Happens quite often with large c++ projects and some quirky includes. Change 1 header, recompile whole thing.
For comparison, rebuilding linux kernel with make defconfig takes about 3-4 minutes tops on my laptop, rebuilding one of the work projects - at least 15.
I don't think this points to a problem with the workflow, but rather to a problem with the codebase. If your codebase is so big and complicated and interlinked that it requires frequently recompiling large swaths of it - it may be poorly designed.
For comparison, rebuilding linux kernel with make defconfig takes about 3-4 minutes tops on my laptop, rebuilding one of the work projects - at least 15.