A sad girl sitting on the steps
For many employees, work has become a constant state of "survival mode," far beyond typical stress. This isn't just about busy schedules; it's the profound emotional cost of ongoing uncertainty. This leads to disengagement, reduced creativity, and a significant drop in job satisfaction, ultimately impacting both individual well-being and overall business performance.
So says Dr. Alex Lovell, Director of Research and Data Science at O.C. Tanner. Dr. Lovell provides insights on what "survival mode" looks like in the workplace and how organizations can shift their approach to truly support their workforce and foster a thriving environment.
What does it mean for an employee to be in “survival mode,” and how does that manifest at work?
Survival mode isn’t just being busy or stressed, it’s the emotional toll of chronic precarity. Through our research at O.C. Tanner, we’ve found that employees fall into survival mode when core baseline needs go unmet: adequate compensation, mental and physical wellbeing, and a sense of belonging. When these are missing, people don’t just feel unsupported, they feel exposed.
They describe it as “doing the bare minimum to get by,” or like they’re holding it together with thread. They stop bringing new ideas. They avoid eye contact. They pull inward, both physically and emotionally. This state mirrors the psychological effects of grief or depletion, and it limits not just what people can do, but how they feel about themselves and their work.
But here’s the important distinction: thriving isn’t just the opposite of surviving. It’s something entirely different. On the thriving end of the spectrum, employees experience meaning, growth, and a felt ability to make a difference, conditions that elevate energy, creativity, and connection. It’s a shift from scarcity to possibility.
Our research shows the impact clearly. Employees in survival mode are 69% less likely to be satisfied with their work experience. Thriving employees, on the other hand, are 226% more likely to report satisfaction. And that satisfaction isn’t just surface-level; it’s rooted in how they feel seen, supported, and purposeful.
What are organizations commonly missing when it comes to supporting mental wellness, and how can they realign their efforts to truly meet employee needs?
One of the most common mistakes organizations make is treating mental wellness as a bonus benefit, something to layer on top of performance initiatives, rather than something foundational to their operations. But if an employee is underpaid, exhausted, or disconnected from their team, no amount of wellness programming will move them out of survival mode.
It starts with compensation. When someone’s basic financial needs aren’t met, that insecurity doesn’t stay home, it walks into work with them. Our research shows that performance bonuses, for example, increase engagement by 110% among employees who are already thriving. But for employees in survival mode, that same bonus can actually decrease engagement by 32%. Why? Because when you’re barely keeping up, additional expectations can feel like pressure, not support.
We also have to talk about language. Many employees use terms like “burnout” to describe what they’re feeling, but underneath that is often unspoken anxiety, depression, or grief. Burnout has become a socially acceptable way to say, “I’m not okay” — but that leaves many people unsupported, because leaders assume they’re just tired, not suffering.
To realign support, leaders have to open the door to honest conversations. That starts with modeling, sharing their own experiences, and signaling that emotional honesty is safe, not penalized. Then it becomes about listening. Because mental health is never one-size-fits-all. Survival is context-specific. Only when leaders make space for the specifics can organizations begin to respond in meaningful ways.
How does having a significant portion of the workforce in survival mode affect overall business performance?
When employees are in survival mode, organizations don’t just lose productivity, they lose possibility.
People who are overwhelmed, anxious, or emotionally depleted can still show up. They’ll attend the meetings, answer the emails, and complete the tasks. But what they can’t do sustainably is imagine, initiate, or connect. In short, they can perform, but they can’t create. They can comply, but they can’t contribute.
This is where the cost adds up. Survival mode drives both presenteeism (being physically present but mentally distant) and absenteeism (missing work altogether). American adults with depression cost the economy an estimated $325 billion annually, and 61% of that is due to presenteeism.
It also weakens the impact of an organization’s Total Rewards strategy. If employees don’t feel safe, secure, or well, even the best-designed recognition or incentive programs will fall flat. And because survival mode increases the risk of burnout twelvefold, it creates a churn risk that’s hard to recover from, especially when we know that 70% of burned-out employees say they would leave their current role.
On the flip side, when employees are thriving, they’re six times more likely to stay. That’s not just retention, that’s stability, trust, and momentum.
Related: Employees struggling with stress, instability in the workplace
What strategies can HR leaders implement to help employees move beyond survival and prevent regression?
The most effective strategies begin with a hard but necessary question: Have we given people enough to stand on? Before offering performance incentives or culture programs, organizations need to ensure the foundation is secure. That starts with compensation, physical and mental health care access, and belonging.
When compensation or access to care falls short, employees remain in a state of survival mode, regardless of how polished the rest of the experience appears. In that state, even well-intended benefits can miss the mark. A performance bonus might feel like extra pressure instead of encouragement. A professional development stipend might go untouched, not because someone doesn’t care about growth, but because they’re too overwhelmed to make use of it.
When salary increases aren’t possible, leaders still have a powerful lever: belonging. This goes beyond team building. It’s about security, being known, supported, and genuinely appreciated. Recognition plays a key role here. When employees receive regular and specific appreciation, our research shows their risk of depression drops by 58%, and anxiety by 54%. Those effects hold true for both employees in survival mode and those already thriving.
One of the most overlooked strategies is also the most human: Ask.
Survival is personal. An employee may have a strong salary and good benefits, yet still feel overwhelmed by student debt or caregiving responsibilities. When leaders take the time to ask, What kind of support would make a difference right now? They begin to treat wellbeing as a uniquely human need, not a one-size-fits-all offering.
To help employees stay out of survival mode, organizations must remain responsive and adaptable. That means Total Rewards programs need to evolve with changing life stages, economic realities, and personal circumstances. Recognition and belonging shouldn’t be reserved for milestones or moments of crisis. They need to be part of the everyday experience.
How can companies prioritize their employees’ mental health this month but also in a more ongoing way throughout the entire year?
Mental Health Awareness Month is a good prompt.
But for most people, mental health doesn’t follow a campaign schedule. It’s not something that turns on in May and quiets down in June. It’s what people carry with them every day. Sometimes heavy, sometimes hidden,even as they try to perform, connect, and show up.
More than 57 million adults in the U.S. live with some form of mental illness. That’s not a niche concern, that’s a cultural reality. And while HR teams can address structural contributors, such as compensation, toxic teams, and workloads, many employees fall into a state of survival mode due to deeply personal circumstances. A death in the family. A lawsuit. A partner’s diagnosis. These are moments that no benefit design can fix.
But organizations can soften the blow. They can make sure employees don’t feel alone in what they’re carrying. At O.C. Tanner, we created the Tanner Cares fund to help employees through extreme life challenges. But even when financial assistance isn’t available, the act of reaching out, checking in, and connecting people with resources like mental health counseling — that matters. It says: we see you, and we’re here.
This isn’t just about benefits, it’s about belonging. When people feel known and supported at work, they’re more likely to ask for help, to take a breath, and to stay. And that comes down to leaders, not as therapists, but as humans who are willing to show up with empathy and ask real questions.
If companies want to support mental health, they must make the conversation an integral part of their culture, not just a campaign. That means modeling vulnerability, naming the hard things, and normalizing mental health as something we all navigate in different ways. Awareness months are important. But the real work is what we do the other eleven.
Anything else to add?
One of the most powerful, and underutilized, ways to support mental health at work is recognition. Not the once-a-year kind, not the checkbox kind, but real appreciation. The kind that’s specific, personal, and timely. The kind that says, I see what you bring, and it matters here.
Recognition has a measurable impact. In our research, we found that when employees feel genuinely appreciated, their odds of experiencing depression and anxiety drop significantly. And when recognition is given to both low- and high-surviving employees, feelings of connection to the organization increase by 48% and 185%, respectively. That’s not just good for culture, that’s good for wellbeing.
And yet, only 21% of organizations have integrated recognition programs. That gap matters. Because appreciation isn’t only a soft skill. It’s a structural one first. If we don’t build systems and habits that enable it, even the most well-intentioned efforts fall flat.
If we want mental health to be more than a campaign, we have to treat care as a daily practice. Recognition is one place to start. Not as a tactic, but as a way of being together at work.
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