper.
“We think we’ve recovered from COVID,” she said. “But we haven’t. This has been the hardest year I’ve had in the decade I’ve been here.”
She told me about a longtime employee—25 years with the organization—who had to be let go. Not because he wasn’t good at his job. In fact, he was known for his institutional knowledge. But over time, his relational skills had deteriorated so much that he was dragging team morale down with him.
And it wasn’t an isolated case. Dorthea normally handles three or four disciplinary actions a year. This year? Sixteen.
“People are doing things that are so out of character—hurting others, and themselves,” she said. “Why? What’s happening?”
I had no answers. Just the good sense to sit still, listen, and feel the pain with her.
But I’ll admit—I wondered. I didn’t ask Dorthea about the age breakdown of those in crisis. It wasn’t the moment. But I couldn’t help but think: are older employees—those feeling unmoored by the rapid pace of change, by AI, by the creeping fear of irrelevance—beginning to unravel?
Meanwhile, on the Roof...
In another part of the building, quite literally, the roof was being replaced. That meant everyone had to work offsite temporarily—for safety reasons.
Dorthea chuckled when she told me who was taking it the hardest.
“Guess which generation is the most upset about not being in the office?”
I paused, already suspecting the answer.
“Gen Z,” she said. “They’ve been organizing BBQs and social hangouts in the parking lot. They want human contact. They need it.”
So often we talk about younger generations as digital natives, glued to screens and resistant to tradition. But here they were—craving presence, community, a shared lunch under the summer sun.
A Generational Invitation?
That image stayed with me.
What if Gen Z’s yearning for connection isn’t just a preference—it’s a signal?
What if it’s an invitation?
Could this be the moment when younger employees help reawaken something in their older colleagues—not just relevance, but relationship?
What if Gen Z, with their agile intellect and fresh perspectives, reached out to seasoned staff to ask for insight, wisdom, and context?
What if, in return, those seasoned professionals were reminded that their legacy still matters—that their stories, their crystalized intelligence, are a form of wealth?
It wouldn’t be mentoring in the traditional sense.
It would be co-mentoring.
Co-creating.
A new model of human connection at work.
What Might This Look Like?
If we want to shift from breakdown to breakthrough, we need intentional ways to reconnect across generations. A few simple, practical starting points:
Lunch & Learn Story Swaps – Invite a younger employee to host a conversation with a more seasoned colleague to share lessons, turning points, and challenges overcome.
Legacy Projects – Pair different generations to co-create something that honors the past and prepares for the future, such as modernizing an old process or capturing institutional memory.
Co-Mentoring Pairs – Establish partnerships where both parties learn from each other—fresh ideas meet seasoned insight—to solve a shared challenge.
Culture Keeper Roundtables – Bring long-tenured staff together to identify values worth preserving, then invite younger staff to help design practices that carry those values forward.
These aren’t just nice ideas. They’re doable next steps—and they might be exactly what we need to rebuild trust, purpose, and connection across our teams.
Because the Alternative?
The alternative is more of what Dorthea is seeing.
Behavior that wounds.
Morale that crumbles.
People who are hurting—and hurting others—because they no longer feel seen, useful, or connected.
We’re not just dealing with burnout. We’re dealing with grief. Loss. A breakdown in workplace humanity.
But we don’t have to stay there.
We can choose to rebuild—not just the roof, but the relationships beneath it.
👉 Your Turn: As you head into fall, where might you create a space for co-mentoring, story-swapping, or legacy building in your own workplace?
More soon,
Mary