In recent years, employers have been taking a more proactive approach to tackling employee burnout. Many companies take a big-picture approach, looking at everything from workloads to wellness benefits. The results have been positive, with lower absenteeism, stronger retention and improved productivity.
But what about managers? Leaders are employees too, and are just as likely to experience stress and overwhelm. Leaders also face unique pressures that can damage their wellbeing, leading to the phenomenon known as manager burnout.
What is manager burnout?
Here is the official definition of employee burnout is:
Manager burnout has the same symptoms, but it can result from factors that are unique to leadership positions. Some of the main contributing factors include:Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions:
- feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
- increased mental distance from one's job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
- reduced professional efficacy.
- Isolation: Management positions can be lonely, especially if you're not regularly in contact with the rest of the leadership team.
- Always-on mindset: Leaders find it especially difficult to unplug from work. They may feel a need to be available 24/7 to deal with team emergencies or strategic initiatives.
- High levels of personal accountability: Managers spend every day trying to anticipate changing needs among direct reports, clients, and/or business priorities. They need to be ready to have difficult conversations and solve problems at any moment.
- Inadequate training: High performers are often promoted to management positions. Such individuals may have excellent technical knowledge, but they also need training and mentoring to develop leadership skills such as communication and people management.
- Pressure to deliver: When teams miss their targets, managers are held to account. This means that leaders are under pressure to deliver at any cost, even if that means taking on an unsustainable workload.
Bear in mind that these issues are on top of the other factors that lead to employee burnout. Managers are at high risk of pushing themselves too far.
How much of a problem is manager burnout?
Research by Gallup has found a substantial drop in workplace engagement, the first such drop since the early days of the pandemic. Gallup's annual report pulls no punches about the cause of this drop:
What caused the decline in engagement?
Managers. Manager engagement fell from 30% to 27%, while Individual contributor engagement remained flat at 18%. No other worker category — male or female, young or old — experienced as significant a decline.
However, two types of managers were particularly affected: Young (under 35) manager engagement fell by five percentage points; female manager engagement dropped by seven points.
Managers have dealt with an unprecedented level of stress in recent years. In most organizations, leaders find themselves caught in the middle of several debates at once:
- Remote work vs Return to Office
- A.I. efficiency vs Job security for employees
- Mass lay-offs vs The Great Resignation
- Outgoing Boomers vs Incoming Gen Z
- Tighter salary budgets vs Cost of living crisis
No wonder managers are seeing an unusually high decline in engagement.
Unfortunately, manager burnout isn't just a problem for one person. Leadership is one of the biggest drivers of employee engagement, which means that a disengaged manager will eventually lead to a disengaged team. If your managers are suffering from extreme stress, it's time to act.
How to tackle manager burnout
The only way to tackle employee burnout is by reducing workplace stress. This can mean rethinking workloads, dealing with cultural issues, and providing long-term incentives such as professional development.
You can also implement these steps, which specifically help to tackle manager burnout:
1. Promote a culture of wellbeing
Senior employees often feel pressured to behave as if they were superhuman. They're the first ones in the office, the last ones out, they never take PTO, and they rarely talk about their personal struggles.
Organizations work better when they have a pragmatic approach to wellbeing, with all employees encouraged to manage stress and avoid burnout. Ideally, the people at the top of the organization should lead by example, taking breaks and talking about the importance of self-care.
2. Train leaders on management skills
Over two-thirds of leaders are "accidental managers". They didn't intend to take a management role, and many of them have never received formal management training. This creates huge pressure to learn on the job, which adds to burnout.
HR should take the lead on training assessments for managers, and then fill in any skills gaps. Learning skills such as communication, task prioritization, and conflict resolution will make it easier to perform as a manager. Experienced leaders might also benefit from some refresher training.
3. Teach managers to be coaches
Coaching is sometimes treated as an innate skill. Either people are good at motivating and inspiring others, or they're not. But coaching is a skill that can be taught, and natural coaches can become even better with the right training.
Gartner's study includes some compelling statistics on this: when managers were trained on coaching techniques, their team's productivity went up by 18%. This is great for the business, but also means managers will find it easier to do their jobs, resulting in lower stress.
4. Offer peer-level networking opportunities
Management positions can be isolating. Your direct reports aren't your peers, so you can't have peer-level conversations about what's on your mind. To solve this problem, it's important that leaders have opportunities to talk to their managerial colleagues and share their experiences.
Mentorship programs can also help, giving leaders a chance to talk to someone who has been there. Professional networking events can also be an opportunity to engage with other managers.
5. Provide meaningful career paths
Career pathing is a great long-term strategy for tackling burnout. A realistic career path, backed up with professional development opportunities, can encourage people to push through challenges and keep moving forward.
Managers focus on career paths for their direct reports, but their own career paths might sometimes fall behind. This is another area where HR can lead, closely monitoring managers to ensure that they are always progressing on their individual career paths.
Help your leaders be their best
Great managers put their heart and soul into the job, but burnout isn't inevitable. With the right training strategies and culture, your leaders can give 100% while avoiding the risks of manager burnout.
Need help implementing a wellbeing program, management coaching or overall training strategy? Book a call with a Helios HR expert and find out how your team can be at its best.
