Heart at Work with Trina Sunday

58. What Happens When Work Wants More and Gives Less?

• Trina Sunday • Episode 58

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Are you feeling like you’re giving more at work but getting less back?

Something has shifted at work. You can feel it, I can too. And in this episode, I unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface. This isn’t just burnout. It’s something deeper. A quiet change in the deal between people and organisations that no one has clearly named.

I walk through what the research is saying and what it means in real life. From rising expectations and shrinking support, to the growing pressure around AI and relevance. More importantly, I explore why people aren’t just tired, they’re starting to feel let down.

If you’re an HR leader trying to make sense of the tension between performance and people, this will help you see it more clearly. And more importantly, decide what needs to change next.

I’d love to hear your take. Are you seeing this shift too? What does the “deal” feel like in your organisation right now? Connect with me here on LinkedIn

SHOW NOTES: https://trinasunday.com/get-inspired/

Trina Sunday is a human-first leadership strategist, HR advisor and creator of the HEART Work™ model, helping HR leaders and People & Culture professionals build workplaces where people and performance thrive side by side. With more than 25 years of experience across HR, organisational development and leadership advisory in Australia, Asia and global leadership communities, she works with HR leaders and executive teams to strengthen leadership capability, shape workplace culture and drive human-first organisational transformation. Through the Heart at Work with Trina Sunday podcast, leadership programs and advisory work, Trina is passionate about empowering HR professionals to move beyond compliance and lead the future of HR with courage, clarity and influence.

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58. What Happens When Work Wants More and Gives Less?


Something has shifted — and no one has said it out loud

Something has shifted at work, and no one has officially said it out loud… but everyone can feel it.

We’re being asked to give more. More output, more adaptability, more resilience.

And quietly, we’re getting less back. Less certainty, less support, less sense that this is actually working for us.

So today, I want to unpack what’s really going on.

Because this isn’t burnout. This is a broken deal.


This space is for HR leaders who care deeply about performance and people

Welcome to Heart at Work with me, Trina Sunday.

This is a space for HR leaders who care deeply about performance and equally deeply about people.

For more than 25 years, I’ve been asking one persistent question: what are the real conditions for happiness at work?

Because when humans come first, something deeper shifts. How people show up, how leaders decide, and how work feels.

Here, we explore what it really takes to lead with courage, compassion and clarity. And we make space for the conversations HR leaders don’t always get to have.

There’s heart here, and there’s depth.

If you’re ready to build workplaces where people and performance thrive side by side, you’re in the right place.

Let’s get to the heart of it.


Why are so many employees feeling let down?

All right, I need you to come with me on this one, because I have gone down a rabbit hole.

Not a neat, curated “three insights” kind of rabbit hole. I mean full-blown. Multiple tabs open. Gartner, Hays, McKinsey, Deloitte, PwC… a bit of World Economic Forum for good measure.

At one point, I genuinely thought I might need my whiteboard and possibly a lie down.

And it all started with a deceptively simple question:

Why are so many employees feeling let down by their employers right now?

Not disengaged. Not just tired. Let down.

So instead of jumping to a neat answer, I thought you might want to follow the bouncing ball with me. Because this is exactly how my brain works when I’m trying to absorb all of this noise and work out what actually matters for HR leaders.

And where I keep landing, again and again, is this:

The employment deal has quietly changed.


The deal has changed — no one announced it

Let’s start with Gartner.

They’re essentially saying the employment deal is shifting to “give more, expect less.”

When you unpack that, it looks like this:

Higher expectations for time and effort. Longer workdays. Heavier workloads. Constant change.

Alongside reduced flexibility, lower investment in people, and less job security.

Let’s make that real.

Picture a mid-level manager. They’ve lost two roles in their team. They’re still expected to deliver the same outcomes. They’re being told to be more strategic, lean into AI, develop their people.

But they’re also sitting in back-to-back meetings, approving things they shouldn’t need to approve, and quietly doing work that used to belong to someone else.

And no one has actually said, “By the way, the deal has changed.”

Happy Tuesday.

Only 47% of CHROs believe culture drives performance. Not even half.

And 64% of leaders say they don’t have the mindset to lead change.

That’s not a small gap.

That’s an organisation asking for elite performance while still running on yesterday’s operating system.

And this is where it started to click for me.

This is not just workload.


The psychological contract is shifting

This is where Denise Rousseau comes in.

The psychological contract. Not the written one, the one people feel.

“If I give this, I expect that.”

What she’s observing now is a shift from relational to transactional.

From long-term, trust-based exchange to something that feels short-term, conditional, and immediate.

And even more interesting, she describes work becoming transitional or unstable, where organisations are shifting toward tech while avoiding long-term commitment to people.

So this isn’t just about workload.

It’s about whether people still believe the exchange is fair.


The emotional layer: fear of becoming obsolete

Now layer in Hays.

If Gartner gave us the structure, Hays gives us the emotion.

PHOBO. The fear of becoming obsolete.

Not missing out. Becoming irrelevant.

I was speaking to a senior HR leader recently. Incredibly capable, experienced, sharp.

And she said to me, “I feel like I am constantly trying to prove that I still add value, 20 years in.”

Not because she doesn’t.

Because the ground underneath her has shifted and no one has explained how to stand on it anymore.

Hays is also saying AI is now augmenting complex, creative work.

We were all relatively comfortable when it was administrative.

Now people are asking, what is left for me?

And the line that came through is gold:

Without communication and upskilling, organisations create fear instead of momentum.

So at the top, AI is transformational.

At the team level, am I being replaced?

Same strategy, completely different reality.


We’re asking people to adapt without building capability

Hays tells us 21% of people are using AI, yet 52% of organisations say they are.

At the same time, most are reporting skill shortages, especially in human skills.

So if we translate that, we are asking people to adapt in systems that haven’t built that capability.

That creates pressure.

“I should be better at this.”
 “Everyone else seems ahead.”
 “I don’t want to fall behind.”

It shows up in small moments.

You open AI, it drafts something decent, and instead of relief you feel unsettled.

That used to be your thinking.

That’s not resistance. That’s identity shifting.


People are staying — but not because they’re inspired

In Australia, job confidence is at a three-year low.

People are staying, but not because they’re inspired.

Someone said to me recently, “I’m not looking, but I’m not exactly staying either.”

That’s not loyalty.

That’s positioning.


What hasn’t changed

Deloitte talks about speed and agility. McKinsey talks about rapid change.

But what hasn’t changed is what people value.

After all this disruption, people still want fairness, growth, respect, good leadership, clarity, meaning.

Not more AI.

Treat me properly. Help me grow. Be honest with me.

PwC reinforces the tension.

Productivity is up. Fatigue is high. Anxiety is real.

So we end up here.

Work is evolving fast. Human needs are not.

And the gap between those two is where the friction lives.


This isn’t burnout — it’s imbalance

People can handle hard work, pressure and uncertainty.

What they struggle with is imbalance.

When it feels like I’m giving more, adapting more, carrying more, without clarity on what I’m getting back.

That’s when trust starts to break.

Not because of change.

Because the exchange becomes one-sided, unclear and unstable.


People don’t disengage — they detach

When that happens, people don’t just disengage.

They detach.

They still show up. They still do the work.

But emotionally, they’ve stopped expecting anything back.

They’re in the relationship, but no longer invested in it.


The real question for HR

So the question is not how do we improve engagement.

The question is, are we willing to redesign the deal?

Right now expectations are rising, systems are unchanged, reciprocity is unclear, and people are noticing.

The psychological contract was never written, but it was always understood.

And right now that understanding is shifting.

Not because people have changed.

Because the deal has.


A different kind of conversation

That’s exactly why I’m creating the People Unconference.

Not for perfect answers, but for real conversations.

What is the deal now? Is it fair? Is it sustainable? And what are we willing to change?

Because if we don’t start asking different questions, we’ll keep optimising a system people are quietly disengaging from.


An invitation

If this conversation resonated with you, I want to invite you into a different kind of room.

Not the rabbit hole. An actual room.

The People Unconference is happening in Perth on 2 July.

It’s not about being talked at. It’s about sitting alongside other HR leaders and working through what’s real.

No polished answers. No pretending everything’s fine.

Just honest conversations, shared thinking and collective problem solving.

I’m keeping it intentionally small, just 60 people.

If you’re ready to lead differently, I would love to see you in the room.

Head to trinasunday.com to learn more or secure your place.


Closing

Thanks for spending time with me.

If this conversation challenged you, clarified something, or reminded you that you’re not the only one holding the tension between people and performance, then it’s done exactly what it was meant to do.

This work isn’t easy. But it is necessary.

HR has a new future. And it leads with heart.

If you found value here, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Share this episode with someone who believes work can be better.

And if you want to go deeper, explore the HEART Work model, the programs and the growing community of HR leaders at trinasunday.com.

Because when HR leads with clarity, courage and compassion, it doesn’t just change workplaces.

It changes lives.

Until next time, keep asking better questions, keep backing your voice, and keep putting humanity at the centre of performance.

Let’s keep heart, at work.