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36% Of Managers Report Alarming Levels Of Stress And Burnout In 2024
New data shows that managers in the workplace are struggling with handling conflict, suffering ... [+] burnout and many considering quitting their jobs.
gettyAmid the worsening divide and mistrust between management and employees, the Workplace Communication & Well-Being Survey, recently commissioned by Firstup, paints a clear picture that workplace stress is pervasive, with 60% of respondents reporting their jobs to be the primary source of stress.
A new study out today shows alarming levels of stress and burnout among managers, with many considering quitting their jobs. A second new study finds that the world's rising managers fail to demonstrate adequate conflict management skills—all this amid "The Great Unbossing" trend as Amazon axes more than 100 customer service managers this week.
Psychological Safety And Workplace IncivilityAccording to The Workforce Institute, managers have a greater impact on someone's mental health than a doctor or therapist. No wonder a Gallup report found that managers are more likely to be stressed, angry, sad and lonely than non-managers, given the huge responsibilities that fall on their shoulders, coupled with the challenging economic, political and social climate.
A new report from meQuilibrium reveals that 36% of managers are more likely to report feeling burned out and 24% more likely to consider quitting their jobs in the next six months, compared to non-managers. Alarming levels of top-down manager stress and burnout can negatively impact employee engagement, motivation, productivity and turnover rates.
Despite the stress they're under, managers bring benefits to the mental health of employees, according to the meQuilibrium report. Employees who are well-supported by managers were 25% less likely to struggle with somatic symptoms of stress, 33% less likely to have a hard time getting motivated in the morning and 56% less likely to have high work stress. The prevalence of burnout is 58% lower among employees who experience strong manager support for mental well-being. Employees who don't feel well supported by their manager are 4.5 times more likely to be a retention risk.
The report stresses that strong managers boost psychological safety by as much as 42%. It stresses that enhancing well-being among managers needs to be an organizational priority as it's the managers who create psychologically safe environments—where employees feel comfortable taking risks and sharing ideas.
The report adds that effective managers are the frontline defense against rising workplace incivility. Given the deepening polarization on political and social issues, coupled with widespread economic pressures, employees who have strong manager support say they are 66% less likely to report having experienced incivility at work. To effectively support their teams, managers must actively manage their mental health, which will not only enhance their ability to lead effectively but also model healthy behaviors for their employees.
Difficulty With Conflict ManagementDDI released new data on rising managers' competency with workplace conflict management. DDI's assessments of more than 70,000 manager candidates globally found that nearly half (49%) fail to demonstrate effective conflict management skills and only 12% show high proficiency in this area. Manager candidates' inability to clarify issues, offer support and empower team members hinders productivity and morale, the report says.
According to Stephanie Neal, director of DDI's center for analytics and behavioral research, "With rising political tensions and growing employee distrust of leaders, workplaces are becoming more polarized. Conflict can have a ripple effect throughout organizations, stifling productivity, creativity and morale—and ultimately driving higher turnover." Neal insists that now is the time for leaders to address the conflict management blind spot.
The study reports that leaders recognize conflict management as a weakness, with only 30% of leaders expressing confidence in their ability to manage conflict. DDI's leadership assessment revealed the specific skill gaps contributing to conflict management failures among potential frontline leaders, including the following:
Tacy M. Byham, CEO of DDI recognizes the value in supporting the new generation of managers. "While poorly managed conflict is a major business risk, conflict also presents an opportunity for a healthy debate, ultimately resulting in a positive change that is better because tough issues were clarified and all parties were willing to challenge their thinking," Byham states. "By helping the next generation of leaders cultivate the skills to handle conflict effectively, organizations can foster innovation and growth with more focused and aligned teams."
However, another trend gaining momentum is the ditching of middle management positions—a move with significant repercussions for the U.S. Workforce. Many business leaders argue that middle managers are a necessary conduit between employees and senior leaders, and they need more support because of the pressures they're under.
According to Jamie Aitken, vice president of HR transformation at Betterworks, there are several downsides to eliminating managers. "This move might seem appealing for increased agility and reduced bureaucracy, but the downsides can be detrimental to employee morale and engagement," Aitken told me by email. "Without the support and direction of experienced managers, employees may struggle with clarity, direction and professional growth, which can ultimately impact the organization's success and business outcomes."
The meQ report concludes that the evidence is indisputable that managers are consequential for workforce well-being and performance. It offers several actions for how organizations can make managers' well-being a top priority:
Aitken argues that middle managers are more than just administrative layers within a company, underscoring the fact that they provide essential support, guidance and motivation that are critical for maintaining a productive workforce. "The benefits of investing in the development of managers—by providing them with the right tools and technology—are far greater than simply eliminating them," she insists.
The Fourth And Better Way To Cope With Stress
As discussed here, when stressed, humans, like other animals, tend to become aggressive, flee, or inhibit action. But aggression can lead to a tragic spiral of violence and retaliation. And flight rarely solves the problem. Finally, motor inhibition ("freeze") often makes one feel frustrated and unhappy and can have "psychosomatic" side effects.
So, what is a good response to stress? Is someone being aggressive toward you? Understand why, then address the cause of their stress—not the symptom. Tackling a problem by acting on its root cause is often the most effective way to cope.
That fourth way should be obvious; nevertheless, it is not always our first move because we tend to follow, as animals, our emotions, e.G., anger, fear, or resignation. The fourth way calls for the human intellectual faculties of attention, memory, thought, imagination and goal-direction instead. On top of that, it forces you to reflect on the situation, which is a good thing.
Tackling the root cause brings two types of benefitsDoes having too many things to do at work stress you? Instead of worrying, prioritize and do them one at a time. Tackling the root cause of the problem alone or, better still, with the help of others has two advantages. The obvious one is that this may actually solve the problem. That is the external, objective benefit.
The second advantage is perhaps just as important. Taking positive action, even if it does not solve the problem in the end, will internally produce the same kind of psychological relief that you would get from acting aggressively. So, it is a double bonus. Those who have not experienced its positive effect have no idea how rewarding it can be.
The story of the man in the stormIn December 1999, a massive storm hit the French power grid, and large parts of France were without electricity for weeks. In a modern society where everything (lighting, heating, cooking, washing, transport, telecommunications, etc.) depends on electricity, you can imagine the stress this blackout in the middle of winter caused people. Communications were down, and fallen trees and snow hampered the work of the rescue and repair teams of EDF, the French national grid operator. Thousands of EDF pensioners from all over France volunteered to join the rescue teams.
I was in charge of setting up an emergency psychological support cell for EDF in the middle of the worst-hit region. The first call I took in the call center was a woman crying that she was going to commit suicide, which we managed to prevent.
Soon after, a very angry man called, complaining that his baby was freezing and threatening to come and shoot us. Why had this nearby farm been reconnected and not his own house? After explaining that reconnections were prioritized for the most vulnerable, I asked him if he could look around and signal us if there were any vulnerable people we should reconnect. I gave him my cell phone number as a matter of principle. For the moment, I merely thought I had managed to calm him and moved on to the next call.
4 ways to cope with stress: we always have the choice
Source: OpenAI/Dall-e and the author
To my surprise, the next day, the same man called me, explaining he had enrolled his neighbors and set up a rescue team. He gives me a list of people to be rescued and their locations. And he then does this every day for over a week without asking to be reconnected himself. This brave man dealt with his stress by tackling the situation, and his actions benefited everyone, including himself.
We all have the choice of the fourth wayStudies show that different people react differently to the same situation. What we see in this example is that a person has the capacity to react differently to a given situation. There is no fate; we have a choice.
In my example, the same person who initially reacted aggressively could also respond in a fourth way, by facing the situation and tackling it, using the amazing mind and body skills with which we humans are all endowed. That capacity is true for collectives as well as for individuals: After a disaster, those communities who get their act together to repair and heal fare better than those who passively wait to be rescued.
When a person is confronted with a problem in their environment, the body and mind automatically set up a series of biochemical reactions that prepare the body for action, switching it to combat mode. Making more energy and oxygen available to the organs that might be called upon for fight or flight is the most obvious response. Dozens of complex chains of reactions involving hormones and neurotransmitters serve to optimize activity while maintaining balance, preparing our nervous system and other systems, such as the immune system, to respond.
If this preparation is followed by motor inhibition, not only is the preparation wasted, but the body may learn the wrong signal. In fact, even doing some physical exercise then is better than staying passive. Act smartly! Use these switched-on mental and bodily resources of combat mode to tackle the root cause of the stress.
Tackling situations will boost your self-efficacyIf you stay passive in one situation after another, you will not solve your problems and may develop a habit of failure or "learned helplessness." Conversely, the more you address problems and solve them, the more you gain agency and confidence in your own agency, "self-efficacy."
In any case, I believe that mobilizing these prepared resources into attention, thinking, reasoning, and motor action other than aggression or flight is the way to go. It is a good way to get the double bonus of constructive action: solving the problem externally (possibly) and, in any case, achieving a better internal balance.
At first, it may be difficult to overcome your natural tendency to flee, fight, or give up. Remember that family, friends, and professionals such as psychologists are there to help you in these situations. Prepare with them if you know you might face stress. Ask them for help if you feel overwhelmed.
Often, situations appear difficult. Then, remember there is almost always a fourth way, a better way to go forth. It is the way that you find when you try.
Can Positive Experiences Reverse The Damage Of Childhood Trauma?
In the early 90s, researchers embarked on a landmark study of over 17,000 individuals and asked them about negative experiences in childhood and their current physical and mental health. They found was that when children are exposed to toxic stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, this can have a dramatic impact on their minds, brains and bodies. This study later became known as the Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACE study.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events that children may be exposed to while growing up that include abuse, neglect, domestic violence, substance misuse or mental illness. Long-term exposure to childhood trauma has been linked to everything from heart disease and diabetes to alcoholism, depression, and suicide.
While there is no denying the reality and impact of adverse childhood experiences on our mental and physical health, just focusing just on the negative alone, or the bad that happened to us, may actually slow the process of our healing down. Research on the mind-brain-body network shows that an overly negative focus without balancing with the positive can distort our perceptions and potentially hamstring our ability to work through what we have gone through in a way that doesn't keep us trapped in the past.
Why? The mind-brain-body network is all about balance, and restoring balance when it is upset. Focusing only on the negative will add to an already overloaded amount of toxic stress from the adverse experience. This is why it is important that while we do the work to find the root causes of our distress and process and reconceptualize what has happened to us, we also make sure we have some positive, balancing checkpoints in place on our healing journey or we risk the danger of getting stuck in a cycle of pain and victimhood.
In fact, there is exciting research that shows that positive childhood experiences (PCEs) can actually help buffer against the negative health effects caused by exposure to ACEs. PCEs can also promote healing and recovery through activating our resilience. This shows that all of a child's experiences—positive and negative—matter, so we shouldn't just be considering the bad of what has happened to us but also the good, and how all these experiences affect our mental health as adults. Some research even shows that people with some exposure to ACEs, if they reported 3 to 5 positive childhood experiences, had 50% lower odds of adulthood depression or poor mental health, and those who reported 6 to 7 PCE's had a 72% lower chance of adult mental health challenges. These findings demonstrate that positive childhood experiences can have a cumulative effect on life-long mental health outcomes, and play an important role in our healing.
Although we definitely need to work on what we experienced growing up, at the same time we need to leave room for the positive, and a great way to do this is what I call the "3:1 thought ratio". This is one technique I often use this to balance myself, and find it extremely helpful when things seem overwhelming. All you have to do is to intentionally focus on the positive to balance out the negative in a 3:1 ratio. And this can be used for any negative situation, not just for ACEs. For every negative thought that comes to mind, along with its emotions, behaviors, and perspectives, counter it with three positive thoughts. This will help to maintain a balance in energy (quantum) waves in the brain so you can think clearly, build your resilience, and rewire healthy thought patterns!
When you practice the 3:1 ratio, this means that each time you have a negative thought, you don't suppress it, but rather use it as a prompt to think of three positive childhood experiences. This doesn't mean you are ignoring what has happened to you; rather, you are maintaining the balance of your mind, brain and body so that you can heal what has happened to you rather than remaining trapped in the past. You are essentially using the negative thought as a habit loop trigger to help you recognize what to change WHILE "padding" or mitigating the effects this negative event has on your overall wellbeing. This is not swapping the negative for the positive. It is using the positive to help us face and overcome the negative.
For more on managing the effect adverse childhood experiences have on your health and wellbeing, listen to my podcast (episode #590). If you enjoy listening to my podcast, please consider leaving a 5-star review and subscribing. And keep sharing episodes with friends and family and on social media. (Don't forget to tag me so I can see your posts!).
Originally published by Dr. Caroline Leaf. Used with permission.
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Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/ Erica Shires
Dr. Caroline Leaf is a communication pathologist, audiologist, and clinical and research neuroscientist with a Masters and PhD in Communication Pathology and a BSc in Logopaedics, specializing in psychoneurobiology and metacognitive neuropsychology. She was one of the first in her field to study how the brain can change (neuroplasticity) with directed mind input. Dr. Leaf is the host of the podcast Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, has published in scientific journals, and is the author of 18 bestselling books translated into 24 languages, including Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, How to Help Your Child Clean Up their Mental Mess, and Think, Learn, Succeed. She teaches at academic, medical, and neuroscience conferences, and to various audiences around the world. Take the Quiz: How Messy Is Your Mind? Download the app: Neurocycle App. Books by Dr. Leaf NEUROCYCLE20 for 20% off a web subscription.
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