Manager burnout is more common than you may think. In a national survey, 48% of employees—and 53% of managers—said they were feeling burned out.1
So, what happens when leaders responsible for creating workplace well-being burn out? Can they return to peak effectiveness? That may depend on the organization’s commitment to creating a positive work experience for all employees.
“Managers are people, too, and they have the same fundamental human needs as individual contributors: the need to be heard, to feel like they are part of a team, to know they matter, to contribute meaningfully, and to learn and grow,” Ben Wigert and Sangeeta Agrawal write in an article for Gallup Inc. “And, of course, when managers are engaged, their employees are more likely to be engaged as well.”2
What Is Burnout?
Work can make almost everyone feel tired, stressed, and depleted at times. But job burnout can be a serious and persistent condition.
Here’s how the American Psychological Association (APA) defines burnout: “a physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance, and negative attitudes toward oneself and others. It results from performing at a high level until stress and tension, especially from extreme and prolonged physical or mental exertion or an overburdening workload, take their toll.”3
Burnout’s toll can be serious, indeed. It can increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression and other mental health conditions. Research shows it can also affect short-term memory and the ability to focus.4 And burnout may lead to job loss, which can trigger a cascade of debilitating consequences.
Can Manager Burnout Be Cured?
A first step to curing burnout is to assess how you’re feeling. If you are experiencing medical or mental health concerns, talk to your doctor immediately. If your burnout is severe, your healthcare providers may require you to take time off or follow other prescribed treatments.
Burnout can develop slowly, so a good preventive technique when you’re feeling job stress is to regularly assess how the job may be impacting your mental and physical health. (Again, always seeking help when you need it.) Increasing your awareness may take practice, but it can pay off. If you’re able to spot any red-flag stressors early on, you may be able to make changes before arriving at total burnout. Change is the key to preventing and curing manager burnout.
For example, if you’re laboring under a continuous, crushing workload, you can develop ideas for reducing the volume and talk to your boss about suggested modifications. As a manager, you most likely will need to advocate for yourself. In some cases, though, you may be able to enlist the help of an HR manager, company mentor, or other trusted professional.
You can use the same approach with other concerns, like work-life boundaries or peers who are creating a toxic work environment. There are no guarantees these talks will resolve the issues, but you will have to try if you want to avoid—or cure—burnout. Sometimes, curing burnout will require you to set stronger boundaries and honor them.
Taking time off and completely unplugging from work can help you begin to recover from burnout. But without addressing the root causes of burnout, time off and any other acts of self-care may only be bandages.
Sometimes, the only cure for manager burnout may be to find another job. In an APA survey, 81% of people polled said future job searches will focus on companies that support mental health.5
But with the right strategies, tools, and leadership skills, managers can create work environments that help foster productivity, innovation, and well-being—and help prevent burnout for all employees.
Build Resiliency by Earning an MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program can help you build the leadership skills and management techniques you need to become a leader with vision.
Accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), Walden University’s online MBA program lets you tailor your business administration studies to your career goals. When you enroll in the master’s program, you can choose a General Program, a Self-Designed specialization, or a specialization in Healthcare Management or Human Resource Management.
Walden designed its MBA degree program with features that can make earning a degree a reality for working professionals. The accredited university offers its online MBA without a GMAT. That means Walden bases admission on your professional and academic experience. And Walden’s flexible online learning format means you can earn a degree while staying engaged in your personal and professional activities.
Walden also offers flexible completion options. You can choose course-based learning, where you pay by the course, follow preset deadlines, and are guided by a faculty member. Or you can choose Tempo Learning®, where you progress at your own pace and receive faculty support when you need it. With Tempo Learning®, you pay in three-month, all-you-can-learn subscription periods.
Investing in your education can help you pursue career advancement and satisfaction. Develop your leadership qualities in an online MBA program designed for working professionals ready to face today’s toughest business challenges.
Walden University is an accredited institution offering an online Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program. Expand your career options and earn your degree in a convenient, flexible format that fits your busy life.
1Source: www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work
2Source: www.gallup.com/workplace/237119/employee-burnout-part-2-managers.aspx
3Source: https://dictionary.apa.org/burnout
4Source: www.apa.org/topics/healthy-workplaces/workplace-burnout
5Source: www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being/index.html
Walden’s BS in Business Administration, Master of Business Administration (MBA), Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), and PhD in Management programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP). The MS in Accounting and BS in Accounting programs are also accredited by the ACBSP and have earned the organization’s separate accounting accreditation.
Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org), an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.