For HR and L&D managers, a growing body of research is pointing to an uncomfortable truth: sustained high performance without recovery doesn’t increase output – it erodes it. Chronic pressure reduces cognitive performance, increases absence and significantly raises the risk of burnout.

Yet for many companies, the expectation to do more with less remains constant. Deadlines compress, roles stretch and “just push a bit harder” becomes the default response to pressure.

But pushing harder isn’t solving the problem. Many organisations are seeing the same symptoms emerge: tired teams, reactive decision-making, rising absence and a creeping sense that people are running hard but not necessarily moving forward.

The issue isn’t commitment or capability. It’s energy.

Why we should all be aiming for healthy high performance

Our recent Dolphin Forum addressed this head-on. The session – ‘Healthy High Performance’ – was brilliantly facilitated by Douglas Miller. He explained how individuals and teams can learn to “pulse” between effort and recovery – rather than bouncing endlessly between high performance and sheer survival. It was a timely conversation, and one that resonated strongly with the realities of modern working life.

Because for many organisations, particularly growing SMEs, constantly working at full throttle has become the norm. And that comes at a cost.

The hidden cost of always-on cultures

For many businesses, being busy has become synonymous with being effective. Long hours, rapid responses and full calendars are often rewarded, even when they don’t translate into better outcomes.

What this creates is a pattern where people move repeatedly between high performance and survival mode. Work still gets done, but it’s increasingly reactive. Creativity narrows, strategic thinking drops away and stress becomes a constant background hum.

Over time, this pattern can slide into burnout – a state of low energy and negative emotion that’s costly for both individuals and organisations. And the commercial impact can be significant: sick leave, reduced productivity, higher turnover and greater exposure to costly errors.

Learning how to pulse

As Doug explained, the idea of ‘pulsing’ between effort and recovery – also known as ‘performance’ and ‘renewal’ – draws on research outlined in The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, which looks at how energy and emotional states interact at work.

Broadly speaking, we tend to move between four states:

• Burnout – unsurprisingly, this is when people have low energy and negative feelings. They might describe themselves as being exhausted, disengaged and depressed or hopeless.
• Survival – in this state, people have high energy but negative feelings. Words they use to describe themselves might be anxious, worried, angry or irritable.
• Performance – this is when people have high energy and feel positive. They’re generally feeling engaged, motivated, optimistic and effective.
• Renewal – this is the area that’s most frequently overlooked – while individuals’ energy is lower, they are still positive. They might describe themselves as feeling calm, peaceful or even relieved. It’s here where recovery and replenishment happen.

Most organisations are very familiar with performance and survival – and many will experience burnout. What’s often missing is renewal.

Rather than pulsing between performance and renewal, teams tend to oscillate between performance and survival – expending energy without properly restoring it.

What does renewal look like?

One of the most important insights from the Dolphin Forum was that renewal is deeply individual.

What restores energy for one person may do very little for another. Quiet time, movement, social connection, switching off mentally, or doing something deliberately undemanding can all be renewing – depending on the person and the context.

Crucially, not everything that feels ‘healthy’ is actually renewing. Exercise, learning and even hobbies can sit firmly in the performance zone if they are approached competitively or with pressure. Renewal is less about the activity itself and more about whether it genuinely allows the nervous system to reset.

For HR and L&D leaders, this reinforces the need to avoid one-size-fits-all wellbeing initiatives and instead create environments where individuals can identify and access what renewal looks like for them.

Can teams renew too?

Yes – but only intentionally.

From a team perspective, pulsing between performance and renewal means building deliberate time out into the working day, rather than treating it as something that happens outside or after it. This might include:

• Encouraging proper breaks during the working day
• Creating space to reflect after periods of intensity
• Normalising time away from constant demand
• Allowing autonomy in how people manage their energy

Leadership behaviour is critical here. When managers visibly take breaks, step back after peaks of work and use time off properly, it sends a powerful signal. Renewal stops being seen as a lack of commitment and starts being recognised as part of sustainable performance.

The commercial benefit

Teams stuck in survival mode are less innovative, less strategic and more prone to error. Over time, this undermines growth and resilience. By contrast, teams that regularly access renewal are better able to sustain focus, think creatively and respond proactively.

From an L&D and HR perspective, this also links closely to learning effectiveness. People learn, retain and apply new skills far better when they have the cognitive space to do so (whereas an ‘always on’ culture actively undermines the return on investment in training and development) .

Start pulsing today

Renewal doesn’t require large-scale programmes or significant cost – it just needs permission, modelling and structure.

That might mean building short pauses into the day, creating lighter periods after major deadlines, or simply giving teams the green light to step off the pedal before ramping back up again.

The key is recognising that high performance is not about constant effort. It’s about rhythm.

For HR and L&D managers looking to support healthier, higher-functioning teams, learning to pulse between performance and renewal may be one of the most impactful – and overlooked – shifts they can make.

About the Dolphin Forum

The Dolphin Forum is a quarterly online event for Staff Skills academy+ customers and invited guests. Designed for HR and L&D professionals, it’s an opportunity to network with like-minded peers while taking part in a workshop facilitated by one of our podcast speakers.

If you’d like to join us in the future, please get in touch – we’d love to see you there!