5 Tips to Prevent Manager Burnout In Your Company

As the economy continues slipping into recession, most business leaders start looking for ways to optimize resources to get through the hard times.

Concurrently, a growing number of surveys (like this one conducted by Slack Technologies from among the latter) report extreme levels of burnout among employees, resulting in their disengagement or strong intent to quit.

The problem is so immense that 70% of workers are ready to delegate part of their work to AI despite widespread concerns about job loss:

“It’s fascinating that people are more excited about AI rescuing them from burnout than they are worried about it eliminating their jobs,” – the latest Work Trend Index by Microsoft cites professor Adam Grant, who specializes in organizational psychology.

While having even one permanently burned-out employee does not bode well for any organization, worn-out managers are one of the worst things that can happen to a business.

Managers are key promoters of an organization’s culture. They can make or break employee motivation for achieving shared goals. The quality of management tremendously affects employee retention rates. This is why a manager in a state of physical and emotional exhaustion would inevitably affect the performance of the whole team.

All that testifies that manager burnout prevention must be on the list of priorities for any organization interested in sustaining success long-term. But how many companies are choosing the right tactics to achieve this goal? The available data signals that most organizations fail when it comes to the well-being of their employees and managers.

Statistics on manager burnout

According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, 53% of managers report feeling burned out at work.

The survey conducted by the Workforce Institute at UKG revealed even more interesting facts:

• 70% of managers are ready to take a pay cut for a job that better sustains their well-being
• 40% of the C-suite were ready to quit within a year because of work-related stress
• 25% of managers say they are “often” or “always” feeling burned out

Main reasons for manager burnout in recent years

Recent changes in workplace arrangements require more efforts from managers to sustain the performance of their direct reports and create issues when a manager lacks soft skills.

The Gartner’s recent report on future work trends puts it this way:

“Managers… feel pressure from above and below: they must implement corporate strategy with regard to hybrid work while also providing a sense of purpose, flexibility and career opportunities.”

Simultaneously, as stated in the Microsoft’s Work Trend Index we cited above:

“Based on our research (managers) report receiving less coaching and development for their people management skills, and less recognition from their own managers. This untenable situation has left many managers struggling.”

Signs of manager burnout

Here’s the list of main signs of manager burnout you want to look for in the workplace:

• Increased number of missed deadlines
• Increase in the number of sick leaves and complaints about feeling unwell
• Withdrawing from colleagues and company events
• Reduction in work efficiency
• Decrease in ability to regulate emotions
• Having an increased number of workplace conflicts

In the next sections, we will discuss the typical challenges for managers and what organizations can do to create a supportive environment where managers can meet the demands of their job with less strain.

The most common challenges

Being a manager is not an easy position in all circumstances. It requires leadership, planning, decision-making, and interpersonal skills. As with any role, a manager has to maneuver through various challenges that come their way.

Based on Gallup’s Perspective Series on the Manager Experience, the most common challenges managers face typically include:

1. Unclear expectations
   A managers’ work is often weakly ordered and full of unanticipated tasks. This is partially due to the complex nature of their role and the conflict in their responsibilities to several stakeholders. In fact, managers are 42% more likely to strongly agree that they have competing multiple priorities, as compared to 27% of individual contributors.
   
   
2. Heavy workload and distractions
   Managers are 67% more likely to agree they have many interruptions at work. Somewhere between managing their direct reports and reporting to the senior leaders, managers are swamped with having too much work and constant interruptions, leading to stress and reduced productivity.
   
   
3. Job stress and frustrations
   Essentially, managers are responsible for the well-being and future of their employees. They are under constant scrutiny and regularly make high-stakes decisions under intense pressure. 27% of managers were more likely to agree that they felt stressed during most of their recent work days compared to individual contributors.
4. Less focus on their strengths
   Individual contributors are encouraged and expected to perform efficiently in a specific role. On the other hand, managers have a multitude of responsibilities and must tap into a vast skill set. As a result, they often don’t get the opportunity to focus on their strengths. Studies show that 11% of managers are less likely to agree that they have the opportunity to do what they do best at work.
   
   
5. Frustrating performance reviews
   Receiving performance reviews that are rather inaccurate and don’t reflect managers’ dedication and commitment to work hinders their effectiveness and ultimately hurts performance. Only 8% of managers strongly agree that performance reviews inspire them to improve. Moreover, they often start to doubt whether their input is appreciated and worry about career prospects.
   

5 tips to prevent burnout among managers

All the challenges described above make managers feel overstressed and overworked. Providing managers with the support they need can go a long way – especially for the employees and the organization as a whole.

Here are five effective measures for supporting your key employees:

Encourage a work-life balance

Motivation and happiness remain an integral factor in determining productivity, therefore it’s important to encourage a work-life balance among managers. Check-in with your managers and remain connected by providing mentorship, guidance, and support when needed.

Eliminate conflicting priorities

Make the priorities of your organization clear and advise managers on how to allocate their time. Check whether you need to redesign some of the management roles within the organization and implement the appropriate changes.

Offer qualification improvement courses

Hybrid workplace often requires organizations to arrange qualification improvement for their managers. Offering practical support, adequate training, and requisite resources will help enhance manager performance and reduce the number of workplace conflicts.

Train managers in delegating job autonomy

Encourage managers to exercise better delegation and trust. Focus on routinely checking in with your managers rather than checking on them. Regular communicating and offering guidance will instill a greater sense of belonging, resulting in better performance and wellbeing.

Listen

Suppose an organization wants to ensure the professional success of its managers. In that case, HR leaders want to ensure they have the means to continually listen to managers, act on feedback, measure and recognize the achieved progress.

We had an amazing webinar starring Oscar Munoz, the former CEO and Executive Chairman of United Airline, dedicated to the art of listening to employees. Make sure to check it out if you want inspiration and practical tips on turning feedback from employees into real transformations:

| Listening, Learning, Leading: How to Turnaround a Culture and Build Resilient Teams

Emphasize appreciation and recognition

Positive feedback is a necessary aspect of every employee engagement and can warrant improved performance. Never miss a chance to compliment a job well done, which is especially important when the whole team is distributed outside the office.

Organizing flexible rewards and recognition program

Workplace programs capable of improving well-being among company managers offer great flexibility in the choice of rewards, including additional time off. Pairing it with dedicated employee wellness programs and flexible working hours will significantly increase your organization’s ability to prevent manager burnout.

WorkProud designs custom programs that boost employee motivation and engagement in the current working environment. Our mobile-first recognition platform combines all advantages of an internal social network with a robust choice of options for providing positive feedback, recognition, and tangible rewards.

If you want to start a modern recognition program, you can book a demo with a dedicated expert to learn how we can help your business. With over 18 years of experience and 450 successful client programs, we are well-equipped to deliver results that drive success.

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